OT (sadly) - March Madness Day 1 Open Thread

Submitted by Avant's Hands on

I know a lot of people will be at work until the later games, but I know there will be some people watching these early games. All four look like snoozers, but odds are that one will turn into a nail biter. Hopefully it is ND-Northeastern. With my luck it will be Zona, since I have them winning it all. 

snarling wolverine

March 19th, 2015 at 10:59 PM ^

The Arkansas guy's shoe just flew off his foot as he was running upcourt.  Delay of game seems like the correct call - there's no reason to believe it was intentional.  But I don't know why it took them 5 minutes to figure that out.

Yes, delay of game does exist in basketball.  You see it called mainly when guys interfere with the other team's ability to inbound the ball (like when a guy bats at the ball after a made basket, or doesn't hand it to the referee when he should).

snarling wolverine

March 19th, 2015 at 11:29 PM ^

Surprised there wasn't a clock replay delay there - or that LSU didn't call for one.  They might have been able to get it up to 0.5 seconds or so.

And then with 0.1 second left - where the only legal play is a tip-in - why would you inbound it in the backcourt?

Muttley

March 19th, 2015 at 11:49 PM ^

and should have called one to get that review.

I suppose in theory it is possible to "bump" the ball in from the backcourt volleyball-style, but if you catch it with 0.3 seconds or less, the game is over.

If LSU was forced to inbounds the ball with 0.1 seconds left, they should have thrown a length-of-the-court pass at the basket for an attempted grazing tip-in.  Actually executing that would be a miracle, but drawing a foul on a reasonably accurate throw wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility,

Avant's Hands

March 19th, 2015 at 11:41 PM ^

Already five one point games today. Which doesn't even count the ND, UNC or OSU games which came down to the wire as well. This Arkansas game seems to be headed there as well. One of the best days of the tournament ever even if the quality of basketball hasn't been the best.

Muttley

March 19th, 2015 at 11:54 PM ^

this time by LSU.

After NC State scored and the clock read 0.1 seconds, you need to call timeout so that the time can be reviewed.  LSU had multiple timeouts.  With 0.3 seconds or less left, you cannot catch-and-shoot, so a pass into the backcourt is a near-automatic loser unless the opponent fouls before the ball arrives.

IFFF you're going to inbound the ball with 0.1 seconds remaining, a much better way to attract a foul is to throw a length-of-the-court Hail Mary pass aimed at the basket (basically a length-of-the-court shot) that could be tipped in should miraculously the ball be thrown accurately, someone on offense outpositions the defense, and times his jump and grazing tip perfectly.  What is of higher likelihood is that the defense may commit a foul on such a play IFFF the inbounds pass is thrown reasonably close to the bucket, and the defense feels compelled to defend.

Still, the LSU players have to call timeout in that situation.

(BTW, I picked NC State.  I'm getting crushed and have Kentucky over Duke in only non $$$ pools, so I don't have much invested in the outcome.)