Just Let It Go

Almost as atrocious as Official Mike Carey dropping the ball in the Washington v. Tampa Bay NFL playoff game was the way the Indiana v. Ohio State basketball game ended. As ESPN.com puts it in their recap,

With 9.8 seconds left and the score tied, Indiana's 195-pound guard let 260-pound Terence Dials run over him as he tried to set a pick. Strickland crumbled to the court, then bounced up, made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left ....

As a former All-State HS basketball player on a team that ran motion offense, I think I know what the purpose of a screen is. Getting run over? That's not it. Usually, the screen should either get the person you are screening for open, or get you open as a result of help by the man covering you. Obviously, this is an overly simplistic account of the purpose of a screen. However, at no point should the point of a screen be to get fouled. If Dials had just plowed through Strickland, that's one thing. As hard as Danny Fortson tries to bring the NFL into the NBA, basketball is not the same as football. But, on back screens, the screen is supposed to be set with enough room for the defensive player to turn around, and as a screener, you need to be ready to be hit ... getting hit by the defender means you did a good job as a screener.

I think Strickland falling down is a dirty play. Players flopping and essentially trying to trick the referees has no place in sports. Just compete. That said, the referees need to do a better job of officiating at crunch time. Sure, officials should do their best at all times, but the ends of games are especially important because teams do not have many possessions to recover. This should have been a no call, and it may have cost Ohio State a win in the very competitive Big 10 (or Big 11). If a foul occurs, call a foul, but if you are not sure, how can you make a call and essentially decide the game for the players?

Fear the Turtle? Nah, but what were the officials thinking?

During the process of Duke destroying Maryland, a very interesting call was made. On a drive by Duke forward Lee Melchionni, there was contact between Melchionni and Terrapin James Gist and a whistle. Apparently, two officials had a block and one official had a charge (how that one official had a charge I have no idea). The result, a double foul and subsequent jump ball. Coach K just laughed it off, but can you imagine how quickly he would have blown a gasket if the call had actually been important to the outcome? Either it is a block, a charge, or a no call. Do not decide after the fact that it should have been a no call and call a double foul and go to the alternating possession. If you are not going to let it go, at least have some guts and make the best call you can.