Posted: Sunday, April 5, 2009, 2:16 PM | 9 comments |
 

Cats: Carolina Blues
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A few final thoughts about Villanova's 83-69 loss to North Carolina in the national semfinal game.

Don't misundderstand this part. North Carolina beat Villanova fair and square and the Tar Heels, as even Jay Wright said, were the better team.

However, the Wildcats got no favors from the officiating crew. Carolina shot 37 free throws. Villanova shot 16. There's no question Villanova committed fouls, but there is also no question that there were some Carolina fouls that weren't called.

When Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher began to take the ball to the rim, there were a number of occasions when there was contact, often plenty of it, and no call. When Tyler Hansbrough went over Villanova players from behind to get a rebound, there was also no call.

More than even the free throws, where this might have evened up the game slightly was in the personal foul situation that Carolina would have been facing. At halftime, the Tar Heels had three fouls on guard Danny Green and two each on Deon Thompson and Ed Davis.

At the end of the game, Hansbrough, Thompson and Green each had four fouls and Ty Lawson three. Could a foul here or there have changed things, maybe gotten a Villanova run going?

Maybe, but the Wildcats didn't play well enough to inspire any confidence they could have definitely taken advantage of it. They shot 26 percent from the floor in the second half -- when they were rushing shots at the end, admittedly -- and the overall 5-for-27 on three-point shots speaks for itself. Fisher took 19 shots in 25 minutes on the floor, which is hurrying it up there even for him.

Better team won, and it could be that the 'Cats have been knocked out for the fourth straight time by the impending national champion. Nevertheless, Carolina had some help, both from the way the game was called and from the way Villanova played.

If those two teams met 10 times, Carolina might win most of them, but the margin between the teams would not average out to 14 points. That much is for sure, and that, much more than the loss, is what frustrated Jay Wright as the game drew to a close on Saturday.

Villanova was better than they played, which is the reverse of a team that usually maximizes its resources. 
Posted by BOB FORD @ 2:16 PM  Permalink | 9 comments
9
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:58 PM, 04/05/2009
    Good Post Bob. We got beat by the better team last night and while foul shots being a bit closer would have been nice, the way they kept throwing up brick after brick wouldn't have changed and we probably would have lost anyway. But, I did notice quite a few rebounds by Handsbrough that were clearly over the back that didn't get called.
    — jlcharles
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:18 PM, 04/05/2009
    And realize for the first 17 minutes in the first half, UNC played about as perfect as you could get. What a machine, fun to watch. Hope they can keep that up for Monday b/c not a spartans fan. Van
    — vant
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:32 PM, 04/05/2009
    Good season for Nova, alot to be proud of. However, if anyone had a complaint about the officiating it would be the Heels. Despite the FT advantage, Nova got away w/ alot of hacks, grabs, shoves, pushes and WWF tactics that went uncalled. I realize Nova plays a physical game, and while I won't go as far as many UNC fans and call Nova dirty, the refs let them get away w/ alot. Having said that, it probably wouldn't have mattered given how poorly NC shot from the foul line.
    — Tar Heel 1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:22 PM, 04/05/2009
    WWF tactics? Seriously?
    — jlcharles
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:02 AM, 04/06/2009
    Nova's defensive strategy the whole tournament was to foul anyone in the paint who had their hands on the basketball. This toughness on D was something the media was praising all tournament long. No surprise--it leads to more fouls. I can't stand Villanova, but my girlfriend's family is filled with Cats fans, and we all agreed that the calls were fair.
    — Mike P
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:42 AM, 04/06/2009
    This was an incredible season for Villanova. Great job guys.
    — chrissmith
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:29 PM, 04/06/2009
    Please stop with the blame the refs everytime a Philadelphia team loses. they lost to a team that was just better that day. Why does there always have to be crying about this or that. The game was decided in the first 10 minutes when NC got out to a double digit lead, the refs had nothing to do with that. You play the game, please stop with the tears it makes you look like a sore loser and a cry baby!!!!!!
    — lalleva
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:32 PM, 04/06/2009
    And you look like a twelve year old girl when you end a post with six exclamation points. 37-16 is a bit of a troubling disparity. The teams did not play such disparate styles of basketball, nor with quite such a variety of defensive ridiculousness. However, the Cats did not play well enough for it to be too big a point of contention. It just feeds back into the loop that certain teams are going to get certain calls.
    — nikolijobes


9 comments
About Bob Ford
Bob Ford has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 1981, and is still trying to figure it all out. A former beat writer covering the Phillies and the 76ers, Ford became a general sports columnist for the Inquirer in 2003, following in and occasionally falling in the deep footsteps of Bill Lyon, Frank Dolson and many distinguished others. He comes to the Philly.com blogosphere after award-winning success as designer/editor of the fabulous Pen & Pencil Club softball blog. Likes: Palestra, inside-the-park home runs, sunny days. Dislikes: phony people, cloudy days, rewrites.
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