For the record: I had Georgetown last night. I have them all the way into the championship game. So I had a vested interest in them beating Vanderbilt. Further, I like Georgetown. I grew up loving the team and school. They produced The Answer. As Marv Wolfman used to say, 'nuff said.
But last night's win was a travesty. With 2.5 seconds on the clock and Georgetown down a penny, Jeff Green walked. This isn't a judgment call. It's not calling a foul, where the ref uses discretion. Green planted his pivot foot, he did a number of jab steps with this other foot. Then he planted the free foot, and started jabbing with the foot that was the initial pivot. Referees not calling that walk is like giving a football team a fifth down. It's an affront to the very foundation of the game.
But what's really, really disgusting is the coverage in today's Washington Post. The paper ran three stories on the G'Town/Vandy game and only one of them hinted at the call which handed the game to Georgetown. Here, then, is the Post's full account:
There were cries that Green had not reestablished his pivot foot, and therefore traveled. But basketball minds much wiser than us surmised you can't make a call like that to end a taut thriller.
What an embarrassment. I'm not saying the Hoyas should resign from the tournament or play UNC wearing hairshirts, but they should be ashamed of themselves for carrying after the game like they'd won the Super Bowl, instead of having it handed to them unfairly. And the Post should be ashamed of whitewashing the worst call of the tournament. A black-and-white, no judgment required rule call, which changed the outcome of a game.
4 comments:
Jonathan,
You err on Georgetown. Vanderbilt could have one and other plays not called hurt the Hoyas. At that point in the game only very blatant fouls and the like get called. Its part of the game, it was a great shot, and while Vanderbilt should be proud of itself there is no reason Georgetown should feel bad or that the hometown paper needs to be chastised for being for its own team. (Now if they'd only root for ourside in the war).
I thought it was odd that the Post didn't mention the travel (which, per replay, it clearly was).
However, I'm not worked up about it because there's no evidence that the refs saw it and held their whistles.
Second, travelling is called exceedingly erratically at all levels these days. Look how many steps people take when driving the basket. It's like palming the ball or holding in the NFL. It's so common that a no-call isn't a scandal, it's s.o.p.
You're wrong. He did not jab after he planted the non-pivot. He shot the ball. Watch it again. Not a travel.
I would not have made that call were I at the game, and I would judge negatively any referee who would make that call at that point in the game. Like it or not, that is just not how NCAA (and NBA, for that matter) games are officiated at the end. It was the right no-call and a great basket by Jeff Green. And hideous defense by Vandy who had to know exactly who was getting the ball for the last shot. Kudos to the Hoyas.
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