Two Great, but Frustrating Games

There is nothing worse than waking up on a lazy Saturday, turning on the television and seeing that my two least favorite teams are dominating the coverage….Duke and Rick Pitino ( I say that just to make clear that I dont hate Louisville….I only dislike them because Rick is the coach). However I must say that after watching the Louisville-Notre Dame game and the Duke-Florida St game, I believe I was treated to two of the best contests of the season.

First the Louisville game. We will look back at the Taquan Dean three pointer at the end of regulation as the shot that saved whatever is left of the Cardinals season. Had he missed that, the team goes to 2-7 in conference, with virtually no chance of the NCAA Tournament and the very real possibility of missing the Big East Tournament. Now, thanks in part to having Depaul and South Florida at home, the Cards are pretty much assured of heading to New York and they at least have a shot at the NCAA….although they have to pull off a big upset to get there. Great performance once again by Padgett…who makes my opinion that he would be Marvin Stone-esque look silly. Rick Majerus was epic once again with his cries of great OOOOO—-FENSE, although he needs to tone down a bit of the hyperbole…..I mean this wasnt Duke-Kentucky in 92. And you have to feel bad for Notre Dame….yet another close loss…..all eight Big East losses by a combined 26 points….that is just unfair.

Now to the Dukies….I hate them. ….and I especially hate the referees. Anyone who believes that Duke does not get a TREMENDOUS advantage from referees in a game is just naive. The Blue Devils shot over 40 free throws against Florida St, while the Eagles shot 12….this even though that Duke is a jump shooting team and BC takes the ball to the basket. Sheldon Williams committed his fifth foul seven times but somehow remained in the game, hitting the game clinching free throws. And once again, a Sheldon Williams no-call is the way that the contest ended (although this one was at least debatable while the one last week against Boston College was absurd). I am still amazed at just how good JJ Redick is. He was off his game, missing shots and finished with over 30 points. He is a great, great college player. But good grief folks, how about we stop with giving Duke even more help from the zebras. This is a very good to great college team….they have the best home court advantage in basketball and one of the best coaches on the sideline….they dont need anymore help from the pot-bellied referees.