Wildcats, Officials Can’t Stop 4-1 Pack, 69-68

07-08 Basketball115

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A HORRIBLY officiated basketball game and the Wolfpack’s achilles heel of poor rebounding and free throw shooting was almost too much for Coach Lowe’s troops to overcome. But in the end, Gavin Grant‘s 2 (of 3) free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining lifted NC State to the Old Spice Classic Tournament Championship.

* Farnold Degand hit one of two free throws with 20.8 seconds remaining in the game to give the Wolfpack a 67-66 advantage before Villanova took the lead with a rebound and follow-up with 2.2 seconds remaining.

* Winning this tournament is going to be huge for State in March; it is particularly gratifying to ‘get back’ the UNO loss from last week. Now we have to hope that UNO, Rider, USC and Villanova all have fantastic seasons. Before the season, I pegged our record to be 4-1 right now. Of course I would have never predicted how we got to this 4-1, but in hindsight I think that this is the best 4-1 that we could have been.

* It only took the ESPN announcing crew until the last minute of the game to FINALLY highlight one of the bad calls against State. Fran Fraschilla commentated the entire game from the Villanova perspective and Len Elmore…well, Len Elmore can bite me.

* State just won two close games in a row by one possession. What an amazing change from the trend prior to Coach Lowe’s arrival in Raleigh.

* The ACC had a little stumble about a week ago, but since then the conference has really succeeded and seems to be out performing what some people expected heading into the year. The ACC is a combined 51-10 after play on Sunday.

* Coach Lowe has stated that we will have different players step up for us at different times this season and tonight was no exception. Ben McCauley played great in the first half and shooting guard, Courtney Fells was clearly the player of the game scoring 21 points on 6 of 9 shooting from the field including 4 of 6 from the three point line.

* State shot a fantastic 46.7% from the three point line. If the Wolfpack can just shoot at a 35%+ clip from behind the arc (and shoot 70% or better from the free throw line) then we will win a lot of basketball games this year.

* Any “old schoolers” out there remember Walker Lambiotte nailing two free throws with no time remaining on the clock to lift the Wolfpack to a win in an early season tournament in the mid 1980s?

* One of the things that I love the most about the internet is that forums exist for others to help validate my own opinion. I thought that the officiating and announcning tonight were both very, very challenging. So, you can understand how much I loved checking in on some of the message boards and seeing an inordinate amount of fans making similar comments. On one thread two posters with excellent historical reputations for objectivity whose opinions I respect more than most had chimed in back to back on a thread titled “Reffing in the Nova Game”.

There is absolutely no way that the ref that called that last foul on Nova was actually on the court the rest of the game. I dare anyone to prove it. The fact is, State got royally jobbed all night and for the Nova fans to actually boo at the end of the game was pretty sweet revenge actually. Take the refs and their phantom foul calls and over-the-back no calls out and we win by double figures IMO.

ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC. This was as bad as the Alabama game 2 years ago. Unreal. We would have won this one by 10-15 with honest refs.

I will add that the announcers might as well be wearind Nova jerseys as well. Elmore needs to do a better job of sticking up for the ACC. If I see that 70 year old, no neck midget reffing on of our games again I am going to vomit.

Even though we won I am still pi$$ed. No calls on over the back. Phantom fouls to give them multiple three point plays. JJ geeting hammered time after time with no calls. Every single loose ball out of bounds went to Nova. Hopefully these guys go back to refereeing junior high games in Boca Raton now that the tournament is over.

More fantastic comments from BJD are included below:

* Sid could give a clinic on effective working of the officials. Make your point emphatically, but don’t show the ref up. Although the foul against Grant was legitimate, 9 times out of 10, it isn’t called. I firmly believe it was a make up call.

* Another great sign – Sid and Ben share an enthusiatic post-game hug. I think those issues are behind us as well. It can and will be different guys on different nights.

* Yes, I know he bricked one of the free throws. But we have no chance to win that game without Degand’s hustle play. Not only did he stop Nova from getting an easy two, he skied between THREE Wildcats, and by sheer force of will, got position and drew the foul.

* Hickson is handling the double team better, and his fast break assist was a thing of beauty.

* Fells rose to the occasion all weekend. As we showed in the first two games, it’s hard to run an effective offense without him.

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07-08 Basketball

115 Responses to Wildcats, Officials Can’t Stop 4-1 Pack, 69-68

  1. MadWolf92 11/26/2007 at 11:20 AM #

    I don’t understand why people think the last call was a bad one. Well, I guess I *do* understand. People think that the rules of basketball should be enforced *except* during a game-defining play at the end of the game. What I don’t understand is this mentality. “Let them play!” equates to “Give the more foul-prone team the advantage!” I got no problem letting foul shots decide a game. They often have long before the buzzer sounds in most games anyway.

  2. pack80 11/26/2007 at 11:21 AM #

    Agree with all of the above BUT….Sid, please have one entire practice devoted to learning how to BLOCK OUT. Get your butt out, block out, and force the refs to call over the back. The way we are giving up offensive rebounds is ridiculous. And then make 100 free throws before you hit the showers. We need to learn these things before UNX and DUK come to town!
    And please let’s blow someone out soon. These close games are getting to be too much for my heart.
    Go Pack!

  3. PAPacker 11/26/2007 at 11:28 AM #

    My beefs with ESPN were that first, they seem to have planned ahead how the game was supposed to go, hence the endless packages showing Reynolds and Fisher in the game. (I didn’t see one isolation package on a Stage player.) Second, there was almost no play by play/analysis of the game as it was actually happening. The whole game seemed to be a recitation of the world the players came from (especially Villanova players) and so little if any insight about the game as it was happening. I’m not at all surprised by the tone of the coverage. The $$$ are in the Northeast (i.e., Big East) markets therefore ESPN gears its coverage, its choice of on air talent to get those people to watch. The same with Gottlieb/Brennan. It makes me sick. It’s very similar to the public relations crusade already begun to make Duke seem like a giant in the land so that ESPN can promote the UNC-Duke rivalry this year. I can’t tell you how much I miss Jim Thacker/Billy Packer, when commentary was about the game and not so overdetermined by ESPN’s corporate empirical plans. If ESPN/Disney are going to throw something like this together, get some officials who have a minimal level of competency. Replay after replay showed Costner, Fells, McCauley getting called for fouls with space between them and the offensive player or squeeky clean blocks. Hickson was beaten to death inside with no calls. ESPN is so meticulous with fullfiling its own corporate aims, at least take a minute to get officials who aren’t an embarrassment and who have a significant affect on the game’s outcome.

  4. highonlowe 11/26/2007 at 11:31 AM #

    Someone seems to be bogarting my handle….

    highonlowe (the original since ’06)

  5. Dr. BadgerPack 11/26/2007 at 11:35 AM #

    One good thing about the officiating: it’s a good tuneup for when we’re getting hosed against UNC and Duke…

  6. Stoner 11/26/2007 at 11:38 AM #

    I don’t understand why people think the last call was a bad one.

    Because when you slow it down in slow motion, it looks questionable. At game speed it seemed like a good call to me. Grant went up for his shot and fell backwards as the ‘Nova defender came at him. Seemed like contact was there to me.

    Great big men get hacked. Hickson better get used to it and start being more physical, like Hansborough is in college, right now and the way Shaq played for most of his career in the NBA.

  7. newt 11/26/2007 at 11:58 AM #

    Yes, the officiating was heinous, including the foul call at the end. Biggest confusion was 4 phantom calls on Costner. Whatever.

    To what we can control, we would have won by 20 if we had not kept ‘Nova in it by giving up turnovers and rebounds. God, that was frustrating.

    Discussions about our past teams are irrelevent because we never would have beaten South Carolina to get to this game.

  8. statered 11/26/2007 at 12:07 PM #

    “Great big men get hacked. Hickson better get used to it and start being more physical, like Hansborough is in college,”

    Big difference here is that Hansjob gets the call 99% of the time, always has. that is what we are complaining about, not getting the call.

  9. newt 11/26/2007 at 12:18 PM #

    This Grant quote should not be missed:

    “I was relieved because we didn’t have to have one of those practices again. After the New Orleans game, we had a track practice,” Grant said. “I was just happy for me and my teammates that we don’t have to go through that again.”

    espn.com

  10. Girlfriend in a Coma 11/26/2007 at 12:18 PM #

    I’m the last guy to talk about conspiracies, etc., but after our game was over (and we won), when ESPN ran the “ticker” thing on the bottom of the screen, after our score was flashed up, they were only showing the stats of ‘Nova’s (losing) players. (This morning they had fixed that). It’s obvious what storyline ESPN was looking for. That little c—sucker in the studio made me want to throw my cat through the TV. Also, at halftime, the storyline that went along with the highlights was all about Villanova, even though we were up 5. Is there some ESPN-‘Nova connection I don’t know about?

  11. Girlfriend in a Coma 11/26/2007 at 12:22 PM #

    I am terrible with html and all that stuff, but if you go to the N & O’s photo gallery, photo # 20 shows Grant getting absolutely raped by Reynolds on that last shot. Someone should at the very least post it here and at the most we should send Gottlieb about 10,000 copies.

    http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/ncsu/photos/story/793017.html

  12. highonlowe 11/26/2007 at 12:32 PM #

    “Someone seems to be bogarting my handle….
    highonlowe (the original since ‘06)”

    sorry about that. I will choose another handle.

    I don’t know how I was able to register this name if it is already taken. I tried several different names before it let me register with this one.

  13. GoldenChain 11/26/2007 at 12:35 PM #

    The rebounding bothers me terribly. We should OWN the glass with the studs we have. Way too many times McCauley and Costner were flat footed under the Nova basket while a guard came in and skied for the board.
    I think the FT’s will come but they definitely need to work on the rebounding.

  14. MadWolf92 11/26/2007 at 12:38 PM #

    *Because when you slow it down in slow motion, it looks questionable.*

    There were two possibilities to call the foul. One is shown in the picture mentioned by GinaC above. The other is as Grant is about to shoot, and the big guy reaches out and contacts his shooting arm *before* raising his hands straight up. The shot was no where near the basket, so you have to think that definitely affected the shot.

  15. PAPacker 11/26/2007 at 12:38 PM #

    Girlfriend, thanks for the link. According to the N and O, the shot of Reynolds raping Grant is when he makes the catch, not when he launches the shot, so maybe Grant should have gotten 2 shots instead of three. Still, if this call favored State, it was no makeup for the terrible officiating through the rest of the game.

  16. MadWolf92 11/26/2007 at 12:40 PM #

    Oh, and if people (Gottlieb, other douches, etc.) said that the call was questionable, but didn’t focus on it (i.e. didn’t say it was a “horrible” call), I could understand *that*. But clearly. *clearly*. it was not “horrible”.

  17. packgrad93 11/26/2007 at 1:01 PM #

    good win. lucky, but we’ll take it.

  18. burnbarn 11/26/2007 at 1:07 PM #

    Glad to have a win and it is nice to win a game like that for a change on a close call…. we have been on the other end of that too many times.

    I don’t think any of the N and Blow pis shows the foul. The foul happened after the catch as GG is going up…he gets slapped on the arm. On the release, the players arms are straight up. Didn’t the announcer even say he could see the foul?

    But on missing the calls… the walk on GG and the foul on Fells with about 5 minutes left…puhleeze.

    This is our first non RBC tourney win since 1987. Wow 20 years..no wonder no one remembers.

    great win by the pack and let’s get another Wednesday night. Mich State is a good team, but they are suspect just like us and most any team. We can win, but we will have to do a better job on the boards as MS may be the best rebounding team we have faced..of course, it can’t get much worse than it has been.

  19. thebigwood 11/26/2007 at 1:15 PM #

    Does anyone know if there is a particular coach that is responsible for coaching the frontcourt?

  20. Girlfriend in a Coma 11/26/2007 at 1:23 PM #

    Harris does the big men, I think.

  21. xphoenix87 11/26/2007 at 1:37 PM #

    ESPN can’t even compliment us without being demeaning.

    “The win over Villanova to claim the Old Spice Classic, regardless of your feelings on the late foul call, will be a high mark for the Wolfpack on their tourney résumé.”

  22. Dr. BadgerPack 11/26/2007 at 1:49 PM #

    Doesn’t really matter to me what they say about the Villanova win; at the end of the day, it’s still a win! ESPN probably likes Villanova because of the basketball orgy they have in Philly every year…

    As far as the ACC?BIg 10… Rebounding against Michigan St isn’t as big a concern (to me, anyway) as the wide-open looks we continue to allow from 3-pt range. Neitzel will kill us if we let him shoot uncontested triples all day.

    Low post play should be interesting to watch as well. MIchigan St.’s MO is usually to rotate their plethora of big men and pound the other team into submission. We have enough big guys to somehwat negate that strategy (heck, Smith might have a necessary role in this game depending on whether the foul or no-foul refs show up).

  23. pakfanistan 11/26/2007 at 3:04 PM #

    My problem is Gottlieb is straight up lying about the last call.

    “There is no vemon or vitriol in saying that NC State was given the Old Spice title game by a last-second foul call in Orlando on Sunday. The fact is that in what seemed like a great finish to a well-played game, longtime official Jim Burr was in perfect position to call a foul and he did not. Instead, the official on the baseline anticipated the foul and frankly, he blew it. While it is absolutely fair to say the call was wrong, it is also fair to say that officials need time to round into mid-season form. The more hoops I watch, the more it seems like positioning and anticipating a call lead to bad calls far more than malice. ”

    I’m pretty sure the official on the sideline closest to the shot is the one that called it. Grant went to shoot, the whistle blew, and the official came walking into the screen from the bottom (which was the sideline closest to the play) holding up three fingers.

    I have a newfound hatred for this person Doug Gottlieb who I had never heard of until this weekend.

  24. noah 11/26/2007 at 3:22 PM #

    On Nova’s last bucket, Costner made an idiotic move. He had no shot at blocking the FG, but he left his man to take a wild swat at the ball. That meant that the Nova center wasn’t being blocked out and could lay the ball back in.

  25. ppack3 11/26/2007 at 3:29 PM #

    Anyone else see the “box out” job that the Nova player did on Hickson on the shot that was put back with 2.2 to go. Is it just me, or was that guy boxing out Hickson as the Nova player went by grant at the arc? The put back was also an “over-the-back” no-call. And, as I recall, at least the announcers acknowledged the bad (Shoved… err) travel call on Grant. Too, it would be nice if Gavin looked striaght into the camera after those winning free throws, and said “WE are f-ing winners” There’s no I in team, but there is a M and an E.

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