Prize fight breaks out last night in Columbia
'Bama misses a great chance to win...
What a wasted opportunity. 20-30 from the free throw line. 66% won't win on the road. You need at least 75% to win. Bama did make 14-16 in the second half. That type of consistency in the first half might have made the difference. In a two point loss you could point to a dozen things which "lost the game". What really lost the game was Alabama's weak play on the boards. The Tide gave up 13 offensive rebounds last night. That is horrible. That is simply without excuse. When Carolina decided to switch to cage fighting in the first half, the Tide backed down. We all know the officiating hurt. It's a fact of life in the SEC that road teams are going to get hosed unless you are Kentucky. The fouls were even at 27. It was the big fouls that killed Alabama late.
The problem that Bama created was putting themselves in a position to make those fouls matter. After the "trying one" offense of the first half, the Tide decided to take the ball inside more in the second. That made a world of difference. Grant called time out with 11 seconds to set up a play to tie or win the game. That didn't work. That didn't come close, and the Tide went down 68-66. It was the first prize fight I've ever seen Alabama lose. Uncalled intentional fouls was only the start of the poor officiating. I can't say for sure poor calls beat the Tide. It was a travesty that the SEC allows officials of that poor caliber call games. One official in particular just isn't up to NCAA standards.
I officiated basketball up to the level of Jacksonville State, West Alabama, North Alabama, and other leagues of that level. Basketball is a very difficult sport to officiate. First, the players are simply too big, strong, and fast to really determine a lot of fouls. That leads to "situational" fouls. You know, the ones where some one gets on a fast break, ups goes to the glee level of the crowd, and a whistle blows. Hysteria follows from the home crowd. That is what I call horrible officiating. Last night the officiating went well beyond that. It happened to both teams. Frank Martin decided to play bully ball last night, and got rewarded for doing so. I've always felt that basketball was a game of grace and skill for the most part. Last night was just trench warfare. Put Detroit Pistons on the Gamecocks and they would have fit right at home. That was good coaching on the part of Martin. If you can cause the other team to back down, you've won more than half the battle.
Despite all the things that happened, the Tide could have won. South Carolina scored four points in the last 90 seconds on fouls that an illusionist could market in Vegas. A general rule by great officials is to let the players decide the outcome. Officials can do that and still maintain control of the game. Last night the refs did neither. The result was an abomination of a game. I'm not saying the officiating cost the Tide the game. It merely hurt the integrity of SEC officiating in general. It's not like the league is doing anything to eliminate the problem. Back in the day poor officiating was self enforcing. The other ref, or later, the two refs, would kindly suggest that the offending official get his whistle out his rectum and start making decent calls. I've always maintained, and always will, that officials have a responsibility to insure the visiting team gets a fair break. As on official there is nothing more assuring that making a tough call, getting it right, and having the home crowd go into a hissy fit over the call. I loved that. Good refs don't go out of their way to make such calls. They just have the nerve to make them. I never had any league officials suggest that some leeway might be given the home crowd. I'd like to ask other officials out there the same question. Did that ever happen to you?
Coaches make millions of dollars a year to coach now. Officials owe it to both coaches to get it right to the best of their ability. When someone asked me about a game, who will win, that sort of thing, the first thing I ask is who is blowing the whistles? It is the single most important thing about a game and no one ever thinks about it. After the game, coaches get fined for complaining about biased officiating. There are two things in life that I know are certain. 1. We will all die, and 2. Kentucky never gets a bad call in key situations in Lexington. (or almost anywhere for that matter). The final score was 68-66 on a split card. Next up is Kentucky.
One final comment. I respect the maturity of Ricky Tarrant. He handled the last foul call very well, when the world could see what a joke call it was.
'Bama misses a great chance to win...
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| Tarrant fouls out on some "who me?" calls. |
The problem that Bama created was putting themselves in a position to make those fouls matter. After the "trying one" offense of the first half, the Tide decided to take the ball inside more in the second. That made a world of difference. Grant called time out with 11 seconds to set up a play to tie or win the game. That didn't work. That didn't come close, and the Tide went down 68-66. It was the first prize fight I've ever seen Alabama lose. Uncalled intentional fouls was only the start of the poor officiating. I can't say for sure poor calls beat the Tide. It was a travesty that the SEC allows officials of that poor caliber call games. One official in particular just isn't up to NCAA standards.
I officiated basketball up to the level of Jacksonville State, West Alabama, North Alabama, and other leagues of that level. Basketball is a very difficult sport to officiate. First, the players are simply too big, strong, and fast to really determine a lot of fouls. That leads to "situational" fouls. You know, the ones where some one gets on a fast break, ups goes to the glee level of the crowd, and a whistle blows. Hysteria follows from the home crowd. That is what I call horrible officiating. Last night the officiating went well beyond that. It happened to both teams. Frank Martin decided to play bully ball last night, and got rewarded for doing so. I've always felt that basketball was a game of grace and skill for the most part. Last night was just trench warfare. Put Detroit Pistons on the Gamecocks and they would have fit right at home. That was good coaching on the part of Martin. If you can cause the other team to back down, you've won more than half the battle.
Despite all the things that happened, the Tide could have won. South Carolina scored four points in the last 90 seconds on fouls that an illusionist could market in Vegas. A general rule by great officials is to let the players decide the outcome. Officials can do that and still maintain control of the game. Last night the refs did neither. The result was an abomination of a game. I'm not saying the officiating cost the Tide the game. It merely hurt the integrity of SEC officiating in general. It's not like the league is doing anything to eliminate the problem. Back in the day poor officiating was self enforcing. The other ref, or later, the two refs, would kindly suggest that the offending official get his whistle out his rectum and start making decent calls. I've always maintained, and always will, that officials have a responsibility to insure the visiting team gets a fair break. As on official there is nothing more assuring that making a tough call, getting it right, and having the home crowd go into a hissy fit over the call. I loved that. Good refs don't go out of their way to make such calls. They just have the nerve to make them. I never had any league officials suggest that some leeway might be given the home crowd. I'd like to ask other officials out there the same question. Did that ever happen to you?
Coaches make millions of dollars a year to coach now. Officials owe it to both coaches to get it right to the best of their ability. When someone asked me about a game, who will win, that sort of thing, the first thing I ask is who is blowing the whistles? It is the single most important thing about a game and no one ever thinks about it. After the game, coaches get fined for complaining about biased officiating. There are two things in life that I know are certain. 1. We will all die, and 2. Kentucky never gets a bad call in key situations in Lexington. (or almost anywhere for that matter). The final score was 68-66 on a split card. Next up is Kentucky.
One final comment. I respect the maturity of Ricky Tarrant. He handled the last foul call very well, when the world could see what a joke call it was.
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