Plumlee's Shove Against Zeller
So, the announcers refused to comment on Plumlee's blatant shove of Zeller that lead to Z's tip-in own-goal that (among several other utterly indefensible calls) handed Duke the recent game in Chapel Hill. But now not only are we subjected to repeated re-plays of Austin "Travelocity" Rivers's final shot, with no mention of the fact that it only mattered because three terrible calls in a row had gone Duke's way...we're also being treated to replays of Z's tip-in...with Plumlee's shove clearly visible...still with no mention of the foul whatsoever.
Let me repeat: there's a reason everyone hates Duke.
So, the announcers refused to comment on Plumlee's blatant shove of Zeller that lead to Z's tip-in own-goal that (among several other utterly indefensible calls) handed Duke the recent game in Chapel Hill. But now not only are we subjected to repeated re-plays of Austin "Travelocity" Rivers's final shot, with no mention of the fact that it only mattered because three terrible calls in a row had gone Duke's way...we're also being treated to replays of Z's tip-in...with Plumlee's shove clearly visible...still with no mention of the foul whatsoever.
Let me repeat: there's a reason everyone hates Duke.
posted by Winston Smith at
12:20 AM
4 Comments:
"Let me repeat: there's a reason everyone hates Duke."
I believe Nietzsche called it "ressentiment"
I think everybody else calls it "cheating"...
Outrage is actually good - in small doses. Proves you're paying attention.
Basketball is a game that's filled with fuzzy and oft-breached boundaries. You can't actually win if you're not in technical violation all the time. If I'm weak side in the lane, I have to face the ball at least partly, but I can't lose my man, so I try to keep a hand on him. It's like being a cornerback or offensive lineman in the NFL - you have to impede a bit.
Not a defense of Plumlee, just a little reality of the game...
One of the reasons I'd much rather play than watch on TV is how awful the officiating is. Baseball umpires have a limited number of set-pieces to call. Basketball referees have continuous, fluid, blazing fast events that their eyes can't resolve optically in 3D, and they have to make no-harm-no-foul judgement calls instantly.
I think the networks stopped showing the previous play in favor of the penultimate play simply because so many replays showed missed calls that the officiating and the game seemed random and unjust. In a pick-up game, you call your own fouls - and some prima donnas abuse that, but they lose respect - and a shove under the basket doesn't get missed.
I totally agree, LL. That's one of the weaknesses of hoops, IMO--foul calls seem more like approximations than in some other sports. In fact, I think you just have to kind of think of them as approximations.
But that's one of the things that rankles about the Curry walk and the Plumlee shove--they weren't even close; they were just awful, awful calls. I'll give 'em Henson's phantom block--it wasn't really that close, but I can understand a reasonable ref concluding that it was more likely that Henson had tipped it than that Kelly had shot such a miserable air ball.
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