Duke vs. Butler

[thefish7]

What a great game. I wish Butler could have put it away, and they certainly got their shot, and that half-court shot by Hayward ALMOST went in. It was a great run, and the best part is, there's a chance they could be back. If Hayward comes back I have to figure they'll be preseason top 5.

But hey, Duke played a gritty game and is a good team... Singler was a monster, and the refs were fair. Butler should have converted on a few more of their layups and they'd have won. I still hate Duke, but they won tonight.

[SFP]

What a great game. I wish Butler could have put it away, and they certainly got their shot, and that half-court shot by Hayward ALMOST went in. It was a great run, and the best part is, there's a chance they could be back. If Hayward comes back I have to figure they'll be preseason top 5.

But hey, Duke played a gritty game and is a good team... Singler was a monster, and the refs were fair. Butler should have converted on a few more of their layups and they'd have won. I still hate Duke, but they won tonight.

I agree the ref were not bad. My rants were during play so of course I was looking at every play for Butler. Great game and I hope we get to play them next year.

[thefish7]

Heheh. I stayed off the board, but had a furious and legendary 35-second tirade during one point of the game. My wife was laughing at me as I waxed poetic... Uh, wait, no, as I waxed profane over a call... Pretty sure it was the one you were on about. But by time the game was over, there had been no-calls each way, and a couple of bad ones. I basically thought the refs did a great job and the game was played the way a good basketball game should be as a result.

[pfunk880]

What a game, and a great finish to what was a fantastic tournament all the way through.

Unfortunately, they are going to ruin everything next year if and when it goes to 96 teams.

[BuBraves55]

anyone else notice in the first half the score clocks "forgot" to change the possession arrow back towards butler and when a jump ball was called (questionable call) they just gave it to duke because the arrow was facing their way. I would love to know what Duke does to get those kind of calls and breaks year in and year out.

[ser_solace]

What did everyone think of the new 'One Shining Moment' by Jennifer Hudson?? I personally didn't like it, I thought Luther Vandross did a much better job IMO.

I liked it. Assuming the games go to ABC/ESPN, does the song stay with CBS?

Regarding the game, it was fantastic, other than the result of course. Did not want it to end. Would have definitely been "Hoosiers II" if Hayward could have won on some of his last shots.

[tornado]

I think the refs let a few calls go that benefitted Duke...some slapping and hard contact...

on one of Matt Howards layups near the end of the game, after the shot was made he was hit by the defender flying through the air - no call

on a rebound in the final seconds Zoubek cleared out with his elbow and sent Howard flying to the floor - again, no call

the intentional foul on the Hayward breakaway - now seriously, the Duke-loving announcers did everything in their power to spin that as a clean play and saying the Duke defender went for the ball..
I saw it quite differently - he never touched the ball, and he went clearly just to stop the shot and be sure there wasn't a chance of the ball going in by laying the player out on the floor.
He even had a smug look after the foul as if to prove he accomplished his job. I have seen far, far lesser fouls with that intent get called intentional including the one on Dodie last year.

[TexasHammer]

I don't think the rebounding scrum between Howard & Zoubek deserved a foul call. I think the really bad call was the charge that they called on Hayward when Scheyer was moving and was practically standing underneath the basket. I thought that the NCAA put in a rule this year about a semi-circle with no charges called (but that is typical Duke defense. Your 7 foot, 280 lb center is trying to draw charges and flopping when a little guard bumps him).

[pfunk880]

I think the refs let a few calls go that benefitted Duke...some slapping and hard contact...

on one of Matt Howards layups near the end of the game, after the shot was made he was hit by the defender flying through the air - no call

on a rebound in the final seconds Zoubek cleared out with his elbow and sent Howard flying to the floor - again, no call

the intentional foul on the Hayward breakaway - now seriously, the Duke-loving announcers did everything in their power to spin that as a clean play and saying the Duke defender went for the ball..
I saw it quite differently - he never touched the ball, and he went clearly just to stop the shot and be sure there wasn't a chance of the ball going in by laying the player out on the floor.
He even had a smug look after the foul as if to prove he accomplished his job. I have seen far, far lesser fouls with that intent get called intentional including the one on Dodie last year.

There is no way that should have been called an intentional foul. There were calls that went both ways, I actually thought it was a well-called game overall.

[Braves4Life]

There is no way that should have been called an intentional foul. There were calls that went both ways, I actually thought it was a well-called game overall.

I agree pfunk. Even Butler got a potential call their way when Singler was absolutely LAID OUT by Howard on that last second shot. To tornado I say COME ON MAN!

[TheAsianSensation]

People can either appreciate the historic nature of the game or whine about the officiating. One road is higher than the other.

The officiating was a little bit loose, but I thought it was evenly unfair to both teams. No team gained an advantage over the other.

In fact, if you wanted to argue one had the advantage, it was Butler. I'm surprised they didn't get a couple more hand-check calls against them. The only real missed call was the charge Scheyer drew.

[Beninator]

There is no way that should have been called an intentional foul. There were calls that went both ways, I actually thought it was a well-called game overall.

People can either appreciate the historic nature of the game or whine about the officiating. One road is higher than the other.

The officiating was a little bit loose, but I thought it was evenly unfair to both teams. No team gained an advantage over the other.

In fact, if you wanted to argue one had the advantage, it was Butler. I'm surprised they didn't get a couple more hand-check calls against them. The only real missed call was the charge Scheyer drew.

I also thought that this game was well officiated. Even the stats suggest that this was well officiated.

Personal Fouls: Butler 18 Duke 14

Free Throws Attempted: Butler 18 Duke 16

[SFP]

People can either appreciate the historic nature of the game or whine about the officiating. One road is higher than the other.

The officiating was a little bit loose, but I thought it was evenly unfair to both teams. No team gained an advantage over the other.

In fact, if you wanted to argue one had the advantage, it was Butler. I'm surprised they didn't get a couple more hand-check calls against them. The only real missed call was the charge Scheyer drew.

Yes! Even I saw it that way and you know how I feel about refs. I hope next year they do paint that circle in, decide not to award flopping and once and for all eliminate hand checking as a form of defense. The refs also called Duke early on their secondary moving screens.

[houstonbrave]

We were lucky enough to get tickets in the lottery and were at the games on Sat and Monday. It was incredible and soo close. Everybody in Indy had Butler stuff on except the Duke fans-I now own Butler T-shirts which will be totally useless for me now-oh well.

It was a great game and I agree there is no way the intentional foul gets called in that situation. He went at him hard and was close enough to the ball that it just wasn't going to be called-I was sort of surprised they took that much time to look at it.

Really thought both of the shots at the end were going in. Hope they find a way to keep Stevens but I gotta believe a number of schools will come with buckets of money...maybe Lickliter returns if that happens.

[Braves4Life]

I hope next year they ...... once and for all eliminate hand checking as a form of defense.

I didn't think it was possible to hand check more than Duke but Butler proved me wrong. They had so many hands on Singler and Scheyer coming off those screens it was almost comical. Butler should start up a football team.