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Originally Posted by Larks
2. The Final Four travesty in Atlanta. Three refs seemed to be racing each other to saddle the stars of one national semifinal -- Ohio State's Greg Oden and Georgetown's Roy Hibbert -- with fouls, ruining one of the most-anticipated matchups in the past 25 years. It was almost as if they had made a bet: First guy to force the big men to the bench drinks free after the game. Result: Oden played 20 minutes and Hibbert 24. But at least we got to see a lot of very dramatic posturing by the guys who are supposed to blend into the hardwood.
The Final Four debacle was less egregious but indicative of the same problem: officials who seemed overly eager to show who's boss, at the expense of the matchup every fan in America wanted to see.
If ever there were a game to let the big men play, this was it. It never happened, thanks to the hypervigilance of Dick Cartmell, Mike Kitts and (of course) Valentine.
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WOW. How out of touch can you be.
Oden was in foul trouble EVERY game that I saw in the tourney (except for the final). Against good teams, he couldn't help be be late to rotate on defense and, as a result, pick up dumb fouls. Notice how, in the final game, Matta complely changed what Oden was doing. Don't help, give up the shot if your teammate is beat, don't step out on the screens, etc. That is where Oden kept picking up fouls. I don't think I saw more than 1 foul on Oden in 3-4 games that was questionable. Oden earned them. Don't blame the refs for Odens mistakes. He put himself on the bench.
So what if you'd like to see the two big men compete, you can't close your eyes when that whack a guard across the arms on a drive just so that you can keep them in the game.
I only watched 1 Georgetown game (v. OSU) and Hibbert certainly earned his too.