March Madness Discussion (Men's Nat'l Championship Game: Mon 4/8: Purdue vs UCONN)

[mattg]

The outrage over that illegal screen is baffling. Like baffling. It's an egregious illegal screen. If you don't believe those should be called then you might as well play basketball with no defenders on the court ever. Let's just have each team play 5 on zero dummy offense every single possession all game and see who can make the most shots. People saying it was rigged or fixed are having the worst take ever and are really butthurt.

Read on Twitter

But like there isn't one single legitimate thing about that "screen". Still moving, hip check, shoulder and elbow stuck out. You can't reward crap like that.

I know people on realgm have a skewed view since most here are simply diehard NBA fans and not really fans of basketball at other levels (and rarely, if ever, watch non NBA games), and they've just accepted terrible illegal screens as part of the game as they help facilitate bums like Malachi Flynn being able to drop 50 to make the NBA product "more exciting" and the NBA wants those offensive explosions...but illegal screens get called at every other level of play and should be called.

[Wingy]

Not a fan of the call but that was a moving screen.

Very interesting, thanks for posting. I thought it was bogus at the time, but this is the rare play where you see it better full speed, real time.

It’s akin to a bang bang charge play. While I also think it’s a moving screen, they happen a lot, and more a call you see in quarters 1-3. Would have rather have seen a no call. Iowa fans sure would’ve been talking about it if UConn hits a game winner there.

Not buying rigged for Iowa talk though. They could’ve easily whistled Nika into foul trouble early and there goes the player limiting Clark. No way would they ask Bueckers to invest the energy to guard her 94’.

[jc23]

The outrage over that illegal screen is baffling. Like baffling. It's an egregious illegal screen. If you don't believe those should be called then you might as well play basketball with no defenders on the court ever. Let's just have each team play 5 on zero dummy offense every single possession all game and see who can make the most shots. People saying it was rigged or fixed are having the worst take ever and are really butthurt.

Read on Twitter

But like there isn't one single legitimate thing about that "screen". Still moving, hip check, shoulder and elbow stuck out. You can't reward crap like that.

I know people on realgm have a skewed view since most here are simply diehard NBA fans and not really fans of basketball at other levels (and rarely, if ever, watch non NBA games), and they've just accepted terrible illegal screens as part of the game as they help facilitate bums like Malachi Flynn being able to drop 50 to make the NBA product "more exciting" and the NBA wants those offensive explosions...but illegal screens get called at every other level of play and should be called.

when you look at it from that angle your right. just hate to see that call at the end of a game. also the iowa player looked like a kid getting screened by an adult.

[Hornet Mania]

It was an offensive foul.

The fact ESPN/NCAA clearly want Clark to advance helps fuel the doubt, but it's just a happy coincidence for them in this case. UCONN's illegal screen helped move the cash cow forward. (And that's not meant to be shade directed at Clark, who is legit great, but obviously the NCAA and their partners care more about the financial windfall she's brought them)

[Wingy]

The outrage over that illegal screen is baffling.

I just posted I’d have rather have seen a no call, even though I agree it was technically the correct call. We just have this swallow the whistle mentality.

But, you’re right. We need to ditch that mentality.

I hate how this is allowed so blatantly in the NBA. Heck, you deal with it in your less than average Joe’s mens league. Everyone else is moving, so eff it, I will too.

If refs whistled it consistently, you wouldn’t see it “deciding” games like this because the players would be forced to adapt and get in the habit of setting good screens.

Won’t happen in a million years because it hurts offense.

[Nate505]

I think most people don't want a ticky tack foul at the end of the game.

Think (and it pains me to say this) Jordan's push off of Russell in the 98 Finals. Yeah, it may have technically been a foul, but it would have been a terrible call.

This wasn't a ticky tack foul. This was blatant, and it wasn't even close. It wasn't even close to close.

So the question becomes, does anything go in the last seconds of a close game? If so, let's break out the karate kicks and everything else.

[MrBigShot]

You don't call that at the end of the game, period. If you have to play something at 0.25 speed and zoom in to argue in favor of it, that speaks for itself.

[mattg]

You don't call that at the end of the game, period. If you have to play something at 0.25 speed and zoom in to argue in favor of it, that speaks for itself.

The ironic thing here is that you have the situation actually completely reversed What a bad take.

You have to show the weird camera angle that's from sort of behind the play and zoomed in (which is the one ESPN constantly is replaying and drawing engagement with talking up the "controversial" call) to possibly think it's a questionable call because it makes it seem like maybe the elbow got stuck out and that's it. That stupid zoomed in angle completely removes the rest of the context of the entire lower body. That angle doesn't show the girl not set, actively moving into the defender, sticking her foot way out beyond shoulder width, hip checking, and the angle downplays how much the shoulder and elbow got stuck out to knock the defender off her path.

When you watch it full speed on the normal camera angle the game is viewed at the illegal screen is egregious and obvious.

[___Rand___]

The outrage over that illegal screen is baffling. Like baffling. It's an egregious illegal screen. If you don't believe those should be called then you might as well play basketball with no defenders on the court ever. Let's just have each team play 5 on zero dummy offense every single possession all game and see who can make the most shots. People saying it was rigged or fixed are having the worst take ever and are really butthurt.

Read on Twitter

But like there isn't one single legitimate thing about that "screen". Still moving, hip check, shoulder and elbow stuck out. You can't reward crap like that.

I know people on realgm have a skewed view since most here are simply diehard NBA fans and not really fans of basketball at other levels (and rarely, if ever, watch non NBA games), and they've just accepted terrible illegal screens as part of the game as they help facilitate bums like Malachi Flynn being able to drop 50 to make the NBA product "more exciting" and the NBA wants those offensive explosions...but illegal screens get called at every other level of play and should be called.

Yeah as you can see I correctly called the screen a football block. Like the way an offensive line would block a defensive pass rusher LOL. UConn players got used to refs not calling fouls on them by that time of the game and they got lazy.

[NyKnicks1714]

The outrage over that illegal screen is baffling. Like baffling. It's an egregious illegal screen. If you don't believe those should be called then you might as well play basketball with no defenders on the court ever. Let's just have each team play 5 on zero dummy offense every single possession all game and see who can make the most shots. People saying it was rigged or fixed are having the worst take ever and are really butthurt.

Read on Twitter

But like there isn't one single legitimate thing about that "screen". Still moving, hip check, shoulder and elbow stuck out. You can't reward crap like that.

I know people on realgm have a skewed view since most here are simply diehard NBA fans and not really fans of basketball at other levels (and rarely, if ever, watch non NBA games), and they've just accepted terrible illegal screens as part of the game as they help facilitate bums like Malachi Flynn being able to drop 50 to make the NBA product "more exciting" and the NBA wants those offensive explosions...but illegal screens get called at every other level of play and should be called.

It's clear now it was a blatant illegal screen. During the broadcast though it wasn't so obvious. They only showed a couple of poor angles and I don't think they slowed it down at all.

[Rich Rane]

I thought it was an illegal screen watching it live. Even if you didn't last night and/or thought it should be called at that point in the game, I think we can all agree it was an illegal screen now, right?

[hardenASG13]

I was listening to the Dan Patrick show on my drive to work yesterday and he said he asked draftkings to set a hypothetical line for a game between Uconn and the pistons. They did it for him.......it was the Pistons -45!

[bisme37]

It was an illegal screen but they could call that on every other possession and I don't like a game that important being decided by the refs.

[tmorgan]

It was an illegal screen but they could call that on every other possession and I don't like a game that important being decided by the refs.

That’s not true. There may have been some other illegal screens in the game — there always are — but I watched the whole thing, a lot of it twice, and that was the most blatant moving screen I saw all night.

Edwards just screwed up, period. It achieved nothing, as Marshall wasn’t going to get to Bueckers anyway, and Stuelke (sp?) was going to get there from the other side. If anything, Edwards impeded her own ability to properly roll with her poor screen.

[JustBuzzin]

NC State is an hour drive for me. Rooting for the underdog even though I'm a UNC fan.

[Nate505]

It was an illegal screen but they could call that on every other possession and I don't like a game that important being decided by the refs.

If that sort of screen could be called on every other possession, WCBB is even worse than the NBA on moving screens, and I find it extremely hard to believe that any level of basketball is worse than the NBA for letting illegal screens go.

[Wingy]

It was an illegal screen but they could call that on every other possession and I don't like a game that important being decided by the refs.

If that sort of screen could be called on every other possession, WCBB is even worse than the NBA on moving screens, and I find it extremely hard to believe that any level of basketball is worse than the NBA for letting illegal screens go.

Hmm, if that were true, don’t we see Clark get open way more than we did? She escaped to clear daylight maybe what? Two or three times all game?

[DirtybirdGA]

Something weird for me seeing basketball in football stadiums. It kinda feels you'd be way back from the action and watching the monitors.

[jkvonny]

Last night's game with Iowa and UConn, broke another record for womens hoops TV ratings. And this was on ESPN as well (not everyone has cable TV).
Previous mark was just a few days ago! Iowa/LSU.
Before that. 1983 championship game . USC upset defending champs (Louisiana Tech).

The championship game tomorrow (Iowa/South Carolina) could break this record as well, especially with it being on free TV (ABC) , too.


https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/caitlin-clark-iowa-uconn-ncaa-final-four-basketball-1235963037/

https://sports.yahoo.com/tv-ratings-experts-predict-iowa-130053021.html

[jkvonny]

Purdue trying to make their first championship game since 1969 (their one and only so far, lost to UCLA).
NC State trying to make it back for the 1st time since 1983 (won their 2nd championship, beat Houston).

Bama trying to make it for the 1st time in their history.
Defending champs, UConn trying to go back again. Blue bloods of the bunch (5 championships).