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Quick stuff (Baylor game - NCAAT)...

gary-7

gary-7

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...and this one (the outcome, at least) was about JUSTICE.

I'm just gonna say it (and dissent at your peril) but for those of us who have lived and breathed Carolina basketball since our youth, this was an old-fashioned against-all-odds / 5-on-8 / de-facto-road-game Carolina tourney win. Somewhere in heaven Woody Durham was calling this one. Unfortunately, he would've had to say. "go where ya go, and do what ya do". Thing is, it should never have come anywhere near down to that... but more on that below.

First, my game notes:
- Our first two possessions worried me as we looked sluggish out of the gate and got down 0-4, but lemme tell ya, we woke up and gave Baylor a good first-half ass-whuppin, all the while fending off their incessant goon-ball. And no, that is not too strong of a term. It started with their normal shenanigans of grab-and-hold defense combined with illegal screens on pretty much every possession. And I was really proud of how we "played thru" that junk.

- And hell, we came out in the second, fending off even more Baylor goonery to extend the lead to what SHOULD have been the decisive margin. Again, more on that below...

- Speaking of waking up, somebody gave RJ a loud alarm today, because he came out smokin'. Thank heaven, as our other marksmen hadn't got outta bed just yet. Baylor's physicality also woke us up in general as we blocked out and won the scrums more often than not. And maybe most importantly, we played as good a version of 22 defense as I've seen in a LONG time --- almost nothing Baylor got was uncontested.

- Ok, I'm gonna say it straight-up: There were 2 big reasons we extended out to a 25-pt lead --- for a brief shining 7-8 minutes, the zebras actually called some of the continuous fouling (that they'd mostly ignored in the first half), and Birdy Manek woke up and took their asses to school. Yeah, well... so much for that. Apparently they got the memo and it turned the game. There were more horrible calls/no-calls than you could shake a stick at. Most momentum-changing was the gawd-awful body-check on Caleb tha resulted in a back-court, and of course, the terrible assignment of a flagrant-2 for what was by rule a flagrant-1. Not only did that eject our hottest guy, it took away a veteran decision-maker in the face of Baylor's "hot" press.

- Now, as a coach you hafta point out that we lost our composure in the wake of that, committing dumb offensive frustration-fouls, making dumb passes and missing way the hell too many FTs. In other words, we stopped "playing thru". And in Press-O (that we executed so well Thursday) we held the ball instead of quick reversals and pitching ahead (thankfully that got mostly cleaned up in OT).

- Speaking of OT... we were watching the debacle of the last 10 minutes, hoping against hope that it wouldn't get to OT --- what with us down two starters, and them (miraculously) down none. But lemme tell ya, we got some clutch heroics from off the bench. Dontez nailing that opening 3 was MEGA-BIG to regain our mojo (Lordy, when he finally learns to play under control...), and McKoy coming in cold and playing D like an absolute HOSS, as Mando was saddled with foul trouble. I dunno what Hubert said in the huddle before OT (I"m sure Adam will tell us at some point), but it worked. And THE key move was finally swithing Leaky onto #10 (who was abusing RJ on isos) and choking that f***er off. Yeah... as much as I DIDN'T like our last regulation possession, that made up for it. Net reult? 13-6 in OT, bitches!

- And finally... and I ain't holding back. The way that game was called was inexcusable. Take this in, y'all: That bleach-blonde goon #1 had 3 fouls called all game --- again, THREE fouls. That dirty sumbitch shouldn't have made it to half-time. Un-f***ing-real. And while Scott Drew is a capable coach (who has a Natty under his belt) I have ZERO respect for a coach that encourages his teams to play goon-ball like that. It's the sort of shortcut that wrecks a beautiful game, and has no place. And far too often a bad crew doesn't rein it in early and fights, injuries and mayhem ensue, too often affecting the outcomes, and/or the retaliator getting the blame.

- Anyway (phew, deep breath...), I filled out 4 brackets for various contests, and had us beating Baylor in every one. That wasn't homerism. I knew damn well we were better than them... IF we continued our aggressive play, and IF we could survive everything that was stacked against us. Somehow, some way, we did. I can't help harkening back to 1977 and surviving a similar environment vs Bill Laimbeer and his ND goon-squad on St Patrick's day, no less. The bad news there was Phil Ford got hurt. Hopefully we come out of today with only bruises. But in both those games, the final result was JUCTICE, baby!....... :mad: :cool:
 
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Great write up gary, for my money best ever!

Yall know me, I ain't that guy that points to the refs for reason we lose or play a close game but this was insane, the NCAA should review this game tape and STRONGLY reprimand that crew, their season should be like Baylor, DONE!
 
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Yeah I hat the blame the ref excuse but today’s officiating was absolutely without a doubt inexcusable! That damn crew should be sat for the rest of this tournament and if not I surely hope Bubba let’s the NCAA that we do not want that crew officiating anymore of our games. I feel at this level of basketball a team just doesn’t blow a 25pt lead in 8 minutes without some damn help…. Again, absolutely inexcusable what our boys were subjected to today.
 
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1. Pat Forde and other national media are saying this crew should sent home for the rest of the tourney. Somehow I doubt that will happen. We will see.

2. Our guys being attacked like this every game now because there is a feeling across the country that Carolina is soft. Look for it to continue next week.

3. It's a good thing I was not in attendance today. That backcourt violation where Caleb was mugged may have gotten me arrested. Damn shameful call.

4. The 3 by Styles to open the OT won the game. That shot was the difference.
I was reserved to the fact we would lose in OT.😥
 
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gary-7 said:
...and this one (the outcome, at least) was about JUSTICE.

I'm just gonna say it (and dissent at your peril) but for those of us who have lived and breathed Carolina basketball since our youth, this was an old-fashioned against-all-odds / 5-on-8 / de-facto-road-game Carolina tourney win. Somewhere in heaven Woody Durham was calling this one. Unfortunately, he would've had to say. "go where ya go, and do what ya do". Thing is, it should never have come anywhere near down to that... but more on that below.

First, my game notes:
- Our first two possessions worried me as we looked sluggish out of the gate and got down 0-4, but lemme tell ya, we woke up and gave Baylor a good first-half ass-whuppin, all the while fending off their incessant goon-ball. And no, that is not too strong of a term. It started with their normal shenanigans of grab-and-hold defense combined with illegal screens on pretty much every possession. And I was really proud of how we "played thru" that junk.

- And hell, we came out in the second, fending off even more Baylor goonery to extend the lead to what SHOULD have been the decisive margin. Again, more on that below...

- Speaking of waking up, somebody gave RJ a loud alarm today, because he came out smokin'. Thank heaven, as our other marksmen hadn't got outta bed just yet. Baylor's physicality also woke us up in general as we blocked out and won the scrums more often than not. And maybe most importantly, we played as good a version of 22 defense as I've seen in a LONG time --- almost nothing Baylor got was uncontested.

- Ok, I'm gonna say it straight-up: There were 2 big reasons we extended out to a 25-pt lead --- for a brief shining 7-8 minutes, the zebras actually called some of the continuous fouling (that they'd mostly ignored in the first half), and Birdy Manek woke up and took their asses to school. Yeah, well... so much for that. Apparently they got the memo and it turned the game. There were more horrible calls/no-calls than you could shake a stick at. Most momentum-changing was the gawd-awful body-check on Caleb tha resulted in a back-court, and of course, the terrible assignment of a flagrant-2 for what was by rule a flagrant-1. Not only did that eject our hottest guy, it took away a veteran decision-maker in the face of Baylor's "hot" press.

- Now, as a coach you hafta point out that we lost our composure in the wake of that, committing dumb offensive frustration-fouls, making dumb passes and missing way the hell too many FTs. In other words, we stopped "playing thru". And in Press-O (that we executed so well Thursday) we held the ball instead of quick reversals and pitching ahead (thankfully that got mostly cleaned up in OT).

- Speaking of OT... we were watching the debacle of the last 10 minutes, hoping against hope that it wouldn't get to OT --- what with us down two starters, and them (miraculously) down none. But lemme tell ya, we got some clutch heroics from off the bench. Dontez nailing that opening 3 was MEGA-BIG to regain our mojo (Lordy, when he finally learns to play under control...), and McKoy coming in cold and playing D like an absolute HOSS, as Mando was saddled with foul trouble. I dunno what Hubert said in the huddle before OT (I"m sure Adam will tell us at some point), but it worked. And THE key move was finally swithing Leaky onto #10 (who was abusing RJ on isos) and choking that f***er off. Yeah... as much as I DIDN'T like our last regulation possession, that made up for it. Net reult? 13-6 in OT, bitches!

- And finally... and I ain't holding back. The way that game was called was inexcusable. Take this in, y'all: That bleach-blonde goon #1 had 3 fouls called all game --- again, THREE fouls. That dirty sumbitch shouldn't have made it to half-time. Un-f***ing-real. And while Scott Drew is a capable coach (who has a Natty under his belt) I have ZERO respect for a coach that encourages his teams to play goon-ball like that. It's the sort of shortcut that wrecks a beautiful game, and has no place. And far too often a bad crew doesn't rein it in early and fights, injuries and mayhem ensue, too often affecting the outcomes, and/or the retaliator getting the blame.

- Anyway (phew, deep breath...), I filled out 4 brackets for various contests, and had us beating Baylor in every one. That wasn't homerism. I knew damn well we were better than them... IF we continued our aggressive play, and IF we could survive everything that was stacked against us. Somehow, some way, we did. I can't help harkening back to 1977 and surviving a similar environment vs Bill Laimbeer and his ND goon-squad on St Patrick's day, no less. The bad news there was Phil Ford got hurt. Hopefully we come out of today with only bruises. But in both those games, the final result was JUCTICE, baby!....... :mad: :cool:
Click to expand...
Any one of multiple calls being made properly and this was a no contest. One of my prouder moments of 50++ years of being A Heel fan!! Win and keep playing
 
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Hello guys.... from Texas, I am about to get on a plane home, and I am typing this on a
buddies' phone, so I am not sure how it will translate. I will add some points sometime
tomorrow and remember this...., this game was the perfect example of survive and advance.

Hope this finds its way to the board, I just don't know, and I am so damn technologically challenged.
 
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Gary this was the worst officiated game I have seen in my life. I told y’all before….that beat down on Duke….well they are still trying to pay us back….but guess what…..this team plays D now and we can get stops.

And all of y’all criticizing Gary for calling out the refs…..how do you feel about the refs today!

Where are all the UNC haters now?

National Champs….bank on it!
 
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RJ was a monster throughout. White hot 1st half to guide us to a cushion, and gigantic onions when they were throwing the kitchen sink at him in OT. BIG TIME !!!!!!

That bargain basement imitation Cisco looking hatchet man got away with murder throughout!!! Cheap garbage plays, still Brady has to be smarter. Brady was having another lights out second half and he lost his composure. As bad as the refs were, I shook my head when he bowed up, and immediately said, DAMN that is a flagrant 2, he's done.

Trez Styles !!!!!!! That 3 ball to start OT was HUGE!!!!! Gave us key minutes and the physicality sure as heck wasn't too much for him. Stepped up!! Even got some play from McCoy.

Leaky Black !!!! Once again almost complete lockdown of the other teams stud scorer in the 1st half, to key (along with RJ on offense) the 20 plus lead. He has been SO good in his role, just indispensable.

By far our worst free throw shooting game and it almost cost us. Mando has improved so much at the stripe, but he looked shook down the stretch.

Missed Caleb badly down the stretch !!!

The 2nd signature type victory, of which there will be many of for Hubert. His demeanor and leadership going into an OT where everything was going sideways is clutch.

Sweet 16, get a good week in of practice, and try to win another 4 team tournament in Philly next week !!!!!
 
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Mullet Man and that james bond villain looking dude (blondie) should've fouled out about 2 times each. CLEARLY A FOUL where he pushed Caleb over the time line.

I don't know what Hubert said before Overtime but I can't wait to find out. TBH, I'm sure it was just normal coach-speak, but whatever it was, worked magic.
 
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Styles took a big leap this game. Except for one bad turnover I thought he played a great game. Played good D and had some great rebounds and helped lead to Offensive rebounds. It would have been nice to see Manek go for 4-0. Sisqo and Joe Dirt should have fouled out well before Manek’s horrible F2.
I will be the first one to say we crapped the bed the last 10 min. Fans tend to bring up refs it’s just nature. I knew it wasn’t just me seeing this horrible reffed game when I got texts from 15 friends saying UNC was getting screwed and they are not UNC fans. Most of them hate UNC. The last 6.5 minutes it was 10 fouls to one for Baylor. I believe that one for Baylor was not during the full court holding, beating, running through people for the ball, press. Besides lack of calls the two out of bounds missed calls with the refs in perfect position to see and miss it, I don’t get. Or the quick 5 sec call on the inbound play. I counted and did the arm count, Multiple times. That had to be the fastest arm swing count in NCAA history.

Manek said after the Marquette he came to UNC to get passed the next game (Baylor). In his career he has not made it that far. I felt bad for him walking off the court. I was emotionally drained after this game. I can’t even imagine the hell he went through in the locker room. He’s on a mission and I love it.
 
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DSouthr said:
Great write up gary, for my money best ever!

Yall know me, I ain't that guy that points to the refs for reason we lose or play a close game but this was insane, the NCAA should review this game tape and STRONGLY reprimand that crew, their season should be like Baylor, DONE!
Click to expand...
Thank you brother. I appreciate that.
Writing it was quite cathartic...😎
 
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Hello everyone..., Gary, you nailed your post game summary.

So many really apropos posts in this thread, I will not be redundant if I can help it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of Tar Heel fans in Fort Worth. The new Dickies Arena is a very nice facility. Lots of former Heels and Roy of course were there, as well as several other former coaches.

About the officiating, which seems to be a major topic. Eppley, Hampton, and Kissinger were the officiating crew. Some, as Gary mentioned may remember Kissinger from the Clemson game where there were so many fouls whistled, and I think he was also on a crew that called another game of ours that escapes me at this time, that had an inordinate number of fouls called. Think about this, there were 56 FG's made in this game AND there were 53 fouls called in this game, that's almost a 1 to 1 ratio! That's very poor officiating at best.

That alone should impress upon anyone watching this game just how much influence the officials had in this game. When a game is well officiated, the officials are an afterthought. In this game they were the main focus unfortunately. It all began in the 1st half when the officiating crew did not get the game under control from the start.

The 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half the officials did call many of the numerous fouls committed by the Baylor players and they were obvious to all...., and then came the flagrant 2 on Brady, which is one of the most egregious calls I have ever witnessed.

Look..., it was a FOUL no question about it. However, the fact that the kid involved had been warned by this same officiating crew about pushing and grabbing happens to be the player who Brady elbowed, and had held and grabbed Brady just before this sequence of events and with an official watching it and did not call anything. Brady's elbow was UNINTENTIONALLY INTENTIONAL, if you understand what I mean. Brady's intention was to send a message to this guy that, "Ok, if you want to play dirty, I know how to play dirty, take this". There were many times in my career that either dirty players or players that wanted to test your physicality had to be dealt with and Brady was dealing with a dirty player.

Now, as to the decision to eject Brady from this game: This is where the officials
lost control. What should have been a flagrant 1 and play on, became a travesty.
To eject a player in what may have been his last game of his career who was on fire offensively and was frustrating the bleached blond with his defense, when said player had been warned more than once about his antics was, in my opinion and many others....a complete failure of control of the game. In a tournament this popular and the stage so huge, you don't eject a player unless he throws punches or has or has tried to intentionally hurt an opposing player. The bleach blond guy did an acting job, plain and simple, as he had no ill effects from the encounter as you also may have noticed.

Then we get to post Brady exit. There was a distinct change in the momentum of this game once Brady was ceremoniously ejected. I have never in my life as a player or an observer...., seen an officiating crew OFFICIATE TO THE CROWD as did these from the 10:47 mark until OT. It even embarrassed some of the Baylor people who were sitting around us. This crew wanted to magnify their presence in this game and make the game about them, and it again was obvious to so many. All because they did not have control and let the fouling, holding, grabbing, slapping, illegal screening (which was never called once that I remember) during the last 10 or so minutes.

The team aided Baylor by losing their composure during this stretch. But..., you have to understand that once the officiating goes against you and stays against you and you get no calls on the above mentioned aggressive play by Baylor, composure is all but impossible. Then we get to OT.

Most of you, no..., most likely none of you were able to witness the conversation taking place at the scorer's table with those 3 officials and one person, who I have no idea who he was. It may well have been an NCAA observer of officiating, as you should be aware, that the OT was officiated entirely differently for that 5 minute period and the result was what we all wanted, and that was a Tar Heel victory.

As for the game itself, there should be no doubt that Baylor was coached to play the game rough as did Marquette. This team has carried the "soft" label nationally. Let me set the record straight on that. We certainly have played soft in some games this year, but...., this team is not soft and are showing it demonstratively. I suspect that from this point on, teams will not want to use physicality against us, as it has resulted in over 25 point deficits in both games for the opposition.

I do not need to expound on the individual(s) play in this game, as all had a great hand in this win. I do want to mention Styles 3P in OT, that was the back breaker for Baylor, and it will do wonders for his confidence.
 
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There is almost zero chance they call that a flagrant 2 if it isn't a 25 point game. And that says all you need to say for why it was a bad call. They officiated purely to make things closer than officiated normally.
 
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Really pissed at how the refs stopped us from winning this game rather easily. But the notion strikes me this morning that maybe the worst thing that could have happened for that Baylor team was exactly what did happen. See, Baylor was "allowed" to come all the way back, tied us and forced OT. That team went from being down and knowing they had little if any chance at winning this game to KNOWING THEY HAD IT WON WHEN IT WENT TO OT. That Baylor team knew, they had just won, their coaches knew they had come all the way back and UNC was faltering & they were going to win. I would be most every fan at that game knew, UNC just lost only undecided thing is what the final score will be. Fans watching on TV, myself included all knew, this game was over going in to OT.

And yet that game was not over, a jump shot trey from Styles later and we all know the out come. My point is while it would have been a hard pill to swallow being blown out in this game, blow outs happen, we know because we have experienced 4 blow out losses this season. But for this game to turn like it did, those payers had to sense the refs were contributing to the come back, that Baylor team got real life, they began to believe they could win this, and when this game went in to OT, everyone knew, this was over, Baylor had come back, they were going to win.

But UNC stood up, down Love and Manek, other guys saddled with 4 fouls and still UNC owned the OT. Baylor had their hearts ripped out and left on display to a national audience, I think there was more mercy had they lost a blow out than to have their hearts totally ripped apart like that, to see their belief ripped away from them for the second time in the very same game. That is a devastating way to lose, that Baylor team deserved to have its heart ripped out the way they played and they got their just rewards!
 
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Tarheel75 said:
About the officiating, which seems to be a major topic. Eppley, Hampton, and Kissinger were the officiating crew. Some, as Gary mentioned may remember Kissinger from the Clemson game where there were so many fouls whistled, and I think he was also on a crew that called another game of ours that escapes me at this time, that had an inordinate number of fouls called. Think about this, there were 56 FG's made in this game AND there were 53 fouls called in this game, that's almost a 1 to 1 ratio! That's very poor officiating at best.


Most of you, no..., most likely none of you were able to witness the conversation taking place at the scorer's table with those 3 officials and one person, who I have no idea who he was. It may well have been an NCAA observer of officiating, as you should be aware, that the OT was officiated entirely differently for that 5 minute period and the result was what we all wanted, and that was a Tar Heel victory.
Click to expand...
1. Kissinger was the only face that looked familiar to me. He's awful and pretty arrogant as well. He's also part of the group that was sent home from the 2021 tourney after not following covid protocol. So two years in a row now his name is at the forefront of something negative. Bad police officers should have their badges removed. Bad refs should have their stripes removed. Permanently.

2. Donnie Eppley's bio says he is the Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officials for the Middle Atlantic Conference, a Division III league. He needs to stay at the D-3 level.

3. It that was an NCAA observer they can't recommend this crew do another game.
 
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DSouthr said:
Really pissed at how the refs stopped us from winning this game rather easily. But the notion strikes me this morning that maybe the worst thing that could have happened for that Baylor team was exactly what did happen. See, Baylor was "allowed" to come all the way back, tied us and forced OT. That team went from being down and knowing they had little if any chance at winning this game to KNOWING THEY HAD IT WON WHEN IT WENT TO OT. That Baylor team knew, they had just won, their coaches knew they had come all the way back and UNC was faltering & they were going to win. I would be most every fan at that game knew, UNC just lost only undecided thing is what the final score will be. Fans watching on TV, myself included all knew, this game was over going in to OT.

And yet that game was not over, a jump shot trey from Styles later and we all know the out come. My point is while it would have been a hard pill to swallow being blown out in this game, blow outs happen, we know because we have experienced 4 blow out losses this season. But for this game to turn like it did, those payers had to sense the refs were contributing to the come back, that Baylor team got real life, they began to believe they could win this, and when this game went in to OT, everyone knew, this was over, Baylor had come back, they were going to win.

But UNC stood up, down Love and Manek, other guys saddled with 4 fouls and still UNC owned the OT. Baylor had their hearts ripped out and left on display to a national audience, I think there was more mercy had they lost a blow out than to have their hearts totally ripped apart like that, to see their belief ripped away from them for the second time in the very same game. That is a devastating way to lose, that Baylor team deserved to have its heart ripped out the way they played and they got their just rewards!
Click to expand...
And... It gave our team a huge boost in confidence and an experience of overcoming adversity of the worst kind. No injuries, so it was a great learning experience.
 
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DSouthr said:
Really pissed at how the refs stopped us from winning this game rather easily. But the notion strikes me this morning that maybe the worst thing that could have happened for that Baylor team was exactly what did happen. See, Baylor was "allowed" to come all the way back, tied us and forced OT. That team went from being down and knowing they had little if any chance at winning this game to KNOWING THEY HAD IT WON WHEN IT WENT TO OT. That Baylor team knew, they had just won, their coaches knew they had come all the way back and UNC was faltering & they were going to win. I would be most every fan at that game knew, UNC just lost only undecided thing is what the final score will be. Fans watching on TV, myself included all knew, this game was over going in to OT.

And yet that game was not over, a jump shot trey from Styles later and we all know the out come. My point is while it would have been a hard pill to swallow being blown out in this game, blow outs happen, we know because we have experienced 4 blow out losses this season. But for this game to turn like it did, those payers had to sense the refs were contributing to the come back, that Baylor team got real life, they began to believe they could win this, and when this game went in to OT, everyone knew, this was over, Baylor had come back, they were going to win.

But UNC stood up, down Love and Manek, other guys saddled with 4 fouls and still UNC owned the OT. Baylor had their hearts ripped out and left on display to a national audience, I think there was more mercy had they lost a blow out than to have their hearts totally ripped apart like that, to see their belief ripped away from them for the second time in the very same game. That is a devastating way to lose, that Baylor team deserved to have its heart ripped out the way they played and they got their just rewards!
Click to expand...
Preach it ! Hope it resonates for a very long time for that program as they earned it.
 
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Tarheel75 said:
Hello everyone..., Gary, you nailed your post game summary.

So many really apropos posts in this thread, I will not be redundant if I can help it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of Tar Heel fans in Fort Worth. The new Dickies Arena is a very nice facility. Lots of former Heels and Roy of course were there, as well as several other former coaches.

About the officiating, which seems to be a major topic. Eppley, Hampton, and Kissinger were the officiating crew. Some, as Gary mentioned may remember Kissinger from the Clemson game where there were so many fouls whistled, and I think he was also on a crew that called another game of ours that escapes me at this time, that had an inordinate number of fouls called. Think about this, there were 56 FG's made in this game AND there were 53 fouls called in this game, that's almost a 1 to 1 ratio! That's very poor officiating at best.

That alone should impress upon anyone watching this game just how much influence the officials had in this game. When a game is well officiated, the officials are an afterthought. In this game they were the main focus unfortunately. It all began in the 1st half when the officiating crew did not get the game under control from the start.

The 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half the officials did call many of the numerous fouls committed by the Baylor players and they were obvious to all...., and then came the flagrant 2 on Brady, which is one of the most egregious calls I have ever witnessed.

Look..., it was a FOUL no question about it. However, the fact that the kid involved had been warned by this same officiating crew about pushing and grabbing happens to be the player who Brady elbowed, and had held and grabbed Brady just before this sequence of events and with an official watching it and did not call anything. Brady's elbow was UNINTENTIONALLY INTENTIONAL, if you understand what I mean. Brady's intention was to send a message to this guy that, "Ok, if you want to play dirty, I know how to play dirty, take this". There were many times in my career that either dirty players or players that wanted to test your physicality had to be dealt with and Brady was dealing with a dirty player.

Now, as to the decision to eject Brady from this game: This is where the officials
lost control. What should have been a flagrant 1 and play on, became a travesty.
To eject a player in what may have been his last game of his career who was on fire offensively and was frustrating the bleached blond with his defense, when said player had been warned more than once about his antics was, in my opinion and many others....a complete failure of control of the game. In a tournament this popular and the stage so huge, you don't eject a player unless he throws punches or has or has tried to intentionally hurt an opposing player. The bleach blond guy did an acting job, plain and simple, as he had no ill effects from the encounter as you also may have noticed.

Then we get to post Brady exit. There was a distinct change in the momentum of this game once Brady was ceremoniously ejected. I have never in my life as a player or an observer...., seen an officiating crew OFFICIATE TO THE CROWD as did these from the 10:47 mark until OT. It even embarrassed some of the Baylor people who were sitting around us. This crew wanted to magnify their presence in this game and make the game about them, and it again was obvious to so many. All because they did not have control and let the fouling, holding, grabbing, slapping, illegal screening (which was never called once that I remember) during the last 10 or so minutes.

The team aided Baylor by losing their composure during this stretch. But..., you have to understand that once the officiating goes against you and stays against you and you get no calls on the above mentioned aggressive play by Baylor, composure is all but impossible. Then we get to OT.

Most of you, no..., most likely none of you were able to witness the conversation taking place at the scorer's table with those 3 officials and one person, who I have no idea who he was. It may well have been an NCAA observer of officiating, as you should be aware, that the OT was officiated entirely differently for that 5 minute period and the result was what we all wanted, and that was a Tar Heel victory.

As for the game itself, there should be no doubt that Baylor was coached to play the game rough as did Marquette. This team has carried the "soft" label nationally. Let me set the record straight on that. We certainly have played soft in some games this year, but...., this team is not soft and are showing it demonstratively. I suspect that from this point on, teams will not want to use physicality against us, as it has resulted in over 25 point deficits in both games for the opposition.

I do not need to expound on the individual(s) play in this game, as all had a great hand in this win. I do want to mention Styles 3P in OT, that was the back breaker for Baylor, and it will do wonders for his confidence.
Click to expand...
Great to hear your close-up perspective, and yes, I've never seen such an obviously identifiable officiating agenda by a crew (at least this side of Michael Stephens). I would LOVE to know what was said at the table before OT.
 
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gary-7 said:
They absolutely are coached that way. As for Scott's reputation, well... I'll just say he's capable and leave it at that.
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I've had interactions with Homer and Bryce, but not any personally with Scott. Let's just say I am not a fan of Homer at all! Bryce I did like. I think Scott is much more like Homer, but yeah they are very capable, I'll give them that.
 
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