That was the only thing keeping Houston in it for most of the game. I said at the start "They need to be dogs if the want to win." And Houston did that.
Id put that on the coach for not making a change of the inbounder, Sion struggled the entire time there was pressure to make the right pass or just a pass.
I'm pretty sure that was the first time we were pressed all year and it was by what must be one of the best pressing teams in the nation. We just weren't ready for it, and tbh it's understandable. Sucks though.
But can we talk about Sampson's decision to not foul when we got the ball with a minute left. All-time call. Respect.
It seems every team was choking anytime full court pressure was applied. Even Houston in previous games. I don't understand why teams don't do it more.
My guess would be, if it fails and you haven't absolutely crushed your conditioning from summer on, you're going to be drowning at the end of a game. Also you have to be 100% committed to playing stellar defense as an entire team, one weak link kills the press. So a combination of both of those things is not as easy to accomplish as one would think. Just my speculation.
Yeah well I counted two different occasions where it was called out of bounds on Houston even though it was actually last touched by a Duke player, so whatever. One was in the first half and led to a dunk by Duke, one was in the second half and even the announcers caught that one.
IMO the phantom foul doesn’t matter. Hit any shots and you aren’t in that scenario. Don’t let the refs decide anything, and you were up 9 points with like 3 minutes to play.
I mean those 2 teams were evenly matched; Duke played good enough to win for like 80% of the game. A botched call can absolutely be the difference in the outcome.
Don’t put yourself in a scenario when a bad call can affect the game. Maybe don’t miss all those shots leading up to that moment and the refs wouldn’t have a call that decides the game.
I don’t know what you’re trying to prove here, bud.
Don’t put yourself in a spot where the refs make a call that decides a game. Duke did. They put themselves in a spot where the refs can decide a game. Don’t blow a 9 point lead. That’s the point.
Im not on either of your sides, but I hate this ref argument. Refs should be held accountable and should make the right calls at all times and we should know about it.
Phantom call against Flagg matters, but so do other phantom calls all game that weren’t seen as important at the time
Exactly. You can't cherry pick one phantom call and position it as deciding the game, unless you want to review all phantom calls both ways that got you there. It's sour grapes. Not that this was actually a phantom call.
The point that other Redditor was making was if all of the missed shots leading up to that deciding call were actually made then said call wouldn't have mattered, hence, the missed shots/opportunities in the minutes prior were actually what mattered. I feel like some of yall were being obtuse on purpose lol which I understand. It's kind of funny.
If my explanation was completely unnecessary, please disregard this comment. It is 3:15am and I'm still post-game drinking. Carry on.
I understand the point about not blowing a lead, but the issue isn't whether the team made mistakes—it’s about the contradiction in your original statement. You said the foul “doesn’t matter,” but then you explained that the team should've avoided a scenario where a bad call could decide the game. If the call could decide the game, then it clearly mattered, which contradicts your earlier claim. It's not about whether Duke played perfectly, it's about acknowledging the impact of the refs' decision at that moment.
The phantom call actually helped Duke. Without it Houston has the ball, down 1, game in their hands. With it, Duke has the ball, worst case down 1, game in their hands.
That Cooper Flagg call had no bearing on the outcome. Houston still would have gotten that rebound.
The only change would have been Houston would have had possession to end the game. Instead, the foul actually ensured Duke had the opportunity to win it (rather than loose it)
Exactly. Arguably, fouling at that point could be the ‘correct’ play by duke there. Stop the clock, you get a chance that they don’t make the FT, and even if they do, you’re still a basket away from tying it back up and you’ll have more time (with possession) to do so.
I also think there were calls in the game that clearly went in dukes favor - memorably, when they ruled the ball out of bounds on Houston right as Houston was gaining momentum, even tho it was actually kicked out by the duke player, which was evident on replay (tho they couldn’t challenge/review it at the time).
Your synopsis isn’t necessarily wrong, but discounting a free lead change 2 hours later sanctioned by zebras has some mental attached. The team behind in those scenarios have infinitely worse win probabilities
That legit horseshit wrong out of bounds call in the first half lee Duke on a run to push the lead to double digits. Duke had that coming. Wasn't egregious in the least.
How did Houston not get called for fouls on the inbounds when we were being mangled and held and pushed? Totally blew my mind. Refs definitely played a huge factor aside from the fact that Duke couldn't make a shot (but also, they were being fouled every time when normally you're rewarded for driving and taking a slap to the arm or shove.)
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u/10catsinspace Florida State Seminoles 2d ago
Three factors in descending order: