Phantom Call Gives Duke Final Two Points

As both replays in this entry indicate, there was the slightest bit of contact during the first part of Nelson’s drive that was obviously initiated by Nelson’s hook. No whistle blew at the time of the contact. The whistle didn’t blow (and a foul wasn’t called) until a part of the play where there was no contact and until Nelson jumped out of bounds with the ball still in his hands. At that point the whistle HAD to blow. But, as we all know in the ACC, the call also HAD to go against Duke’s opponent.

Since the guys at 850 The Buzz have so much time on their hands and love YouTube so much…I’m looking forward to the song that they write to coordinate with Duke’s winning points today.

Rob Roberts of the N&O was gracious enough to post a link to his video of the call, in the comments, review that and form your opinion.

You knew it was going to happen. We really had little chance. With the Devils down a point and with the ball…DeMarcus Nelson was close to traveling, then blatantly hooked Ben McCauley with his free arm as he drove to the basket (how many times does Brandon Costner get called for this?), then traveled again while simultaneously landing out of bounds with the ball in his hands.

The ACC officials call?

Foul on Ben McCauley. Two shots for DeMarcus Nelson.

Duke hits two free throws. Nobody else scores. Game over. Thanks for playing. The ACC’s darlings are protected and their seed in the NCAA Tournament doesn’t drop any further.

Shew. Disaster averted.

Coach K Wins #800 Duke 87, NC State 86

You can view the CBS video here.


As both replays in this entry indicate, there was the slightest bit of contact during the first part of Nelson’s drive that was obviously initiated by Nelson’s hook. No whistle blew at the time of the contact. The whistle didn’t blow (and a foul wasn’t called) until a part of the play where there was no contact and until Nelson jumped out of bounds with the ball still in his hands. At that point the whistle HAD to blow. But, as we all know in the ACC, the call also HAD to go against Duke’s opponent.

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231 Responses to Phantom Call Gives Duke Final Two Points

  1. ncsumatman 03/01/2008 at 2:25 PM #

    My point is with 18.8 seconds or so, and a shot clock differential of 5 seconds, you just aren’t going to have time to get a good shot, period. Foul out of the timeout, send em to the line, probably Paulus or Scheyer the only two who would touch it, let em hit their two and you still need a 3. Only now you have time to try to set one up.

    BJD: Damn right. As long as Scheyer hits the rim with that shot, the game is over. We got the rebound with 3 seconds left, and were lucky to even get a shot off. And that was a good outcome – what if the shot goes in or Duke gets the rebound?

    JB: We actually got the rebound with over 4 seconds on the clock.

  2. Trip 03/01/2008 at 2:25 PM #

    “Call time out to inbound in the backcourt, let them set up their press. I think the right call happened, push it up the floor and dont let them set the D. It took us 7-8 seconds all game to gt it up court, we did the right thing.”

    ^^^ That’s what happened. With 3 seconds left you can’t let duke setup their press which takes us 10 seconds sometimes to get out of. Right call, imo.

    If this is what we can play like, and we’re only losing grant, I feel a LITTLE better about next year.

  3. theTHRILL 03/01/2008 at 2:25 PM #

    I find it difficult to take any consolation following a game that we led by 13 points in the second half at home against our rivals.

  4. roandaddy 03/01/2008 at 2:26 PM #

    I think we had way more than 3 secs on the rebound at the end.
    We looked as confused and sputtered up the floor..leaving the ole “heave ho” for the final shot. Thats where a time out would have helped!

    Ok.. don’t shoot me.. but had we won, I think I would have been even madder about this season. Like getting a hole in one after you triple bogied the last two holes. Its nice to celebrate, but doesn’t help your round.

  5. CStanley 03/01/2008 at 2:27 PM #

    Tough season. Losing today, in the fashion we did, is like a kick in nuts when we’re already all down.

    Sometimes I feel like God hates us.

    On top of pulling in a massively awesome recruiting class the next couple of seasons, Lowe needs players who are tough, KNOW they’re going to win in situations like today, and players who aren’t afraid to go out and get what the hell they want.

    Give me a team like that and I’ll show you a championship program.

  6. AtariWolf 03/01/2008 at 2:27 PM #

    Can Duke just go ahead and change their uniforms to black and white stripes? It’s confusing when only 3 of their teammates where that uniform on the court.

  7. Sweet jumper 03/01/2008 at 2:28 PM #

    Good effort. I did not expect us to play that well. Javi, Tracy, Ben and Trevor busted their guts. They should start with Hickson or Grant next Saturday and at the tournament. Horner, MJ and Costner were massive liabilities today. Fells was also a downer but not to the degree of the three stooges. Javi did a very good job against Paulus. He has really matured over the last couple of months. I do not mind losing when we play like that, but we should have won that game.
    Sid says that K told him that we outplayed Duke today and they were very fortunate to win.

  8. VladsCross 03/01/2008 at 2:28 PM #

    Can’t complain about the performance or heart of the players in this game. It was there and it showed throughout. It feels good just to type that about our squad. I can see something in coming in those underclassmen.

    I still say the TO should have been taken! Bad game management by Lowe. Also, while we’re on the subject. I’ll give Lowe a little more time, but Strickland and Towe need to burn the road up. Worthless

  9. branjawn 03/01/2008 at 2:28 PM #

    it’s already started (actual text convo)…

    Me: nice ghost foul
    duke player hooks McCauley
    you know that was bullshit

    Duke fan: dude it was after the foul
    they called the foul first then the hook came

    BJD: That’s actually true. They called the phantom “bump” first. Pure anticipation call by the ref. He had already decided to blow the whistle when drive started.

  10. BJD95 03/01/2008 at 2:30 PM #

    That was as good as we are capable of playing, and we still lost. That’s not good enough for me.

    No moral victories when we are 4-11 in conference play and starting at a losing season overall. I fully expect us to completely mail in the last two games.

  11. BAC79 03/01/2008 at 2:30 PM #

    My worry for next year among many is will it take us 20 games to figure it out next year?

  12. Rick 03/01/2008 at 2:30 PM #

    We gave that game away plain and simple. It was a crappy call but if McCauley hits his FT or Fells stops turning the ball over like its his job we win.

    Our player just play stupid basketball.

  13. Trip 03/01/2008 at 2:31 PM #

    “And not having Hickson in the game at the end cost us this game.”

    Uhm…

    Mccauley – 7-11 FG 5-6 FT 3 Rebounds 3 Assists 1 foul 19 points
    Hickson – 3-6 FG 2-2 FT 5 Rebounds 2 Assists 3 foul 8 points

    I’d have to say no. Hickson was having a terrible game defensively and offensively.

  14. Noah 03/01/2008 at 2:31 PM #

    To be honest, I expected to lose something like 150-3 and for us to be crying and begging for mercy at the end of the game. So I’m reasonably pleased. yes, I wanted to win. Yes, I spent the entire second half believing we would win.

    But I had fun watching us play today. I haven’t had that experience this year.

  15. MatSci94 03/01/2008 at 2:32 PM #

    “did Javy not get clotheslined”

    Yes he absolutely did. Fouled by the Duke player on the arms, and Javi fell down. I believe if you look at the (not called) foul on Javi, and Costner’s retaliation, they will look remarkably similar.

    At the same time, I know the foul was intentional, but it was not that hard of a foul. Costner got him on the arm. It was not a shove from behind, or a viscous hack, or, ahem, an elbow to the nose. I’ve seen contact like this not even called a foul, much less intentional.

  16. Rick 03/01/2008 at 2:32 PM #

    “That was as good as we are capable of playing, and we still lost. That’s not good enough for me.”

    Thats it in a nutshell.
    However, had we played like this all year we are not 4-11.

    Just makes me sick about the wasted year.

  17. BJD95 03/01/2008 at 2:33 PM #

    We had heart today, but the “scarecrow” problem remains. Not having Gavin at the end really hurt. He can defend, rebound, and create his own shot. And we could have left Fells on the bench where he fucking belongs.

  18. Rochester 03/01/2008 at 2:33 PM #

    Tracy Smith has turned himself into a very good free-throw shooter. At the beginning of the year he was Lance Thomas bad. But now he’s almost automatic. That only comes from hard work, so nice going, Tracy.

  19. BAC79 03/01/2008 at 2:33 PM #

    I’m with BJD. No moral victory here. If we could play like this today, we could have played like this all season.

    Why did we wait until 2 games left in the season to put forth EFFORT.

  20. Ismael 03/01/2008 at 2:34 PM #

    ^ Exactly Noah…we should all just realize this was a game not only were we expected lose even if we had played well this year, but considering how we had played 150-3 is about right.

    And anymore talk about Lowe doesn’t know what he’s doing and i’m gonna start asking for names and addresses so i can send some flaming bags of poo to your house.

    BJD: He did prove that he can’t do math today.

  21. branjawn 03/01/2008 at 2:35 PM #

    Can we just bomb Cameron Indoor and call it even? God I hate DUKE!

  22. BJD95 03/01/2008 at 2:35 PM #

    I would rather us have lost by 40 like I expected. Then my weekend wouldn’t have been ruined. I could have just laughed it off.

  23. Rick 03/01/2008 at 2:36 PM #

    As a whole I really do not like this team.

    They are lazy and play stupid. Not very good representatives for my alma mater IMO.

    BJD: Rick and I are in complete agreement today.

    There are some bright spots and exceptions (Javi, Ferg and Smith) but as a whole I am ready to get rid of the lot and start with new players.

  24. westwolf 03/01/2008 at 2:36 PM #

    BS…poor coaching cost us this game. Along with poor talent evaluations. How in the hell did Lowe decide to play Johnson, at all. He is a complete waste.

  25. BAC79 03/01/2008 at 2:36 PM #

    Ismael: Do you have an inside track with the coach. What evidence have we seen this year that he knows what he is doing?

    I think at the end of next year we will know whether or not he can coach.

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