UNC Basketball Update News and game summaries from a life-long North Carolina Basketball fan(atic)

More from Doyel on Coach K   Gotta love Gregg Doyel. Yesterday I wrote about his exchange with Coach K during the ACC Teleconf. I've been checking his site today because I smelled an article brewing. And not to be disappointed, here it is: Real 'bad' guy -- self-made -- in Duke-UNC fracas is Coach K . Definitely worth a read. Posted by Robbie Allen @ 3/06/2007 01:25:00 PM Comments: IN MY OPINION Refs made right call on Duke suspension SCOTT FOWLER As far as a good sports controversy goes, this is the perfect storm. It has Duke and North Carolina. It has blood. It has video. It has a star player getting hurt. And it still has two days to simmer, because nobody from the ACC plays again until the league tournament starts Thursday. So Tyler Hansbrough's broken nose and Gerald Henderson's hard foul are getting the full-on treatment. It's not Anna Nicole Smith, but it's close. CNN was running the bloody clip about every 15 minutes Monday. My take? Officials Karl Hess, Jamie Luckie and Les Jones got this call right. Henderson's foul wasn't just hard. It was unnecessary. It was wild. It was a Duke player trying to prove his school can play football. It was a macho swat with a subtext that read: "Even though we're getting drummed and there are 14.5 seconds left, you won't be dunking on us again." An ejection and a one-game suspension? Right on target. I don't think Henderson was trying to break Hansbrough's nose. But he's guilty, just like the person who drives 80 mph on the highway and doesn't want to have a wreck but ends up causing one. This was an overaggressive action -- worse than a hard foul, not as bad as a fight. Henderson has roiled up this rivalry. He has made several Tar Heels fans I've talked to almost unable to enjoy the victory because they remain so angry about the foul (and about Billy Packer saying on TV that Henderson should get a lesser punishment). And although I often agree with Packer, this time I believe he was wrong. I graduated from North Carolina, as many non-Tar Heels fans like to remind me. I believe I'm an objective observer of all sports teams, including the UNC basketball program. They taught me that 20 years ago in journalism school. On such a visceral topic, I wanted another view. So I called ESPN's Jay Bilas for his opinion. Bilas is a Duke graduate, former Blue Devils star, Charlotte attorney and one of the best sports announcers working today. "I thought the officials' response was measured and appropriate," Bilas said. "There was nothing wrong with Hansbrough going after that rebound. There was nothing wrong with him trying to score, or with Henderson fouling him. The problem was it was an excessive foul. The rule as written has nothing to do with intent. I don't think Henderson intended to hurt him, but that's not the issue. It was a foul that was too hard. It doesn't make either of them bad kids." No, it doesn't. But it sure gets the blood boiling. Hansbrough will play Friday in the ACC tournament. Henderson won't play Thursday in Duke's first-round tournament game against N.C. State. His punishment fits the crime. The officials got this one -- right on the nose. # posted by  Bilas : 2:21 PM   Here's one lambasting Billy Packer: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/502931p-424203c.htmlwbcrwokx # posted by  Anonymous : 2:26 PM   Post a Comment << Home