College Basketball!!
It's on my ESPN! WOOHOO!
On that note, time to put the baseball hot stove talk on the back burner(ha ha, real punny, right?).
Tonight: Maryland vs. Michigan State was a very fun game to watch. MSU kept it close the whole time and got screwed out of a real chance to tie the game late by the referees.
It's one thing to complain when the referees make a call and stick with it on a judgement call like a charge/block. This was a situation where first off, Gary Williams called an absurd timeout that actually put his team in a bad situation. His team was killing clock with under a minute left and with about an eight second differential between game clock and shot clock, he called a timeout when one of his players was stepping into an open jump shot with 4 seconds left on the shot clock. So he passed up an open jumper to set up a shot off of an inbounds pass from the sideline. So, on the inbounds, the Maryland player who got the ball shot an off-balance contested three-pointer that bounced off the backboard, completely missing the rim as the shot clock expired. The buzzer went about a half second before the ball went into the hands of a Michigan State player.
Now, the controversial part is that the referees did NOT call the shot clock violation. The most likely explanation is that they saw the ball went to a Michigan State player and made a judgement to not blow the whistle. The problem with that is: THEY'RE NOT PAID TO INTERPRET THE RULES, BUT TO ENFORCE THEM. The game moves too fast, it's a ridiculous idea for a referee to think they have the time to make split-second judgements in the best interest of the game concerning how and when to apply the rules. Just apply them as consistently as possible and the game will take care of itself.
Now, with 8 seconds left, the MSU player who had the ball turned and was called for an offensive foul for elbowing the defender. Now, the offensive foul was legitimate, but the circumstances under which it happened should never have come to be. Eventually, MSU still had their shot to tie, as the Maryland player missed both free throws, BUT, MSU's shot was significantly poorer than one they could have set up with 8 seconds rather than only 4 to get up the court and get a shot.
MSU ended up losing by 2, and I think they definitely have a beef with the referees of tonight's game.
And on a separate note: Western Illinois University(my alma mater) is 2-0!! Now, granted, they have the most cupcake schedule. However, they do play Indiana and Saint Louis both on the road. Both are major conference players, even though SLU(in Conference USA) is now probably actually considered a mid-major again, since it's basically just Memphis left of any real importance.
The other date to remember: 12-29. Brown University visits Macomb, IL to play the Leathernecks in Western Hall, which will mark the most intelligent group of people probably ever to enter Macomb, IL(Don't any other WIU people take this too personally, I went there too). They'd kick our team's butt on the ACT, but Coach Thomas can get his boys to take them on the court.
On late notes: Scott Spiezio resigned with the Cardinals for 2 years/4.5M, which does indicate they might see him as more than just a bench player next year(2nd base?)
On that note, time to put the baseball hot stove talk on the back burner(ha ha, real punny, right?).
Tonight: Maryland vs. Michigan State was a very fun game to watch. MSU kept it close the whole time and got screwed out of a real chance to tie the game late by the referees.
It's one thing to complain when the referees make a call and stick with it on a judgement call like a charge/block. This was a situation where first off, Gary Williams called an absurd timeout that actually put his team in a bad situation. His team was killing clock with under a minute left and with about an eight second differential between game clock and shot clock, he called a timeout when one of his players was stepping into an open jump shot with 4 seconds left on the shot clock. So he passed up an open jumper to set up a shot off of an inbounds pass from the sideline. So, on the inbounds, the Maryland player who got the ball shot an off-balance contested three-pointer that bounced off the backboard, completely missing the rim as the shot clock expired. The buzzer went about a half second before the ball went into the hands of a Michigan State player.
Now, the controversial part is that the referees did NOT call the shot clock violation. The most likely explanation is that they saw the ball went to a Michigan State player and made a judgement to not blow the whistle. The problem with that is: THEY'RE NOT PAID TO INTERPRET THE RULES, BUT TO ENFORCE THEM. The game moves too fast, it's a ridiculous idea for a referee to think they have the time to make split-second judgements in the best interest of the game concerning how and when to apply the rules. Just apply them as consistently as possible and the game will take care of itself.
Now, with 8 seconds left, the MSU player who had the ball turned and was called for an offensive foul for elbowing the defender. Now, the offensive foul was legitimate, but the circumstances under which it happened should never have come to be. Eventually, MSU still had their shot to tie, as the Maryland player missed both free throws, BUT, MSU's shot was significantly poorer than one they could have set up with 8 seconds rather than only 4 to get up the court and get a shot.
MSU ended up losing by 2, and I think they definitely have a beef with the referees of tonight's game.
And on a separate note: Western Illinois University(my alma mater) is 2-0!! Now, granted, they have the most cupcake schedule. However, they do play Indiana and Saint Louis both on the road. Both are major conference players, even though SLU(in Conference USA) is now probably actually considered a mid-major again, since it's basically just Memphis left of any real importance.
The other date to remember: 12-29. Brown University visits Macomb, IL to play the Leathernecks in Western Hall, which will mark the most intelligent group of people probably ever to enter Macomb, IL(Don't any other WIU people take this too personally, I went there too). They'd kick our team's butt on the ACT, but Coach Thomas can get his boys to take them on the court.
On late notes: Scott Spiezio resigned with the Cardinals for 2 years/4.5M, which does indicate they might see him as more than just a bench player next year(2nd base?)
posted by Matt at 10:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home