Sunday, January 06, 2008

"No That's a Clean Block" ---Right...


"Now this crowd should not be so quick to jump to a conclusion."
-Len Elmore
Judge for yourself. This is what happens when referees swallow their whistles.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

He should have been tossed from the game. He not only fouled him hard by yanking the arm with his left arm and bodying him with the shoulder, but he deliberately changed the trajectory of his right arm to punch him in the face...

He was doing the same dirty shit on Luke through the entire game.

Unfortunately, the refs not only didn't acknowledge that, but actively started calling the game against nd in the second half.

I must say, the fact that nd perseverered is a credit to the professionalism this team has. I'm honestly thinking they might have a shot at the top big east slot now.

BlackandGreen said...

They're definitely at the upper tier now. Who knows how things will shake out with Pitt (injured), Georgetown (overrated), and the rest of the top schools.

A quick disclaimer about the photo... obviously the contact with Jackson's eye came on the follow through. We could argue for a while about whether that is a foul or not. However, Thabeet's continued grabbing with his nonblocking hand (which happened here a second earlier and throughout the contest) is a foul. I posted this picture for obvious reasons, even if the act depicted is not what he got away with all night.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I watched this game on espn360 so i was able to look at it several times. Thabeater fouled him with the body on the way up, and then clocked him, it shouldn't matter if it was intentional or not, still a foul.

Elmore was annoying me throughout the game. He seemed to have a uconn bias, always stressing how they had superior athletes, and his defense of Thabeater was just plain stupid.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to see a youtube of it again. This is what I saw in every replay. Tory goes up, Thabeet's left hand extends to grab Tory's left arm, yanks left arm, bodies him hard on the shoulder, blocks the shot cleanly, maybe would have hit Tory across the forehead with his forearm had his elbow not suddenly shifted so as to strike him in the eye with his fist.

Anonymous said...

PS - the first two should be enough for a flagrant foul.

BlackandGreen said...

espn360.com is made for this. They have the game ready for viewing. Just go about 45 minutes in and there you have it.

Anonymous said...

The block looked clean from my view in the bleachers but my Dad, who was watching on ESPN, said otherwise.
He also said Len seemed to be biased toward UCONN. Too bad, I've always enjoyed Len's commentary. I think ND lacks respect from most "respected" college basketball sources.

Anonymous said...

The replay clearly shows Thabeater using his right arm to grab Tory's left arm. The grab lasts the entirety of Tory's shot; this wasn't an isolated, brief grab of a jersey, but a thorough lockdown of Tory's left side.

That foul should have been called. Recall later Tory getting a call for his lighting quick "slap" after Harangody drew not one but two charges in a row.

BlackandGreen said...

Agreed. I talked to a couple people about the game today and they mentioned that Ed Corbett seemed to have the most lopsided calls. One guy who knows the officials well (not personally, but through watching basketball) mentioned that Corbett is his least favorite official in college hoops. I've known him to have very neutral positions and respect his opinion greatly.

The most obvious problem that I noticed was how Corbett and the others seemed to give Thabeet the benefit of the doubt due to his size. Clearly boderline calls were made on our guards and Harangody, while Thabeet received no fouls at all. This happens a lot in the pros (when fouls are called at all), and is a dangerous practice considering the difference in the amount of damage a 7'3" player can inflict compared to a 5'10" guy like Jackson slapping the ball.

Anonymous said...

I know the BE is physical but the Irish were treated to White Man Can't Jump rules. Luke H got grabbed and slapped all night but no call. It was frustrating but patience and smart hoops coupled with grit and determination paid off.

Anonymous said...

I heard that one offical had said during the game that he thought Jackson didn't get hit. YEAH RIGHT!