By MICK HOLIEN
I guess it was just too much to ask for? Everyone in anticipation of an NCAA Championship game that lived up to its hype.
Kudos to North Carolina and the venerable Roy Williams, who still has fire in his belly after a long career. Did you catch when he slammed the floor with his palm after a timeout to implore his team to get a defensive stop.
So why not a better game?
North Carolina receives all my kudos as the Tarheels just weren’t going to be denied.
It really came down to a one-possession game with a late slam producing a five point decision, enough I’m sure to cover the spread.
But it truly was a difficult game to watch.
I saw too much Zebra and too far from the hoop and it left too many trips to the foul line where the Bulldogs for some reason have not recently been effective.
I have always subscribed to advantage-disadvantage when it comes to officiating but seldom did you ever hear me criticizing and if you did I really had an opinion about something.
I have always thought announcers, especially radio guys, spend too much time lamenting how a game is called and taking away from the action with their comments.
And believe me you can get caught up in it especially after you have been doing a team for an extended period, pulling for them to be successful, and listening to 40 minutes of playing time with a rambunctious coach loudly in your headset.
Coaches sideline antics in most cases have not accelerated but it tires you out when every call is disputed, in many cases looking to gain favor on the next call.
But the title game just had too much stoppage and officials often took too much time giving the foul shooter the basketball.
There just didn’t seem to be any rhythm, any flow and certainly unlike a bevy of other games, not that much fun to watch.
I know some of those officials who now are at the highest level and I realize they feel they are doing the credible job they are trained for but the athletes must decide the game.
If they are going to call games with ticky-tack away from the hoop or an illegal screen less than 30 seconds in, maybe a sixth personal foul is in order.
Just sayin’
