Talking points: Tight finishes, small lineups and a lost rivalry
Jontel Evans (1) dribbles past a defender during the North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Virginia Cavaliers NCAA basketball game, Saturday, February 16, 2013 in Chapel Hill, NC.
Feb 17, 2013
1. After months of inconsistent play and fan frustration over Roy Williams' lineup rotation, North Carolina is suddenly the ACC team with renewed energy and intriguing potential after just two games with a new starting lineup.
Williams went small against Virginia and once again P.J. Hairston benefitted the most. The sophomore guard scored a career-high 29 points, including 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, and pulled down seven rebounds. Reggie Bullock hit a trio of 3-pointers, but really helped the Tar Heels in sharing the ball and grabbing four steals against the Cavaliers.
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2. The Heels got off to a slow start against Virginia, but Williams still stuck with a tighter distribution of minutes. Only Leslie McDonald and Brice Johnson got double-digit minutes off the bench. Despite the recent success of a strategy Williams admittedly pondered of using four or five games ago, he wasn't interested in explaining why he didn't go with it sooner.
“Sometimes you guys don’t have to know everything," Williams said. “I have reasons, and those reasons will stay with me.”
3. NC State doesn't seem all that interested in making life easy on themselves or on their fans. Feel free to send them the therapy bills at the end of the season.
The Wolfpack have been on the correct side of these coin-flip games in wins over Clemson and Virginia Tech, which is in stark contrast to last second tip-ins from Maryland and Miami earlier in conference play. But if they continue to play with fire like this, NC State is eventually going to get burned at the wrong time in March.
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4. The Wolfpack went to the free throw line 43 times on Saturday afternoon, while the Hokies only took seven trips. You'd think the disparity in calls, mainly due to NC State's work in the paint, would kill some of the complaining about officials. Think again.
Jarrell Eddie committed an obvious lane violation following Erick Green's intentionally missed free throw. Eddie's tip-in sent the game to overtime. Commence the internet outrage.
5. Tyler Lewis scored in double figures for the third time in the last four games and provided some much needed spark for the Wolfpack against Virginia Tech. Much was asked of Lewis following Lorenzo Brown's injury and the freshman has stepped up nicely. This is a huge development for Mark Gottfried, who can now use Lewis' success to push Rodney Purvis.
Meanwhile, Richard Howell also notched his 15th double-double of the year after not practicing all week due to a foot injury. The senior has been NC State's most reliable and most important player this season.
6. However Mason Plumlee goes, so goes Duke. The main contender for ACC Player of the Year followed up a less than spectacular game against North Carolina with an invisible game against Maryland. Plumlee finished with 4 points and 3 rebounds in the loss.
7. Maryland turned the ball over 27 times against the Blue Devils, begging them to snatch victory away. Quinn Cook made a costly mistake at the end with a reach-in with 3 seconds to go, putting Seth Allen at the line for the win.
8. Did you enjoy that, Maryland? Cherish it, because it's highly possible y'all will never see Duke in College Park again. Let's hope the money keeps the Terps warm at night while Minnesota comes to town instead.
Most Recent Comments
RE: Talking points: Tight finishes, small lineups and a lost rivalry
As an assistant coach who was royally scruuuwd by my mentor Coach K, I can say that the VT player NEVER entered the actual lane. But hey, State, your whiny Calvin SHOULD have been tossed but the officials were kind to him the second time he pitched a fit. State had 43 FT attempts to 7 for VT. Need we say more?- Posted by TruthaboutStatefans
I guess this shows your knowledge of the rules. Players who are on the FT line can enter the lane when the ball leaves the shooter's hand. The shooter can cross the FT line when the ball hits the rim. Anyone else can not enter the area between the top of the key ad the backboard until the ball hits the rim. This makes that an obvious violation.
So perhaps one could read the rules before you so vehemently protest. Or just know the rule (I didn't have to look it up). Just a thought.
RE: Talking points: Tight finishes, small lineups and a lost rivalry
For anyone who has played organized basketball, that was an obvious violation. The rule is clear, you can not be off the FT line and come inside the FT line before the ball touches the rim. You won't be blocked out because you are not supposed to be there. And it is correct to call it a "lane violation".RE: Talking points: Tight finishes, small lineups and a lost rivalry
"Jarrell Eddie committed an obvious lane violation following Erick Green's intentionally missed free throw."- Posted by Ken D.
Let's be honest with ourselves here. If the game announcers had not made such a big deal about pointing this out, how many fans would have even realized that Eddie committed a violation? Or, for that matter, could explain the rule that he violated? I doubt it would have been more than one or two out of a hundred. I'm not even sure it's correct to call this a "lane violation". To call it an "obvious" violation, I think, is hyperbole.
To me, the most remarkable thing about the play was that VT was able to execute it flawlessly without benefit of a timeout to call the play or set it up. That, and the fact that State somehow managed to put themselves in a position where it could even be attempted.
How many people can correctly explain the infield-fly rule in baseball?
How many people know what a 1-point safety in football is?
By your logic, neither of these rules should be enforced. Howell's 3rd foul was garbage, the no call on the 4 (or five) step walk by Green was garbage - ACC officials are terrible. I've watched several games where NCSU wasn't playing and couldn't take it for the bad officiating. The game isn't as fun when the refs are that poor and as a result, that influential.
Posted Feb 18, 12:17 p.m.
Rank: Veteran Posts: 374
Joined: Feb, 2012
Location: Benson, NC
RE: Talking points: Tight finishes, small lineups and a lost rivalry
By 75TarheelPosted Feb 17, 8:08 p.m.
Rank: Bench Warmer
Posts: 55
Joined: Dec, 2012
Location: Raleigh, NC Report this post Reply with quote RE: Talking points: Tight finishes, small lineups and a lost rivalry VT lost but should have won. State won but should have lost. End of story.
Duke lost as they should have. And " Clummsley" as POY will be a big joke. I'm thinking Miami has the POY.
UNC won as they should have. End of story
Your story can only end once. Wolfpack won the game. end of story. How about the walk from the top of the key. I guess we did not see that either. It's ok, as you pointed out, we complain too much. Sorry . If it happened to your team, you would b & g too. Good luck bench warmer
Posted Feb 18, 12:14 p.m.
Rank: Sports Legend Posts: 1361
Joined: Mar, 2011
Location: Raleigh, NC
RE: Talking points: Tight finishes, small lineups and a lost rivalry
- Posted by NCSU72- Posted by jgunn"Jarrell Eddie committed an obvious lane violation following Erick Green's intentionally missed free throw."- Posted by Ken D.
Let's be honest with ourselves here. If the game announcers had not made such a big deal about pointing this out, how many fans would have even realized that Eddie committed a violation? Or, for that matter, could explain the rule that he violated? I doubt it would have been more than one or two out of a hundred. I'm not even sure it's correct to call this a "lane violation". To call it an "obvious" violation, I think, is hyperbole.
To me, the most remarkable thing about the play was that VT was able to execute it flawlessly without benefit of a timeout to call the play or set it up. That, and the fact that State somehow managed to put themselves in a position where it could even be attempted.
So true, Ken. The camera didn't show when the ball left the VT player's hands; they were focused on the rim, and showed the ball bouncing to the right, making it easier for his teammate to rebound the basket. I think lane violations happen a lot, also without a whistle. Still, if State had lost the game in OT as a result of a tie game that shouldn't have been, it would have been a bitter pill for State, and especially their fans to swallow.
I feel like we're beating a dead horse here, but the ESPN guys used an overhead camera shot to illustrate the guy leaving his position to retrieve the rebound before the ball left the free throw shooter's hands.
No offense, Ken, but I trust the sports announcers with the benefit of a lot of tape and replays more than your web analysis.
what makes you think they are seeing anything different than what the viewer is seeing, as far as tape goes? The fact of the matter is that State's players were bamboozled, Howell went up very lazily for a rebound because he didn't realize he there was someone behind him, I have watched the play several times on watchespn.
I think there was a LOT of discussion on here on how the refs swallow their whistles in the last few seconds - I think every triangle team has been on both ends of those calls. I watched the play a lot and it is not obvious that it was a violation - certainly not obvious enough for the ref to call.
