The End Has No End

UConn 79 Duke 78

THE RATIONAL RESPONSE: Every college basketball fan knows that when your season starts up in November, only one team will end the season without a loss. To get to the Final Four is an accomplishment in itself. And like most people say, when you're talking about Duke, they expect to get to the Final Four every year (which is bunk, but that's not why I am here).

Last night, Duke took the floor against a heavily hyped UConn team and this heavyweight bout lived up to the top billing. After holding the lead for the majority of the game, UConn erased an eight point deficit in the last 3 minutes and took control of a key rebound down the stretch to seal the W. Duke followed a pattern they set forth in the ACC Title game losing a late lead to a scrappy Maryland team. Bad decisions, bad shots, and bad calls decided this game. Shooting 14 of 23 from the free throw line certainly doesn't help either.

The tone was set in the first half when UConn's Emeka Okafor picked up two quick fouls in the first four minutes of the game. Unfortunately, we couldn't capitalize as our big men got into foul trouble of their own with Okafor on the bench. So the seeds of Duke's "collapse" were actually sewn in the first half, not the final three minutes. Shavlik Randolph picked up 2 fouls in a 13 second span, giving him 3 in the first half. And with 3:04 left in the first, Sheldon Williams picked up his third foul. I kept wondering out loud what Williams was doing in the game at that point with two fouls. Unfortunately, I was right.

The second half was also very tight but as the game came down the stretch, Duke started taking some uncharacteristic bad shots very early in the shot clock. It was the same sort of thing they did in the ACC Title game. Sheldon fouled out with a little over five minutes left on a questionable call. Shav fouled out two minutes later on an even more questionable call. It's no coincidence that UConn closed the gap with those two on the bench.

Okafor only missed one shot in the second half and he ended up with the loose ball off that miss and put it in to effectively seal the game with 25 seconds left. Josh Boone was able to reach over Luol Deng and tip the ball to Okafor, who threw Nick Horvath around like a rag doll, collected the ball and put it in the hoop. I have to wonder if he could have done that to Sheldon or Shav.

After a no call on a drive to the lane on the previous possesion, JJ Redick missed an open look at a three to tie the game with six seconds left. I'm sure any Duke fan can live with the shot he took. It missed and Duke lost. End of story. It's always hard to lose once you've come this far, but the silver lining here is that hopefully Luol Deng will stay at school one more year and then team with an improved Sheldon Williams, Shavlik Randolph and Daniel Ewing to take on the tough competition that the ACC will offer next year.

Looking at my Final Four preview, I was right on about a lot of things:
WILDCARD: Rashad Anderson. One of the best three point shooters in the tourney. Anderson hit a wide open three with 3 minutes left that started UConn's climb back. It was one of the biggest shots in the game.
KEY PLAYER: JJ Redick. If he hits 4 or more three pointers against UConn, Duke will win.
JJ hit three and missed a good look with six seconds left.
WILDCARD: Shavlik Randolph. Can he provide much needed minutes off the bench and get the Blue Devils some points and rebounds while he is on the court? Shav played his best game of the season and should be commended. 13 points (6-6 from the field) and 6 rebounds. That's coming up big in a big game. I can't wait to see him next year. I'm calling at least 2nd team All CC for Shav next year.

Mike Lupica called this the most amazing comeback in recent Final Four memory. How soon they forget. Duke was down 21(!!!) in the second half to Maryland in 2001 before coming back to seal the W. UConn did a great job to come from behind and win this game, but let's not get too carried away.

UConn will face Georgia Tech in the Final.

THE GUT REACTION BULLSHIT!! BULLSHIT!! BULLSHIT!! Now I know how NC State feels. We were fucking jobbed in a bad way last night. Yes, the two quick fouls on Okafor were bullshit and not all the bad calls went Duke's way, but to have the refs decide a great game like that in unconscionable. The fifth fouls on Sheldon and Shav were complete bullshit. Okafor lowered his shoulder into Shav and they called the foul on him! Ridiculous. Then, with the game on the line, JJ drives the lane and has four people hack him and we get no call. Gimme a fucking break. Obviously, if JJ goes to the line, that's two for Duke. Call it both ways please. I'm not surprised that CBS decided not to run multiple replays of JJ's drive into the lane. The showed one replay, but it was from a bad angle. Funny how they let a big play like that fall by the wayside in their coverage.

Coach K knew the game was lost right there. He blamed this time on the refs, lambasting them at the end of the game: "You killed us. You killed us."

And this is not a bitter Duke fan talking here. Digger Phelps, Dick Vitale, Bob Ryan, Michael Wilbon and Mike Lupica have all said that this was one of the worst officiated games they have ever seen in a Final Four. When you get this far, let the players decide the game, not the refs. I'm sure both sides have plenty of complaints about the calls last night. It should be noted that different crews worked the first and second games.

And finally, Chris Duhon, you will be missed.
Go luck at the next level.

Props to Grambo, Peabs and Kegzies for checking in on the kid and seeing how I was doing after the game. Cheers guys.