[Nevadaref]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
I would agree it was consistent throughout, but I am not sure that I would agree it was well called. these are two teams from physical conferences, accustomed to physical games. When you talk about advantage disadvantage, you have to consider the teams involved.

I have many of Connecticut and Duke's recent games on tape. None of them were called this tightly, nor were any of the ACC games I watched all year. I don't think that a national semifinal is the time to tighten things up. Everything could be called a foul, there is no question of that. The question is "have those fouls been called all year for either of these teams," and I think the answer to that is no.

For two big time programs, i would consider many of the calls to have been ticky tack compared to what I have seen called in this year's tournament, and the semifinal is not the place to make that kind of change. I don't know that one team benefited more than another, but it does impact the way the game is played, and I don't think it was a positive impact.

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
1. I am not a dumb fan, and furthermore not a Duke fan.

2. I am glad Duke lost, and Connecticut was one of my finalists in the bracket.

3. I have not said Duke lost because the game was poorly called.

That said, I watched a lot of high-level college ball this winter, none of it as closely called as this game. The officials called it that way from the outset. I thought one of the cardinal rules of officiating is call what you need to call. If that is the case, either these guys called plenty they didn't need to call, or their counterparts in all of the other games I watched this winter missed a lot of calls they needed to make. I am going with the former - the latter is too incredible to believe.

Players from both sides were clearly confused, and neither coach was happy. I guess that makes for a well reffed game in your book. Sometimes maybe y'all can recognize that your brethren don't have stellar days.

Hawks Coach,
I am writing this just because I want you to know that whether I agree with your opinion of the officiating in this game or not, I value your thoughts and take them seriously. I believe that you have earned that kind of respect from those of us on this board through your past efforts to understand both the rules and officiating practices.
Please continue to post what you think on this board. I for one want to read it.