1991 National Semi Final UNC vs Kansas
Did Dean Smith earn his ejection late in this game vs Kansas. There is a backstory on what happened in the time frame where he got his 2nd T.And here is what I understand happened.
Smith had been baiting him(Pete Pavia) all day and he had already received one technical foul. When the UNC player fouled out late in the game Smith kept baiting Pete Pavia(the official) and was out of the coaches box when he did so. Under the rules when a coach leaves the coaches box it is supposed to be an automatic T. Most officials do give a little leeway for a coach who is actually coaching and not constantly getting on the officials. But in this case with Coach Smith continually baiting Pavia and having gotten a T earlier in the game Pete Pavia gave Dean Smith no leeway and whacked (gave him a T) for his 2nd of the game and under a rule change for that season 2 T's were now needed for ejection rather than the previous 3. FWIW Pete Pavia was suffering from cancer(but it did not affect his ability to work as observed by a Final 4 assignment( and was taking medication to help fight the diseases but would die of the disease two years later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZk25TdOkoc&t=4s |
I've read in multiple John Feinstein books that a UNC player fouled out, and Smith sarcastically asked Pavia "How much time do I have?"
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It's 27 years ago and both of them are dead.
So, if a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it... |
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Video? Given that I was 8 at the time my recollection of the play in question is fuzzy.
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The 2nd T is late in the game |
I enjoyed reading that. I was only 7 at the time, so I did not know about this interaction, nor have I watched this game. I went back and looked at KU's path to the final and wow did they have a hell of a journey to get there.
S16- #3 (2 seed somehow) Indiana E8- #2 Arkansas F4- #4 UNC Championship- #6 Duke (loss) So Williams had to face Bob Knight, Nolan Richardson, Dean Smith, and Mike Krzlkjsdflkjki in order. I'll bet he wasn't excited when he saw the bracket. Thanks for posting this, I love historical things like this that take me down these kinds of rabbit holes. I especially enjoy the interactions between coaches and officials that I don't realize are happening or happened. |
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