Shady Call Means Everyone Still Loves UCLA
College Basketball, Video March 7th. 2008, 11:53amIt’s not quite on the level of Georgetown-Villanova or Tennessee-Rutgers, but there was a pretty horrendous call last night at the end of regulation in UCLA-Stanford. Down two, UCLA’s sub-6-foot guard Darren Collison drove baseline and was met by Stanford’s 6-foot-8 Lawrence Hill. As the replay above shows, the block appears clean. Cardinal coach Trent Johnson was ballistic. Collison sank the free throws. UCLA cruised in overtime (and covered eight) to win its third straight Pac-10 title.
Because of this poor foul call, expect analysts and talking heads all weekend to prattle on about how UCLA is the team to beat in March. It’s difficult to pick against Kevin Love and the best team in the best conference in the country … but something seems off about this team. We don’t know what this is yet, though.
37 Responses to “Shady Call Means Everyone Still Loves UCLA”
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March 7th, 2008 at 11:59 am
No tinfoil hats please, but it’s amazing how the UCLAs and Dukes and Georgetowns always seem to get those calls.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I think Collison admitted it was a clean block.
UCLA still struggles to seems content with Love shooting from the outside. And if Shipp is off, they’re in big trouble.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Bob Knight is right about one thing, “Refs are the most protected figures in sports”. It blows my mind how many bad calls there have been this year.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
A shady call is exactly why I wouldnt still like the bruins, Stanford should have beat them.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
By the way, everyone is saying that the Final Four is pretty clear-cut this year, that nobody outside the top 5 or 6 really have a shot at winning it all. This of course means we’re going to have quite a few surprises.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
wow. that’s just awful. and made by the ref further from the play. gotta like stanford though.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I was watching the game live last night (one of the few West Coasters here), and as a UCLA fan and a basketball official, I would have to say it was a very poor call. I could say the usual, they all even out in the game blah blah blah. But that call at that time in the game was not a good choice.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
@Lozo-it was that ref’s call, it was his area of responsibility. Doesn’t make it a good call though.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
a word I have never used before but always wanted to: egregious!
March 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
And Shane Battier’s (?) “block” against Arizona didn’t get called….
March 7th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
This is like calling defensive pass interference on a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the ball game.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Does college basketball do refs by conference or just by geographical area?
I remember seeing a ref do a CAA game and an ACC game in the same week. Before then I had always thought conferences had the same refs, but that made me wonder.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I don’t think I like any team to win it all but someone has to…UNC and Duke don’t play defense, Memphis can’t make foul shots, Tennessee has the look of Wisconsin last season after they became #1 for the first time ever and the pressure started taking its toll and until Bill Self makes it to a Final Four they won’t get love from me in the brackets
March 7th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
As I watched that game I couldn’t believe the ref made that call. In real time and in replays it was pretty obviously a nice defensive play and a clean block. Once Collison hit those free throws though, it was obvious Stanford was done. They were just out of gas for the last few minutes of the game. Fun game to watch though (unless you don’t live on the West Coast).
March 7th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I think Stanford will get exposed in the tourney against quick guards. They have to pray that their draw is full of teams without guard depth..
March 7th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Officials are employed by conferences, many of them work for more than one conference. So it is not unusual to see the same official in two or even three conferences.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I know I’ve seen Ed Hightower working non-Big Ten games (which is odd since I’m pretty sure he’s reffed every Badger game for the past 49 years)
March 7th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Watch Stanford be one of those teams that makes a run to the Elite Eight or beyond just to spite the experts who have already written them off because of last year’s embarrassment to Louisville
March 7th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
clean block right there, but why doesnt Jack have front row seats?
March 7th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
The more I see of the other supposed top teams, the more confident I become that this is UNC’s year.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I figured Jack would be a USC fan. Or is he like most SoCals: USC football fans, UCLA basketball fans?
March 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
aint happenning cbh. they will lose to Duke on Saturday and then what
March 7th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Screw the block at the end of regulation. The real screw-job was against the people (like myself) who took Stanford +9. First, Stanford blows an 11 point lead with 5:30 remaining. Then after Stanford makes a bucket with 1.6 seconds left in OT to cut the UCLA lead to 8, Love inexplicably throws a length of the court pass to Collison who dribbles and lays it in. Not only is this pass completely unnecessary and uncalled for, but then Collison decides to lay it in??? AND, this all happens with 1.6 seconds left on the clock??? That was the most painful non-cover I can remember in a long time. I hate gambling.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
The block aspect was clean - but the official clearly indicated he was calling the body contact. The question is did the defender maintain his vertical plane while jumping?
Regardless, you don’t want to make that call, particularly if you’re passing on a block/charge call at the other end just before it.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Who am I kidding? I love gambling. I hear smart money is on Drake -9, Bradley +2, Illinois St. -2, Southern Illinois -6, and Wright State -1.
Yes, I have a problem.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
birdman, Tim Donaghy thought it was a good call. Sorry about the spread. That’s messed up.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Good job putting this up, TBL. I was watching live as this happened and was hoping someone would put it up on the Nets.
Still, UCLA is a threat to win it all. Stanford is a good team and just because they steal one at home shouldn’t diminish their chances.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Or they will beat Duke Saturday, then what?
Even if they were to lose, they can win the ACC tournament and still get a number one seed and play in Raleigh and Charlotte.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I watched it live as well and was certain it was a clean block, but friggin’ FSN didn’t show a replay and I went to sleep a minute or so into OT when it was obvious the Bruins would cruise. I didn’t see a replay of it until this morning on SportsCenter, and yep, it’s exactly as terrible a call as I thought it was.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
The call was a tough break, but Stanford’s defense (particularly in the first half) really impressed me. The late tip meant a late night even for central time zone people, but it was well worth staying up to see.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
UCLA has lost their last game before the tournament the last two seasons before they went to the Final Four — last year to Cal and the season before that to Oregon. They’ve played a lot better on the road this season at home, only lost to Washington on the road while they lost to Texas and USC at home. If Shipp continues to play poorly, I’m not sure how they can win though. I think it’s pretty clear that them and Kansas are the two best teams though — not sold on UNC or Tennessee since their conference schedules are so terrible.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
maybe i’ve been watching too much high school basketball but there seems like there was body contact *before* the block on that play, hence the foul.
it’s wasn’t much contact but if a guy was driving to the bucket and there was that much contact there’s be a foul.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
actually jimmy, if the defender has established his defensive position(which he did), he is allowed to jump vertically(which he did) all the way to the ceiling, the defender has a right to that area. Collison came into him. Which would make a no call.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
the block itself was obviously clean, but he clearly hip checks collison, which is what the ref called the foul on.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
that’s what i was thinking: the “hip check.”
owl:
thanks for the exmplantion. i was always under the impression that a guy leaving his feet, if there is contact, would/could be whistled.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Stanford only has themselves to blame. Up 5 with 51 seconds left and give up an offensive rebound then give up another rebound on the FT. That game should have never come down to the last 10 seconds.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
College refs blew a call? Shocker.
College basketball refs are the absolute worst in the business of sports. Horrible. Big Ten have the worst, hands down. But these guys are doing multiple conferences and reffing 2-3 times a week. Too old, too slow, and too stupid to keep pace with these athletes.
Of course, nothing will be done about it.