I was listening to 1660 in Charlotte, and Christian Laettner was interviewed. Apparently, earlier in the day he had admitted to Duke getting a lot of calls on the Dan Patrick show so they brought it up with him.
Laettner, and I'm paraphrasing, said Coach K is one of the best in the biz at working officials over. He also said, the style and tempo of play prevnts officials from being able to make every call. He said Duke is the more aggressive team 99% of the time, and they dictate the play, so officials let them play their game. When you've seen that style on TV, first-hand, are just in general used to seeing it, you become accustomed to letting things go that may be fouls in other games.
Anyways, I do think Duke gets away with a lot of holding, grabbing, bumping etc. That is part of my point about the pessure defense they play. They get in your shorts and don't let you breathe, but at the same time, I don't think many teams can that be that aggressive back b/c it gets called. Laettner also said they were taught how to foul, without it being called which goes back to the grabbing, bumping, etc. It isn't a foul if it isn't called....maybe Coach K has just mastered different techniques that give his team an advantage.
BTW, and I've brought it up in the past, but probably the worst call I've ever seen was against FSU several years ago, where Isiah Swann pulled up at the elbow for a jumpshot. The Duke player was a little off-balance as Swann stopped quickly and raised up for the jump-shot, and the Duke player recovered to step up and raise his arms. Swann literally came down where he jumped, it was a pull-up J, and landed on the Duke player (Paulus as a freshmen I think). They called it a charge. On a pull-up J. Because the Duke player slid underneath him as he raised up and landed on him.
It was a call only Duke gets. That to me circles back to what Laettner was talking about....refs watching games get so used to seeing Duke players take a charge, that they get a ridiculous amount of beneficial charging calls. Duke has mastered sliding underneath a player after he has left his feet, which isn't a charge, but they get the call 75% of the time.
College should put the circle under the hoop, and charging should be redefined. It was put in the game to regulate "out of control" players. It has now become a cheap, undercutting move on players who are under control trying to finish at the rim. That wasn't its' original purpose. It was for the guy lowering his shoulder, the player recklessely attacking the hoop, etc.
It's become dirty to me....
It was an interesting discussion....
