Championship Game

[bearcat jeff]

Really enjoyed the game last night. So much was on display that makes a champion last night. Siva and Burke were leaders who stepped up in the second half for their teams. Role players played their roles to perfection, and like Chane used their role to tip the game scales. Hot players like Russ Smith and Mitch McGary had off nights, but others like Hancock and Albrecht filled the void.

The game was played hard, it was played skillfully and it was played with heart. The closeness and brotherhood of the two squads was evident. Their preparation, and patience to stick with the game plan when things got tough, really impressed me. The coaching, the moves and counter moves, big shot answered by big shot, run answered by another run. To me it is what college basketball is all about and I enjoyed it more than I have any championship game in years.

Last night it was evident that the two progams playing for the championship were teams. Teams with defined and accepted roles. 13 plus players doing whatever they needed to do to make the whole better. Teams with point guards their coaches could trust with the game plan. Teams with stars who refused to let their team lose. Teams with players behind them willing to screen, rebound, pass and play defense till the tide turned their way.

Just don't see how anybody walks away from that game last night and without saying, "Wow, that was a helluva game! That's what I want our program to be." The best of college basketball was on display last night. It was historic, it was inspirational, it was the two best "teams" playing for the championship, and it was very, very entertaining. Thoughts?

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Chane Behanan had something like 15 points and 13 rebounds (6 or 7 offensive)
Trey Burke had 24 points in just 26 minutes
Mick Cronin had the stomach flu watching that game
Oh what could have been....

 

[Cataclysmo]

I thought the biggest gap between the two (and only gap), was that Pitino was so much better last night. He coached a flawless game while Michigan's coach made some brutal mistakes (Keeping Albrecht in long after his scoring run, Not calling time out to stop the momentum, poor time management at the end) and that ultimately decided the game IMO

 

[JasonS]

I thought the biggest gap between the two (and only gap), was that Pitino was so much better last night. He coached a flawless game while Michigan's coach made some brutal mistakes (Keeping Albrecht in long after his scoring run, Not calling time out to stop the momentum, poor time management at the end) and that ultimately decided the game IMO

I agree with this statement. The other thing that really ticked me off was the poor officiating and the fact that 90% of the bad calls went against Michigan. That first foul on Burke when Siva fell down and the second foul when Hancock jumped into Burke changed the game. Add in the call when Burke blocked Siva on the fast break, and man, I think that call essentially sealed the game for Louisville. Sucks when officials screw up a good game.

 

[TheLongHaul]

College officiating is horrible and they need to do something to address it. Michigan seemed to get the brunt of it last night but the officials screwed SU in their previous game.

 

[L-T]

John Cahill is a horrible official. Couldn't believe he got the championship game. There was a time when nobody was worse than Jim Buhr and Tim Higgins, but I believe Cahill has passed them by. I dread seeing him do our games. We always come out on the short end of his calls.

I thought the key call in the game was Burke's 2nd foul in the 1st half when Hancock pump-faked in the corner and then leaned over to his left to draw some contact with Burke as he flew by. Technically, Burke was already airborne and would not have touched Hancock, but Hancock leaned and got underneath him slightly and got the foul call. If anything it should have been called on Hancock for moving under him while he was in the air. That changed the whole game, although Albrecht stemmed the tide for a while.

I thought most of the game-changing calls went against Michigan and overall the officiating was inconsistent and poor.

The game itself was basketball at its best. I still believe the NCAA Men's Championship basketball game is the best championship game of any sport. They generally all keep you on the edge of your seat, and are exciting throughout.

 

[JasonS]

John Cahill is a horrible official. Couldn't believe he got the championship game. There was a time when nobody was worse than Jim Buhr and Tim Higgins, but I believe Cahill has passed them by. I dread seeing him do our games. We always come out on the short end of his calls.

I thought the key call in the game was Burke's 2nd foul in the 1st half when Hancock pump-faked in the corner and then leaned over to his left to draw some contact with Burke as he flew by. Technically, Burke was already airborne and would not have touched Hancock, but Hancock leaned and got underneath him slightly and got the foul call. If anything it should have been called on Hancock for moving under him while he was in the air. That changed the whole game, although Albrecht stemmed the tide for a while.

I thought most of the game-changing calls went against Michigan and overall the officiating was inconsistent and poor.

The game itself was basketball at its best. I still believe the NCAA Men's Championship basketball game is the best championship game of any sport. They generally all keep you on the edge of your seat, and are exciting throughout.

I agree. Three fouls on Burke were garbage. The two in the first half and the block in the second half. The Behanan over the back no call all but ended the game. I give you Big East officials!!

The game itself was fun to watch but this entire tournament was marred by awful officiating robbing fans of some potentially great moments.

 

[nparker1]

John Cahill is a horrible official. Couldn't believe he got the championship game. There was a time when nobody was worse than Jim Buhr and Tim Higgins, but I believe Cahill has passed them by. I dread seeing him do our games. We always come out on the short end of his calls.

I thought the key call in the game was Burke's 2nd foul in the 1st half when Hancock pump-faked in the corner and then leaned over to his left to draw some contact with Burke as he flew by. Technically, Burke was already airborne and would not have touched Hancock, but Hancock leaned and got underneath him slightly and got the foul call. If anything it should have been called on Hancock for moving under him while he was in the air. That changed the whole game, although Albrecht stemmed the tide for a while.

I thought most of the game-changing calls went against Michigan and overall the officiating was inconsistent and poor.

The game itself was basketball at its best. I still believe the NCAA Men's Championship basketball game is the best championship game of any sport. They generally all keep you on the edge of your seat, and are exciting throughout.

Agree 100% with this statement...pure athleticism was on dispaly...and how nasty/amazing was the dunk by Hardaway?...hope Shaq Thomas was taking notes...

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

I agree. Three fouls on Burke were garbage. The two in the first half and the block in the second half. The Behanan over the back no call all but ended the game. I give you Big East officials!!

The game itself was fun to watch but this entire tournament was marred by awful officiating robbing fans of some potentially great moments.

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! There is no such thing as a "Big East" official. Ref's are simply given regions that they do games in. So you can easily see a guy like Jim Burr call a BE game on Saturday and a B1G game on Sunday. So please, stop with this myth that Big East refs are awful, because the same guys call B1G games, and some SEC games.

 

[JasonS]

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! There is no such thing as a "Big East" official. Ref's are simply given regions that they do games in. So you can easily see a guy like Jim Burr call a BE game on Saturday and a B1G game on Sunday. So please, stop with this myth that Big East refs are awful, because the same guys call B1G games, and some SEC games.

Yes but some refs do a vast majority of their games with a certain conference and John Cahill is one of those.

 

[bearcat jeff]

I agree with this statement. The other thing that really ticked me off was the poor officiating and the fact that 90% of the bad calls went against Michigan. That first foul on Burke when Siva fell down and the second foul when Hancock jumped into Burke changed the game. Add in the call when Burke blocked Siva on the fast break, and man, I think that call essentially sealed the game for Louisville. Sucks when officials screw up a good game.

C'mon now, Chane Behanan was getting killed underneath and never got a call.

 

[JasonS]

C'mon now, Chane Behanan was getting killed underneath and never got a call.

I said that on my twitter feed too. And that's why I put it at 90% but EVERY big call in that game went against Michigan.

 

[bearcat jeff]

I said that on my twitter feed too. And that's why I put it at 90% but EVERY big call in that game went against Michigan.

That's the Pitino effect my friend.

 

[cincycpaw]

There were a couple of questionable calls. The most obvious was the foul (clean block) called on Burke when blocking Siva near the end of the game.

I don't think it in anyway impacted who won the game. Michigan could never get back over that hump. They lost the game when they lost Hancock and he hit that 3 with something like 3 minutes to play.

 

[JasonS]

There were a couple of questionable calls. The most obvious was the foul (clean block) called on Burke when blocking Siva near the end of the game.

I don't think it in anyway impacted who won the game. Michigan could never get back over that hump. They lost the game when they lost Hancock and he hit that 3 with something like 3 minutes to play.

I disagree that it didn't impact who won that game. Michigan was down three when Burke blocked that shot if I remember correctly. It went to 5. Big difference at that stage of the game. Not to mention how much the game was affected by Burke's two calls in the first half. Both were bad calls.

 

[cincycpaw]

I disagree that it didn't impact who won that game. Michigan was down three when Burke blocked that shot if I remember correctly. It went to 5. Big difference at that stage of the game. Not to mention how much the game was affected by Burke's two calls in the first half. Both were bad calls.

I'm not sure the first half calls were all that bad.

I was at the game, Louisville had the momentum going in at half and never really gave it up. I really think Louisville would have won that game even if all the calls you mention went Michigan's way.

Burke out in the 1st half lead to Spike scoring 17, 4-4 from 3. Burke wouldn't have done that well. Where it hurt Michigan was during Louisville's run, no one on the court settled Michigan down. I think Burke might have been able to do that.

The biggest plays in the game weren't fouls. They were Michigan leaving Hancock open in the same spot 4 times (2 of those were the same exact plays), Michigan leaving Hancock open with a little over 3 to play, Michigan falling to defend the Siva lobs on the SAME EXACT play 2x in the 2nd half, Michigan (specifically McGary) being out-muscled and hustled on the boards, and Michigan taking a series of bad shots on Louisville's run in the 3nd half that put the Cards up 10. And the biggest mistake might have been rebounding a missed free throw and stepping on the baseline with 53 seconds to play and down 4.

You are absolutely right that the Burke foul on Siva was crazy bad. I just don't think it was the only reason Michigan lost.

I just really wish that kid wouldnt have stepped on the baseline on that rebound with 53 seconds to play. That was ballgame.

 

[JasonS]

I'm not sure the first half calls were all that bad.

I was at the game, Louisville had the momentum going in at half and never really gave it up. I really think Louisville would have won that game even if all the calls you mention went Michigan's way.

Burke out in the 1st half lead to Spike scoring 17, 4-4 from 3. Burke wouldn't have done that well. Where it hurt Michigan was during Louisville's run, no one on the court settled Michigan down. I think Burke might have been able to do that.

The biggest plays in the game weren't fouls. They were Michigan leaving Hancock open in the same spot 4 times (2 of those were the same exact plays), Michigan leaving Hancock open with a little over 3 to play, Michigan falling to defend the Siva lobs on the SAME EXACT play 2x in the 2nd half, Michigan (specifically McGary) being out-muscled and hustled on the boards, and Michigan taking a series of bad shots on Louisville's run in the 3nd half that put the Cards up 10. And the biggest mistake might have been rebounding a missed free throw and stepping on the baseline with 53 seconds to play and down 4.

You are absolutely right that the Burke foul on Siva was crazy bad. I just don't think it was the only reason Michigan lost.

I just really wish that kid wouldnt have stepped on the baseline on that rebound with 53 seconds to play. That was ballgame.

If you saw it on tv you would know the second foul on Burke was really bad. The step on the baseline occurred due to Behanan going over the back.