Kansas, Clemson, bizarre endings
1. Despite their 72-69 loss at No. 11 Texas tonight, I still think Kansas is the best team in the nation. Take a look at the other title contenders; all have a flaw, a question mark. North Carolina can't defend. UCLA labors to score on occasion. Memphis can't shoot free throws. Duke -- once again -- lacks a big man.
Kansas can answer all of those those questions. They defend extremely well, particularly on the perimeter, where their ball-hawking guards average about seven steals a game. They hit about 70 percent of their free throws. And they have quality depth inside and outside.
They also don't rely too heavily on the three-pointer, despite hitting the deep ball at a 37 percent clip. I think my favorite stat of the college basketball season is this: In KU's 100-90 win over Baylor at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday, the Jayhawks went 0-for-9 from three-point range. If you can drop 100 points by going to the basket, dumping the ball inside, and getting to the free throw line, you aren't vulnerable to the cold streaks that are known to sink teams that rely too heavily on the three-point shot. The threes they do take are most often of the inside-out variety, which usually are the best looks you can get from distance.
2. Clemson's incredible collapse at Carolina - moving their all-time road record at UNC to an 0-53, an NCAA record for road losses versuse one opponent - happened yesterday, and I wasn't planning on writing about it, but one part of it has been bugging me all day, so here we are.
Having committed three straight turnovers that Carolina used to cut an 11-point lead to five with two minutes left, Clemson set up in a full court trapping defense. The Heels broke it easily, and the ball quickly found a wide-open Danny Green, who knocked down a three to cut the lead to two. Cliff Hammonds answered for Clemson with a three of his own after running the shot clock down, but then the Tigers did the unthinkable: They set up in the trap again! Carolina broke it easy for a second consecutive possession, and it again resulted in a quick, open look for Green, who drilled another triple.
Why, why WHY, Oliver Purnell?! Yes, your press helped force turnovers on UNC's first five possessions, but after that, it had been fairly ineffective. And besides, you didn't need a steal: You needed UNC to take some time off the clock. The only thing worse than letting the Heels score is letting the Heels score quickly. And you let it happen - twice, on back-to-back possessions no less.
Teams are often criticized for taking tough three-point shots during the endgame instead of taking a quick two and then looking for a steal or a foul. This was the defensive equivalent of taking taking a three when the situation didn't call for it yet, and it's part of what cost Clemson the game.
3. Still waiting for Georgetown to play up to its reputation, a reputation which I am on record as saying months ago is undeserved. I can't remember being as unimpressed with a team that has stuck around in the Top Ten as I am with the Hoyas this year.
At any rate, I can't write anything about their 55-53 win over Villanova because the ending was so infuriating. For those who missed it, an official whistled Wildcat freshman Corey Stokes for ever so slightly brushing Hoya senior Jonathan Wallace as the latter dribbled up the left sideline, 70 feet away from the basket, with less than a second to go. Under normal circumstances, this was a ticky-tack foul. Given that it stopped the clock with 0.1 -- that's one-tenth -- seconds left, it was an UNTHINKABLE call. PREPOSTEROUS and DISGRACEFUL come to mind, as well. Wallace hit both free throws, and the Hoyas escaped again.
I differentiate this call and the non-call at the end of last week's Indiana-Illinois contest. In that one, an Illinois player grabbed D.J. White's arm as White was launching an 80-foot Hail Mary with the score tied and the clock nearing zero. While it was highly improbable that White would make the shot, there's a threshold for the amount of contact you can reasonably let go, and this exceeded it. Indiana ended up winning in double OT, so no harm, no foul, I guess.
Not so here. Villanova deserves an apology, and they have a chance of getting it. They also deserve an extra five minutes to decide the outcome of this game -- a game they needed to keep their dimming NCAA hopes alive -- but they won't get that.
The Rutgers women, however, might get what they deserve. Roughly the same time Georgetown was being gifted their game against Georgetown, a bizarre scene was unfolding in Knoxville: the second-ranked Vols were down one with under 30 seconds. They missed one shot, and Candace Parker grabbed the rebound and missed again as the clock apparently ran out. Inexplicably, it stopped with 0.2 -- that's two-tenths, for those keeping track -- allowing Nicky Anosike to grab an offensive rebound and get fouled before the clock started again and the buzzer went off. Anosike, to her credit, drilled both free throws and Tennessee had a controversial 59-58 win.
It's irritating that the clock stopped, but I don't know if a person is to blame or the equipment malfunctioned or whatever. What bothers me most is that the officials looked at the tape and determined that Anosike -- who was in the process of catching the ball as the clock froze -- was fouled within two-tenths of a second (remember that NCAA rules don't allow for a catch and shoot with fewer than four-tenths on the clock).
I don't know what the rules for appeals are, but I'd like to see the NCAA make good on this one and award Rutgers the victory. I suppose it's too much to ask for Tennessee -- who, as the home team, is in charge of the clock -- to take that step itself.
And1 Don't tell anyone, but I liked the pink uniforms the Rutgers women wore tonight. Great cause, too.
Kansas can answer all of those those questions. They defend extremely well, particularly on the perimeter, where their ball-hawking guards average about seven steals a game. They hit about 70 percent of their free throws. And they have quality depth inside and outside.
They also don't rely too heavily on the three-pointer, despite hitting the deep ball at a 37 percent clip. I think my favorite stat of the college basketball season is this: In KU's 100-90 win over Baylor at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday, the Jayhawks went 0-for-9 from three-point range. If you can drop 100 points by going to the basket, dumping the ball inside, and getting to the free throw line, you aren't vulnerable to the cold streaks that are known to sink teams that rely too heavily on the three-point shot. The threes they do take are most often of the inside-out variety, which usually are the best looks you can get from distance.
2. Clemson's incredible collapse at Carolina - moving their all-time road record at UNC to an 0-53, an NCAA record for road losses versuse one opponent - happened yesterday, and I wasn't planning on writing about it, but one part of it has been bugging me all day, so here we are.
Having committed three straight turnovers that Carolina used to cut an 11-point lead to five with two minutes left, Clemson set up in a full court trapping defense. The Heels broke it easily, and the ball quickly found a wide-open Danny Green, who knocked down a three to cut the lead to two. Cliff Hammonds answered for Clemson with a three of his own after running the shot clock down, but then the Tigers did the unthinkable: They set up in the trap again! Carolina broke it easy for a second consecutive possession, and it again resulted in a quick, open look for Green, who drilled another triple.
Why, why WHY, Oliver Purnell?! Yes, your press helped force turnovers on UNC's first five possessions, but after that, it had been fairly ineffective. And besides, you didn't need a steal: You needed UNC to take some time off the clock. The only thing worse than letting the Heels score is letting the Heels score quickly. And you let it happen - twice, on back-to-back possessions no less.
Teams are often criticized for taking tough three-point shots during the endgame instead of taking a quick two and then looking for a steal or a foul. This was the defensive equivalent of taking taking a three when the situation didn't call for it yet, and it's part of what cost Clemson the game.
3. Still waiting for Georgetown to play up to its reputation, a reputation which I am on record as saying months ago is undeserved. I can't remember being as unimpressed with a team that has stuck around in the Top Ten as I am with the Hoyas this year.
At any rate, I can't write anything about their 55-53 win over Villanova because the ending was so infuriating. For those who missed it, an official whistled Wildcat freshman Corey Stokes for ever so slightly brushing Hoya senior Jonathan Wallace as the latter dribbled up the left sideline, 70 feet away from the basket, with less than a second to go. Under normal circumstances, this was a ticky-tack foul. Given that it stopped the clock with 0.1 -- that's one-tenth -- seconds left, it was an UNTHINKABLE call. PREPOSTEROUS and DISGRACEFUL come to mind, as well. Wallace hit both free throws, and the Hoyas escaped again.
I differentiate this call and the non-call at the end of last week's Indiana-Illinois contest. In that one, an Illinois player grabbed D.J. White's arm as White was launching an 80-foot Hail Mary with the score tied and the clock nearing zero. While it was highly improbable that White would make the shot, there's a threshold for the amount of contact you can reasonably let go, and this exceeded it. Indiana ended up winning in double OT, so no harm, no foul, I guess.
Not so here. Villanova deserves an apology, and they have a chance of getting it. They also deserve an extra five minutes to decide the outcome of this game -- a game they needed to keep their dimming NCAA hopes alive -- but they won't get that.
The Rutgers women, however, might get what they deserve. Roughly the same time Georgetown was being gifted their game against Georgetown, a bizarre scene was unfolding in Knoxville: the second-ranked Vols were down one with under 30 seconds. They missed one shot, and Candace Parker grabbed the rebound and missed again as the clock apparently ran out. Inexplicably, it stopped with 0.2 -- that's two-tenths, for those keeping track -- allowing Nicky Anosike to grab an offensive rebound and get fouled before the clock started again and the buzzer went off. Anosike, to her credit, drilled both free throws and Tennessee had a controversial 59-58 win.
It's irritating that the clock stopped, but I don't know if a person is to blame or the equipment malfunctioned or whatever. What bothers me most is that the officials looked at the tape and determined that Anosike -- who was in the process of catching the ball as the clock froze -- was fouled within two-tenths of a second (remember that NCAA rules don't allow for a catch and shoot with fewer than four-tenths on the clock).
I don't know what the rules for appeals are, but I'd like to see the NCAA make good on this one and award Rutgers the victory. I suppose it's too much to ask for Tennessee -- who, as the home team, is in charge of the clock -- to take that step itself.
And1 Don't tell anyone, but I liked the pink uniforms the Rutgers women wore tonight. Great cause, too.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 12:59 PM
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