Quote:
Originally Posted by SNIPERBBB
Surprised nobody has mentioned the officials names yet.
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ESPN article clip:
“We do it every day,’’ crew chief
Frank Higgins said. “It just happened to be a crucial part of the game. You have to do what you have to do as an official.
“If we get it right, we’re good. If we get it wrong, we’re deadbeats and we’re all over 'SportsCenter.' We did what we think is correct.’’
The truth is, it was the two teams that made the mistakes.
After Smith’s would-be game-winning basket, Pittsburgh threw the ball in toward the sideline, right in front of the scorer’s table and
Shelvin Mack went with Brown when he went for the ball.
The ball went out of bounds but before it did, official
Terry Wymer raised his hand, signaling foul.
“I was so mad at myself,’’ Mack said. “I went to the huddle and my teammates were telling me to keep my head up, but I couldn’t believe it.’’
Until that point Mack hadn’t just been Butler’s hero, he’d been their superhero. He scored 30 points and absolutely dismantled Pittsburgh’s defense from the arc, where he hit 7-of-12 3-pointers.
When the foul was called, Brad Stevens looked as upset as the preternaturally calm coach has ever looked, throwing his arms and grimacing toward the officials.
But Butler long has been a program of no excuses. Yes, their budgets are smaller. Yes, the odds are against the. But no, they don’t really care. So while they may have been stunned that the officials sent Brown to the line with two seconds left, they weren’t complaining.
“I told Shelvin, there’s absolutely no way he can put himself in that position,’’ Nored said.
Added Stevens, “If he was impeding his progress to get the ball, then it’s a foul.’’
Brown went to the line and sunk the first free throw to tie it at 70. But then the 78 percent free-throw shooter missed the second.
In between shots, Dixon elected to keep his players under the basket, rather than pulling them back, a decision that seemed harmless at the time but later would prove fatal to his Panthers’ season.
“Everybody is going to question that, but I did what I thought we should have done,’’ Dixon said. “I wanted our shooter comfortable and I didn’t want to be pulling our guys off the line while he was going for his second shot.’’
As Brown’s missed freebie fell to the right side of the rim, Howard went up to get it.
Nasir Robinson came up behind him and when the two landed,
Antinio Petty raised his fist.
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I'll note that John not Frank is the correct first name for Higgins and that on the foul by Butler both the Lead and the Trail had a whistle and were calling a foul.