After taking a long hiatus from blogging, I am back and trust me, I have plenty to say. For those of you that know me, you know that I am huge Duke Blue Devils fan. For those of you that did not know that, you know now. Anyways, after Monday night’s National Championship game against Butler I have been reading and watching a lot of sports commentator’s responses to the game. I am going to set the record straight right now and do what sports commentators refuse to do.
Being a Duke fan, I may have a slight bias. However, many casual sports fans and the people that get paid to watch and comment on major sporting events get many things wrong! Maybe there is just a lot of hate on Duke or on any of the big name schools or teams that get to the championship game when their opponent is the “underdog.” Granted, everyone does seem to like the underdog story or the “Cinderella” story. But, I am fed up with it.
Monday night, Duke won the National Championship game. Butler lost. Butler should have lost that game. Butler should have lost to Syracuse, but Syracuse seemed to choke when it counted most. Don’t get me wrong, I was rooting for Butler until they played Duke. When a team reaches the Championship, or any game for that matter, they either win or lose; both teams cannot win the game. Butler deserved to play in the National Championship game because they were playing fantastic basketball. So to you casual fans and “sport experts,” they were not a “Cinderella” story because they won 25 consecutive games to get there! Butler was a good team. Duke was better.
During the game, it was pretty obvious that the NCAA did not want Duke to win. I am not trying to imply that Butler was not playing good, because they were. I am simply saying that the refs for the game were awful! They gave Butler a lot of calls. Re-watch the game if you don’t believe me. As for the last shot, I personally had no doubt that that shot was not going in. I knew it was going to be off. When Duke stormed the court there were smiles all around the Duke team and fans. On the other side, Butler, there were tears of disbelief and sorrow. Guess what sport commentators, Duke won the game and Butler lost. Cinderella missed her carriage.
Butler lost. Butler did not get a moral victory or any other type of ‘W.’ I know that the sport experts are supposed to make story out of these situations. But where is the credit to Duke? You can look at various sport websites and television stations and all you will hear them talk about is how Butler was that close to winning; or, how Butler won for all of those small schools and underdogs out there. Actually, Butler lost. Yes, they were close but close does not win you games. Am I happy that Butler lost? Of course, but that could be because I am a Duke fan. However, it seems like one would never know that Duke won the championship because nobody is giving them credit! Last time I checked, we are supposed to congratulate those who win a major event like that. I realize that UNC fans probably won’t say “Congrats Duke.” But I think Duke needs to be recognized as the winner of the NCAA Championship game.
As for Butler, they played a good game. Better luck next year. However, this does go to show that in the NCCA tournament bracket, anything can happen. Go Duke!
Great post Kraig. The refs were letting Butler get away with a lot of holds and elbows inside because Duke had the clear hight and physical advantage in the paint. Several people on ESPN that always claim the refs are on Duke's side admitted the refs kept Butler in the game with their calls on Duke and lack of calls on Butler. Hayward wouldn't have gotten that half court shot off if Howard hadn't set an illegal, moving screen that knocked Singer to the floor. People do need to give Duke more credit. They were not your typical Duke team. They out-rebounded teams all year. They were great team and played well together because they knew each other so well.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry... but almost everytime Zoubek sets a screen he is moving into the player and they never call it. I felt that most of the calls were going duke's way. Not to mention what would have been a key drive and sent Butler to the free throw line near the end of the game was miss-called as a charge. The duke player was clearly not set. They call a charge way too much in general. And I know I will be criticized for saying this but Butler was the best team they had played all tourney. I think Duke had the easiest road by far. They played a weak WVU and Purdue team who had lost starting players to injuries. They deserve credit, but I think most of the credit should go to Coach K. I think talent-wise, they weren't as good compared to the other number 1-seeds and maybe even OSU and KSU as #2 seeds, but they just played much better as a team then Kentucky and Syracuse, especially when it came down to it. And they were better disciplined, which all reflects the coaching. So props to Duke for that. I just think if CUSE was on their game and healthy, they would have been unstoppable. Unfortunately you can't always bring your A-game.
ReplyDeleteIt was the best game I had seen in a long time, but I don't think it's fair to say Butler got more calls. That one at the end was definitely a moving screen on Butler, but they tend not to make those calls at the end of the game.
Eric Erbelding