From: morgan@engr.uky.edu (Wes Morgan)
Subject: Re: Duke/Oklahoma
Organization: University of Kentucky Engineering Computing Center
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 14:10:23 GMT

Michael Lerner wrote:
>
>Well, Billy Tubbs must be some sort of basketball god to come into Cameron
>and drive Duke into OT.  ;)
>

I've never liked Tubbs, but I have to respect his performance.  Last night's
game was his first defeat at the hands of a #1-ranked team; he's now 4-1
against the "top team".

>I will not even attempt to make a summary judgement as to what this game
>means in defining Duke's playing ability.  A loss probably would have given
>them a wakeup call, 

Oh, I think they'll get their wakeup call in practice today.  I've never
seen a Coack K team lose their composure like that.  Had the Dukies been
whistled for the *obvious* goaltending call in the last two minutes, it
wouldn't have gone to overtime.  Of course, losing 5 minutes of a starter's
time due to blood didn't help OU either.  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 hate to sound like a broken record, but the officials seem bent on 
overcontrolling the game.  In the last week, I've been an SC/ESPN junkie
(we finally moved into a house, and we finally wired both TV sets for
cable!), and I've seen a dozen games, including last night's UAB-UCSB
matchup with Jabbar as color commentator.  In every game, ticky-tacky
fouls abounded and rough play went scot-free.  Look at UK-IU; Martinez
is a HackMeister (tm), Bailey throws knees on screens, and the paint
was a war zone, but the zebras are calling touch fouls on the perimeter.
In last night's ND-Xavier game, I thought I heard ribs cracking in the
lane; the elbows were flying frequently and powerfully while the refs
are whistling hand checks.

Look at Duke-OU; in the eyes of the officials, Duke went about 15 minutes
without committing a foul, then committed a dozen in the last 4 minutes.
Either the refs are overcontrolling or they're getting a halftime report
on their performance.  

<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?>

>but as it is, Duke's players most likely think they can
>beat anyone no matter how badly they play.

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....

>It's too bad UK and Duke will not meet during the regular season, it'd be
>interesting to see if Pitino's bench would wear Duke down (ala IU).

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(

>In fact, I think it is only just that UK and Duke are the top rated teams
>now; only UK really gave Duke a run for their championship last year, I 
>imagine we'll see more of the same in the Superdome later this year. ;)

We can certainly hope so.  I still remember the sea of blue and white at
the NCAA Finals in '78.  My great-aunt thought that the whole state of Ken-
tucky had moved to St. Louis until I gently informed her that Duke's colors
were also blue and white.  Her response?  "How dare they presume to wear
our colors!".  

>By the way, UK *WILL* lose at Georgia tonight; it is written, so mote it be! ;)

Nah, but it will be close; I'll take UK by 8, with Rhodes and Dent springing
back from poor performances in the IU game.

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?  

--Wes

ps> Obligatory media criticism: Why on earth did ESPN's announcers spend
    2 minutes of air time singing Bobby Knight's praises during Duke-OU?
    OK, he's a great coach, but he wasn't even on the sidelines last night!
    Give it a rest, vidiots!

-- 
MORGAN@UKCC         |       Wes Morgan       |        ...!ukma!ukecc!morgan 
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