From: oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov  (Orin Day)
Subject: Re: Duke/Oklahoma
Reply-To: oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov  (Orin Day)
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD USA
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 16:33:52 GMT

In article <1993Jan5.91024.20245@ms.uky.edu> morgan@engr.uky.edu (Wes Morgan)  
writes:

> Oh, I think they'll get their wakeup call in practice today.

If it didn't come after the game, or during.

> I've never seen a Coach K team lose their composure like that.

The loss last year to Wake Forest was quite similar, actually.

> Had the Dukies been whistled for the *obvious* goaltending call in
> the last two minutes, it wouldn't have gone to overtime.

How many think Thomas Hill was fouled on the last shot of regulation?
Or that Hurley was fouled in the press crossing midcourt several times?
Or that the no-call on the Grant Hill elbow resulting in the blood call
was ridiculous?  Just more of the ACC's best officiating, screwing both
sides repeatedly.

> Duke gets a W, but they don't deserve any kudos; they played
> exceptionally poorly, and the homecourt advantage won this one
> for them.

I agree 100%.  Duke will probably remain #1, but only by virtue
of precedent.  Kentucky will get some #1 votes, most certainly.
I agree with Feinstein this morning on the radio - "Go Duke!  But
they stunk last night."

> In every game, ticky-tacky fouls abounded and rough play went scot-free.

It seems too easy to call the cheap foul.  I don't know what can be done
to fix this, though.  We certainly don't want a fourth ref.

> the elbows were flying frequently and powerfully while the refs
> are whistling hand checks.

Especially after Duke rebounds - they've "learned" too much from Laettner
and Ferry, and it will get them in trouble.

> <N.B. why is Grant Hill usually around when another player is hurt?  I've
> seen this in several Duke games, hurting both teammates and opponents.  Is
> he a thug, or does he just lose control of his extremities?>

A good question for which I don't have much of an answer.  He's not really
an out of control player, but he is off the ground a lot.  And he's not
a thug in the Ferry/Laettner tradition.  Did anybody see the State Farm
"Rules of the Game" segment?

> As I said, they'll lose that attitude <if they have it at all> after shooting
> a bazillion free throws today.  Did the NCAA change the air pressure in the
> ball or something?  IU, UK, and Duke are all regularly 75%+ from the line,
> but none of them could hit the broad side of an oil tanker yesterday....

I was shocked at both results.  For IU and Duke, I'm sure that fatigue has
to be playing a part.  Grant was noticeably tired, and I've already mentioned
Lang's situation.

Even my dad commented:

  Well, Duke won but only by a hair. I don't recall Duke looking so tired
  in years. Did those guys have a big party or what? And, they forgot how
  to shoot freethrows... not a like the Duke teams I have been watching for
  five years.

> I know this is dangerous, but here's a prediction; if either Duke or UK
> falls from the top 4 in the rankings, the NCAA *will* place them in the 
> same regional.  It's too good for them to pass up, and they won't think
> to save it for the Final Four.  8(

I agree with this 100% - the 1 & 2 seeding will occur if possible, in
either the East or Southeast.  The only thing that could fool with this
is if too many Big 10 teams are in the top 8 tourney seeds - they don't
like a 1 and 2 from the same conference.  

> And now, a tangent:  In last night's Duke-OU game, there was a pileup late
> in the second half.  One official called a jump ball, but another overruled
> him with a foul.  What is the procedure used to handle such overrides?  

I also wonder about the timeout that Thomas Hill and Lang were screaming
for with Lang on the ground with several minutes left in the regulation.
The jump balls were certainly critical down the stretch, as several were
called in the last few minutes and the OT.

The fact that Duke schedules tough games in the regular season should
help them down the road - the home matchup with Clemson Wednesday and
the trip to Georgia Tech this weekend should both be interesting games.
I wouldn't want to be Clemson now, but Georgia Tech has a great shot at
beating the Devils in the Thrillerdome.

OD  

--
************* "How about a little fire, Scarecrow?" **************
Orin Day, Code 664.1                    oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov
Hughes STX/NASA       GSFC Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics
*******"Think that this is NASA's opinion?   NO, NO, NO!!!" ******
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college