By Adam Abramson
March 23 will forever be known as "If it's not called, it's not a foul" day in Los Angeles.
Texas A&M's Donald Sloan raced down the floor, rose in the lane and was clearly hacked by Darren Collison and Josh Shipp -- two veteran Bruin players.
Ben Howland has made his name as a coach with tough defense, and it was instrumental in sparking an impressive UCLA comeback against the Aggies, but that doesn't mean the two didn't foul Sloan at the end.
I am all for not having games decided by fouls, but that does not give defenders the open floor to hack guys who are trying to make a play.
You can argue that UCLA is alive as a No. 1 seed because of favorable referee decisions in three games down the stretch.
A foul should have been called in this situation because it was so egregious.
Would it have decided the game? We'll never know. Sloan created an opportunity, but Shipp and Collison broke the rules to shut that down.
That's all I'll say about three great days of basketball (we're not counting Thursday if it's not Dook-Belmont).
Comments (6)
I completely agrr- They have gotten the benefit of no calls or bad calls the past 3 weeks- I did't pick them getting to the final four and it's because without getting calls in their favor they won't win- They're getting DUKE calls
Hi Adam,
I agree, that's a foul and it should have been called. And it
may have changed the outcome of the game.
So I'm certain from your criticism of this play that you've reviewed
the entire 40 minutes of the basketball game and have verified
that there wasn't a single other incident anywhere else in the
game where the referees missed a call to benefit either UCLA
or Texas A&M. It isn't possible that UCLA was owed 12 free
throws for missed fouls and A&M was owed 7, or something like
that. Because when you're critical of the refs, I know you took the
time to actually asses the whole situation and not just one play.
So you reviewed the whole game, right?
That's what I thought.
If a team doesn't want to lose on a bad call at the end of the
game, then they should make sure they get enough of a lead
(and keep it) that one bad call won't make a difference. Note
that I make this same statement when my team loses as when it
wins.
Easy to say since UCLA only benefits from the last game bogus calls (Stanford) and no-calls (Cal--twice if you want to include Shipp's illegal shot--and A&M). Isn't a #1 seed and getting to open the tourney in Anaheim enough of an advantage at the end of a game?
Sour grapes dont make good wine any part of the year, including March. Doesnt anyone else know why its called Home Field Advantage? If A&M wants to get those calls, they should have made sure that they had a higher seed by playing better basketball during the regular season. The Pond (aka Honda Center) was Rockin' on Saturday for UCLA like I have never ever heard Pauley Pavilion. That always ends up subconsciously causing calls to go to the home team. Get used to it.
Bring on the WKU! Go Bruins!
Bruin Buddy, do you not realize the point is that UCLA is getting calls and no calls when it's clear the referees are wrong. The point is that referees should not be giving calls to certain teams because they are seeded higher, because they are playing a home game,.etc... Do you not realize that the ENTIRE nation realizes UCLA has lucked out as of late?
It's on Sportscenter, ESPNews, PTI, in newspapers, etc...
It's a word called INTEGRITY. Whether the referees have that is in question right now. That's bull sheet.
UCLA APOLOGIST, if UCLA did not want to possibly have to go to overtime and possibly lose, they should have played better. Not allow A&M to get in a position that they still could tie the game despite going through that cold streak. It goes BOTH ways, pal.
It was an obvious blown call. A&M should have been shooting two free throws to try to extend the game.
EVERYONE BUT UCLA KNOWS THIS...
Pictures and video do not lie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW5QT70DHhI
Shipp is a hatchet man. UCLA plays ball like it is the WWF.
It is sad. John Wooden's teams were always prepared and technically sound. Howland's teams are just a bunch of thugs.