In all of the angst about the Heel being OOB on the tie-up, I don't see anyone losing their mind on the Zags' airball that was given back to them erroneously and subsequently cashed for 3 points. Stuff happens both ways. The game's 2nd half was called differently than the first, and there were missed calls both ways, but it happens.

 

I watched every second, had zero dog in the deal, and enjoyed it. I also think, by and large, the better team won.

 

I'm going to use a term I have somewhat of an aversion for because it's become so commonplace, used constantly by every talking head on tv and every internet commentator...but for many UK fans (the majority of this board), the bolded above "doesn't fit the narrative". UNC won and it's because the refs were horrible and were in their favor. UK lost because they got cheated. OH how that gets so tiring to listen to.

In all of the angst about the Heel being OOB on the tie-up, I don't see anyone losing their mind on the Zags' airball that was given back to them erroneously and subsequently cashed for 3 points. Stuff happens both ways. The game's 2nd half was called differently than the first, and there were missed calls both ways, but it happens.

 

I watched every second, had zero dog in the deal, and enjoyed it. I also think, by and large, the better team won.

Legit point, but I can at least understand how a ref would think the ball was tipped. I am still baffled at how they missed Meeks' hand being out of bounds.

 

I am not one to harp on referees and don't have a good solution. They have a tough job and more often than not are right in their calls. The consistency of how games are reffed are much more of an issue than highlighting a call or two which came at pivotal moments of a game. It is the biggest reason I am in favor of giving players an additional foul.

I love it!!! More crying about the officiating from a bunch of soft sided UK folks! Ive been in Kentucky long enough to know that the hatred for Duke and Carolina puts horse blinders on a lot of you "so called basketball fans". I agree, this was a horribly called game tonight, but it benefited neither team! Both teams had their Bigs in foul trouble and touch fouls and phantom fouls were called on both ends. If you want to, cry, cry to Calipari for not being able to keep key players beyond 1 year. Carolina just won with probably one of the worse shooting percentage teams in history. It was maturity that finished the game, not the refs! Stop whining, give Carolina their shining moment, and know for damn sure that they are not the only school with questionable academic actions. NCAA title back on Chapel Hill until next year! Come get it!!

 

Get real! :lol2: It's not as if UK's inexperienced freshman dominated team was crushed in the game. North Carolina beat Kentucky on a last second shot with some of those key freshman watching substantial minutes from the bench due to bogus foul calls. The Tar Heels won that game not due to maturity but a terribly one-sided officiated first half and not much better called second half. Kentucky was the better team of the two and Higgins and friends saw to it that they didn't advance, not maturity.

 

Maturity had nothing to do with the huge breaks North Carolina received toward the end of the Arkansas game that swung that game in their favor, or the Oregon game that saw Meeks cross the free throw line before the ball touched the rim when they were hanging on to a 1 point lead and then later push to get a rebound when his teammate was shooting free throws. Maturity had nothing to do with Gonzaga's 7 foot Collins fouling out last night with 3 actual fouls with 5 minutes left or Meeks being out of bounds with the ball with 1 minute left and a 1 point lead, but still retaining ball possession.. Those are called BREAKs, and UNC set the NCAA record for the most in that category for a tournament champion since the tournament began in 1939.

Some of you all take this stuff WAY too seriously....My goodness.

Hey Mentsch - you mean that deflection that wasn't a deflection but a foul on the hand of the shooter ? That missed deflection ? Defender messed up his follow thru with contact , therefore the air ball .

And the " flagrant " that removed the Polish nightmare from the game ? Another bogus in favor of Unc call

The fourth on Collins with 15 to go was criminal .

I think the flagrant-1 foul rule needs to be looked at. In the men's title game and UConn women's semifinal game a flagrant-1 call that should have been play ons impacted the game. There are way too many inadvertent contact plays in basketball to have a hard and fast rule with no interpretation by the officials allowed

The officiating as a whole for the tournament was weird at best. Further proof that armature sports are just as rigged as professional sports.

The officiating as a whole for the tournament was weird at best. Further proof that armature sports are just as rigged as professional sports.

 

Dang autocorrect.

So the 4th foul on Collins ( with 15 to go in half 2 ) , the flagrant on the Polish nightmare ( his 4th with like 8 to go ) , and the OOB non call at the end didnt benefit UNC more than any questionable call against UNC ? I'm interested - go ahead and point out what bad calls went against UNC that comes close to the importance of the 3 above . Two of those 3 took Gonzaga's best bigs out of the game . The third certainly was a game changing call.

 

I didn't see where anyone commented on the deflected shot taken by the Zags late in the second half. It looked like an air ball, but the refs reversed and gave it to Gonzaga only to show the replay that it was not touched by UNC. It could have been a huge break for the Zags.

 

You won't hear about that because it doesn't fit the narrative

I'm going to use a term I have somewhat of an aversion for because it's become so commonplace, used constantly by every talking head on tv and every internet commentator...but for many UK fans (the majority of this board), the bolded above "doesn't fit the narrative". UNC won and it's because the refs were horrible and were in their favor. UK lost because they got cheated. OH how that gets so tiring to listen to.

 

Nailed it

Get real! :lol2: It's not as if UK's inexperienced freshman dominated team was crushed in the game. North Carolina beat Kentucky on a last second shot with some of those key freshman watching substantial minutes from the bench due to bogus foul calls. The Tar Heels won that game not due to maturity but a terribly one-sided officiated first half and not much better called second half. Kentucky was the better team of the two and Higgins and friends saw to it that they didn't advance, not maturity.

 

Maturity had nothing to do with the huge breaks North Carolina received toward the end of the Arkansas game that swung that game in their favor, or the Oregon game that saw Meeks cross the free throw line before the ball touched the rim when they were hanging on to a 1 point lead and then later push to get a rebound when his teammate was shooting free throws. Maturity had nothing to do with Gonzaga's 7 foot Collins fouling out last night with 3 actual fouls with 5 minutes left or Meeks being out of bounds with the ball with 1 minute left and a 1 point lead, but still retaining ball possession.. Those are called BREAKs, and UNC set the NCAA record for the most in that category for a tournament champion since the tournament began in 1939.

 

It has NOTHING to do with going on runs of 12-0 to beat U.K., or 12-3 to beat Arkansas. You're right. When Kentucky was up 5 all was good though

Hey Mentsch - you mean that deflection that wasn't a deflection but a foul on the hand of the shooter ? That missed deflection ? Defender messed up his follow thru with contact , therefore the air ball .

Yes, that one. If you want fouls called in hindsight by use of replay as well, no worries, but until then, a ball being deflected or not is a fairly major issue.

 

Everyone comes on here time after time and bashes refs, but never offers a solution (besides @bugatti suggesting a 6th foul in college). The job is hard, these guys are fast and huge, and there isn't a better automated way to do it. Deal with the bad calls, although the vast majority of last night's 2nd half fouls were, in fact, actually fouls. They had a fairly egregious miss both ways late in the game.