DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NC/Duke..........Punch?

That looked like a deliberate punch to me. I think Packer is nuts saying that Henderson was going for the ball. The ball was already out of the other kid's hands. If it would have been any other team than Duke, Packer would have been going nuts.

Henderson should be suspended! That was a cheap shot!

They said he will be suspended for one game.

It definitely looked like a punch to me too...

I have mixed feelings.. We had the game on during dinner tonight and we watched all the replays. I thought the backside shot was the best angle to determine what happened. IMO.. I think he was initially going for the ball and had committed to a course of action then the ball and players changed position and it came across as a forearm to the nose.. now whether or not it became intentional is something I can't decide.

It's certainly up for interpretation.

I think he was pissed because the NC guy got an offensive rebound off of a foul shot and was trying to score even though the game was out of reach. Henderson cocked that arm and brought it across his body. Sure looked like more of a punching motion than an attempt at a block to me.

I guess only he knows the truth.

Yes. Can I help you with something?

I dont think the kid was actually trying to punch someone in the face. Looks like he was going for the ball and a hard foul. Not trying to intentially knock a guy out.

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I think he was initially going for the ball and had committed to a course of action then the ball and players changed position and it came across as a forearm to the nose..

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that's the way I saw it. But of course the kid does play for Duke so he should be suspended for 3 years.

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Updated: March 4, 2007
In a battle of image, Duke takes black eyeBy Pat Forde
ESPN.com
Archive

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- What's the only thing more heated than the Duke-North Carolina basketball rivalry?

The Duke-North Carolina reputation rivalry.

And boy, was it heated on that front Sunday.

America's two most image-obsessed basketball programs were in image overdrive after a nondescript game -- by Carolina-Duke standards -- turned into a scene from "Scarface" in the final seconds. On this blood-soaked afternoon, the moral high ground was claimed by the Tar Heels, while the Blue Devils were left protesting their innocence amid charges of a cheap shot to Carolina's star player.

Tyler Hansbrough got the bloody nose. Duke got the black eye.

And if there is anything the goody-goody Dookies hate more than losing to North Carolina, it's losing and being called dirty at the same time.

That's what 21,750 Tar Heels fans were screaming at Duke guard Gerald Henderson, after his flying forearm drop split the bridge of Hansbrough's beak with 14.5 seconds left in an 86-72 Carolina victory. Henderson was called for, in officialese, "a flagrant foul for a confrontational and combative action."

He was ejected, and by NCAA rule will miss the Blue Devils' first (and possibly only) game in the ACC tournament Thursday against North Carolina State. All three Duke assistant coaches accompanied Henderson off the floor, walking through as visceral a gauntlet of booing as I can remember for a player in a college gym.

But it was Hansbrough who left the court before Henderson, blood gushing from his nose and leaving a scarlet trail of spatters all the way to the locker room. If he hadn't been in need of prompt medical attention, you get the feeling the guy they call "Psycho T" would gladly have gone after Henderson or anyone else in a Duke uniform.

"I thought it was something out of a movie," said Carolina guard Bobby Frasor, whose missed free wound up in Hansbrough's hands and started the carnage. "Just the way he was bleeding and how furious -- you could see in his eyes how mad he was. Thank goodness he got his emotions under control in the locker room. He got so angry, it was kind of crazy.

"To end that way, that's going to be seen over and over and over again. Every time Duke and Carolina play, they're going to show that highlight."

Smart kid, Frasor. From SportsCenter to Cold Pizza to PTI to Around the Horn, we've got hot video.

This was not the first confrontation in Duke-Carolina history. Heels coach Matt Doherty got into it with Duke scrub Andre Buckner a couple years ago, and there are folks around here who still remember when Carolina's Larry Brown and Donnie Walsh dusted it up with Duke's Art Heyman in the '60s.

But this had to set a rivalry record for most blood shed. Maybe even a national record. Chuck Wepner never hemorrhaged like Hansbrough did.

The question is motive.

"I was not intentionally trying to hurt anybody," Henderson said. "Obviously, it was a foul. I was not trying to hurt or hit the kid."

After viewing the replay several times, I agree that the blow to the face did not appear to be intentional. Henderson was going to block Hansbrough's shot, and then Hansbrough's arm was pulled down and the ball flew out, and Henderson's forearm smashed Psycho T's face. This was not a premeditated knockout.

However, Henderson appeared to be going in with the intent to deliver an enthusiastically hard foul. There is a place in the game for hard fouls, for forcefully preventing easy baskets, for occasionally planting an opponent on his rear end.

But when the hard foul goes wrong, for whatever reason, you run the risk of it accidentally turning into assault and battery. Like this.

And when that happens, you pay the price with an ejection and a suspension. The officials did the right thing in tossing Henderson.

Not surprisingly, Mike Krzyzewski did not agree with a punishment that will take one of his few explosive athletes out of the lineup Thursday night. He said he'd like to see the ACC office take another look at the play, and commissioner John Swofford has probably already received a call or two from the Duke hierarchy expressing their spin on events.

"We'll take all responsibility, but if there's any way Gerald Henderson did that intentionally, that's crazy," Krzyzewski said. "That's not the way he plays and not the way we play. ... I feel badly for Tyler and what happened, but there was no intent."

And then, rather shamefully, Kryzyzewski fired a subtle but unmistakable shot right back at Roy Williams. After saying all the right things, he had to say one catty thing.

(There was only so much falling upon the sword K could tolerate, right there in the Dean Dome after getting his head handed to him. Taking the high road is always easier when you're beating Carolina on a regular basis, which Duke isn't doing anymore.)

"The game was over before that," he said. "I mean the outcome of the game, let's put it that way. That's unfortunate, too, that those people were in the game in that play. Maybe this wouldn't have happened."

So there. Hansbrough had it coming for playing mop-up minutes in a double-digit win.

For the record, Krzyzewski later said, "We should have probably both had our walk-ons in."

Also for the record, Krzyzewski was calling timeout with 50 seconds left and his team down by 13. So he clearly didn't think it was walk-on time at that point.

Naturally, this blame-the-victim jab went over wonderfully with Roy Williams.

"I don't understand that," Williams responded, when told of Krzyzewski's barb.

Playing starters at garbage time, he was told.

"Gerald was in," Williams said, although Henderson did not start. "I mean, both teams had 'em in. Anybody else got any questions?"

Before anyone could ask one, Williams veered back to the topic, talking about the famous Carolina comeback from eight points down with 17 seconds left against Duke in the 1970s. In other words, anything can happen.

But then that didn't seem to be carrying the day, so Williams pointed out that he had a sub at the scorer's table for Hansbrough while Frasor was shooting his foul shots.

"I was trying to get Tyler out of the game," Williams said. "It's not my fault that Tyler got the offensive rebound and somebody else missed the sucker. But that's enough about that junk."

Of course, talking about that junk at least changed the subject from the junk that Duke has become, at least in comparison to its normal self. This is clearly the worst Blue Devils team since Krzyzewski's dark period in the mid-90s when back trouble chased him off the sideline for part of the 1994-95 season.

Long one of the prettiest offensive teams in college basketball, Duke now is slow, sloppy and lacking create-your-own-shot scorers. It has 57 more turnovers than assists, has not proven capable of strafing teams from the perimeter as usual and doesn't get enough back-to-the-basket scoring from its big men.

That's why the Blue Devils are 22-8, and just 8-8 in ACC play. And that's why they're starting the ACC tournament as a No. 7 seed, a stunning tumble from Duke's normal spot at or very near the top.

With the Blue Devils obviously inferior to the Heels, their only chance to win this game and derail Carolina's ACC title hopes was to junk the game up and win on effort. Part of that, it could be argued, was asserting a level of toughness that Carolina might not match.

That's been one of the knocks on these Tar Heels, who were supposed to dominate the ACC but wound up backing into the title thanks to losses by Virginia and Virginia Tech. At times it looked like Duke was going to test the Heels' toughness by smacking them around.

In the end, Gerald Henderson clearly took the physical play thing too far. Took it all the way to the locker room and an invitation to wear street clothes in Tampa on Thursday night.

So Duke wakes up Monday with a fresh black eye and a fourth loss to Carolina in the last five meetings. For the image-obsessed Blue Devils, it gets no worse than being bad and being dirty.

Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com.

That article is a very good read. I agree with the writer when he says that It wasnt intent to knock out Tyler Hansborough.

BUT, it absolutely was an attempt to knock him on his hindquarters with authority.

The ball came out, any other time in any other game, the guy doesnt swing through, but he did anyway. His intent was to knock "Psycho T" on his rear, and his face got in the way.


Turns out, just another reason for me to hate the Dukies. Its too bad because I want to see those two go at it in the ACC Tourney, but NCST (my team) plays Duke in the opening round, so of course I want Duke out immediately.

I can say with great conviction that the ACC tournament championship game will be between Maryland and Georgia Tech.....


unless it's UNC and Va Tech.... or it could be BC and Duke.... but I'm pretty sure it will two of those teams... unless Virginia gets in...

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"The game was over before that," he said. "I mean the outcome of the game, let's put it that way. That's unfortunate, too, that those people were in the game in that play. Maybe this wouldn't have happened."

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On top of that, when Hansbrough got the rebound and was looking to score, I think Henderson got angry and went after him hard.

I can't see how NC or Hansbrough is to blame for this, but that's just me.

Thats an excuse really...Saying that Hansborough shouldnt have been in the game is a line.

So if it was some scrub from the bench that that had happened to, it would be ok? Ok then. No, it wouldnt be ok.

There's no excuse for a play like that

Agreed.

That is an excuse and a pathetic one at that. When the incident happened, Duke had Zoubek, McClure, Sheyer, Henderson, and Nelson in the game.... because Paulus and McRoberts had fouled out... that's their best 5 players... it appears Coach Kry wasn't ready to pull anybody either if the game was so "over"...

and they had taken a timeout after scoring not even 5 seconds before that.

Coach K said that if he thought that if Henderson had malicious intent he'd suspend him for longer.

Here's your chance Coach. Put up or Shut Up. I lost a lot of respect for the Dukies with that. Not so much the play, because that's on Henderson. But the way that Coach K and the Duke program is handling it for being all about their imagine and being classy.

Maybe I misread what was actually said, but didn't Coach K say that both benches should have been emptied? That's how I read the quote. I don't see where he is blaming UNC, but saying that at that point in the game, neither should have been in there and the situation wouldn't have happened. He didn't point fingers at Williams. He said that neither player should have been in the game. I took it as Coach K taking blame for having the starters still in there.

Coach K was probably stating that he had a part in not emptying his bench... but typically isn't the losing coach that goes to subs first, thus conceding? Well with 20+ seconds left and down by 12, Duke still had their starters in and were still fouling, which meant they hadn't conceded yet. And much to my own chagrin, I've SEEN Duke overcome 12 point deficits in 20 seconds... so I can't say that I blame Williams for leaving his starters in as long as Duke was fouling and trying to come back.

I see your point, I just think that Coach K is being mislabeled with the quote. I see it as an admission that he should have done things differently. In the end, it doesn't matter. I think Coach K has proven, like him or hate him, that he is a class coach who does run a good program the right way. I don't see him defending such a classless move unless he believed what he was saying.

I have nothing but respect for Coach K... I typically don't even mind the Duke basketball team... what I hate is how the media fawns all over them and panders to them as if their you-know-what doesn't stink.... Sometimes it DOES stink and people need to tell them it stinks and they need to take it like the rest of the schools in the country that have players who screw up from time to time.

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I have nothing but respect for Coach K... I typically don't even mind the Duke basketball team... what I hate is how the media fawns all over them and panders to them as if their you-know-what doesn't stink.... Sometimes it DOES stink and people need to tell them it stinks and they need to take it like the rest of the schools in the country that have players who screw up from time to time.

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Pretty interesting take DC. Most people go to the other extreme. They hate DUKE because of the media love.

As far as the Henderson/Hansborough incident. All i can say is that it was unfortuate. Its easy to look at the play in super slo mo and try and say what a kid should have done but in live action its totally different.

As far as who should've/shouldn't have been in the game. Thats for each coach to decide on their own. I think TH trying to score in the final 30 or so seconds of a game that was clearly over is very questionable, but then again that's the prerogative he earned by securing the rebound....like i said its just unfortunate for all parties involved. Roy and K have to talk about this more so than the game. Gerald has an 'unfair' label on him, Tyler has a broken nose, the Heels coming together after a couple of sup par efforts and winning the acc reg season, by sweeping their arch-rival is pushed to the background....unfortunate.

oh well....NEXT PLAY

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Pretty interesting take DC. Most people go to the other extreme. They hate DUKE because of the media love.

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that is the way it typically manifests itself and I have to admit I feel that way too... I love to see Duke fail so I can watch the media make excuses for them... It doesn't happen often so I love it when I get the chance...

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I love to see Duke fail so I can watch the media make excuses for them... It doesn't happen often so I love it when I get the chance...

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Well i guess you've been in absolute XTACY this winter (soon to be spring) swept by Maryland and UNC... hell must be freezin over.

Yea it has been rather amusing watching them fall... it's fun when it takes them 4 consecutive losses, 3 to unranked teams, to fall from 11 to 26.. and then 2 wins to get them back to 11... those are the things I hate about Duke....

It looks to me that it was not an accident, I mean come on, that was supposed to be an attempt for the ball?

your right DC it a shame the way the press fondles them ... it also has it minuses .. u get reporters who hate them and crap all over them ... like this guy obviously does .. so my suggestion ... read more of this guy and less of the others.. *L* ....

this is getting blown way out of proportion ... the kid was going to commit a hard foul ( no probs with that .. it happens all the time) and T got pushed from behind throwing him off balance .... this didnt;allow his arms/the ball to come out leaving his face exposed .... henderson had all ready started the wheels in motion .. and it was to late ....

now if he did it with a closed fist as opposed to an open hand ... then it would be another story ..

and K is full of CRAP .... the benches should ahve been empry?? *LOL* .. OK K ... since when u teach your kids to quit???

K sounds much more credible today than he did after the game on Sunday ... Sunday all he was trying to do was PROTECT HIS PLAYER and that is exactly what he should ahve been doing .. DEFLECTING ATTENTION from an 18 yr. old kid .. thats K's job in that instance ..

IMO it was handled correctly ... 1 game for a hard foul that turned flagrant .. alot of u guys are acting like he walked up to him and just unloaded ..

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Tyler Hansbrough insisted Tuesday there's no bad blood between him and Duke's Gerald Henderson, who broke the North Carolina star forward's nose in the closing seconds of the latest clash between the Tobacco Road rivals.

Hansbrough, speaking to reporters for the first time since suffering the scary-looking injury in North Carolina's 86-72 win against Duke on Sunday, said he hasn't heard from Henderson, who flagrantly fouled him with 14.5 seconds left.

"I was upset when it happened," Hansbrough said. "I don't think he did it intentionally. I don't really like talking about it because I really don't know how to handle the situation, but I'm fine right now. I feel fine. I was kind of shocked my nose was broken. ... I just thought it was a really bad nosebleed."

Hansbrough had an inch-long bruise below his right eye Tuesday but otherwise showed no visible signs of the fracture he suffered shortly after rebounding his own missed free throw late in the game and going back up for a putback.

Henderson leaped to block the shot; after the ball left Hansbrough's hand, Henderson's right elbow appeared to strike the Tar Heels' center in the nose, sending him crumpling to the ground.

Asked if it was the hardest hit of his life, Hansbrough deadpanned: "Are we talking about on the court or off?"

Blood poured down Hansbrough's face and onto his lip, his chin and the court, and he had to be restrained from Duke players as he went to the locker room. Henderson was ejected and received an automatic one-game suspension for Duke's ACC tournament opener against North Carolina State.

"In the game, I was upset. ... I read where he said it wasn't intentional, not any intentional things, or anything like that," Hansbrough said. "But it was a hard hit, and it did hurt. ... My feelings as a player who got hit, I understand that if I hit somebody like that, I don't ever intend to hurt anybody, and I don't think he intended it to be like that."

Henderson and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski have both said there was no intent to injure, and ACC officials consider the matter closed.

Earlier in the game, Hansbrough was hit by an elbow that loosened one of his upper teeth, but he will play despite the injuries. He might wear a custom-made protective mask when the top-seeded Tar Heels begin ACC tournament play Friday.

"I'm not too crazy about the mask," Hansbrough said. "It's one of those things where they strongly recommend me wearing it. But at the same time, I have no problem taking it off."

Receiving hard fouls has become a painful fact of life for Hansbrough, a consistent scoring threat who leads the team and ranks among the ACC's leaders with averages of 18.8 points and 8.0 rebounds. He also leads the conference with 259 free throws attempted.

"It's not that he's always looking for contact. It's that he's not a jump-over-the-moon guy," coach Roy Williams said. "He has a tremendous focus, the best focus I've ever seen about making the basket. A lot of guys will try to draw contact and throw it up. Tyler goes in reverse -- he tries to make the basket, and, 'Oh yeah, I got fouled, too.'"

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

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In my own opinion, the suspension was a direct result of the blood... if his nose hadn't bled all over the court, Henderson would not have been suspended... it would have just been a hard foul.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=...o&type=lgns


Traveling Violations: A lesson in spin

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
March 5, 2007





Dan's Road Trip: Balancing act

RICHMOND, Va. – A final thought on Sunday's Duke-North Carolina incident, where with 14.5 seconds remaining, the Blue Devils' Gerald Henderson broke the Tar Heels' Tyler Hansbrough's nose with a forceful forearm.

Mike Krzyzewski is one of the smartest people you'll ever meet, and his spin job after the game was more proof of it. They ought to teach this one – an almost instantaneously hatched plan – in college public relations classes.

Krzyzewski, without being asked, brought up in calm and measured tones that, "the game was over before [the foul]. That's unfortunate, too, that those people were in the game in that play.”

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By throwing that out there, he flipped at least part of the post-incident debate away from his program and squarely on Carolina.

That he tried to do that was not surprising. While I was waiting for Krzyzewski to enter the pressroom after the game nearly every reporter was speculating what accusation the Duke coach would throw out there. There was no doubt in any of our minds that something was coming.

What surprised me was how well it worked, how many people took his point and ran with it Monday when it was, at best, an incidental argument.

How long you keep star players in a game was a completely separate debate to the controversy at hand – was Henderson's foul over the line? That debate simply had nothing to do with the incident.

Even if Carolina was up 40, Hansbrough didn't deserve to get whacked across the nose like that.

For his part, Hansbrough did absolutely nothing to provoke the incident. There was no escalating physical play, no aggressive move. He wasn't hot dogging or showing anyone up. He was just going up for a shot – while getting hammered, per usual – when Henderson delivered the blow.

Moreover Carolina was set to sub for Hansbrough had he made the free throw (which most people missed).

And yet people actually were arguing Monday that Carolina was not just perhaps a bit unsportsmanlike but also, somehow, actually to blame for the incident?

Roy Williams and his players tried to take the high road on this thing and got completely outspun. The Carolina players sounded scripted when they kept repeating that they saw nothing and had nothing to add to the incident. It seems likely they said exactly what Williams told them to. For his part Williams would say only that "Tyler got hit," which was fairly indisputable.

Williams probably figured as long as no one from his program ramped up the dialogue and said something stupid, Henderson, Krzyzewski and Duke would get raked over the coals for the incident.

I don't think Ol' Roy will be as naive next time.

Krzyzewski threw out some bait, a lot of media took it and somehow, someway Carolina got some of the blame. Somewhere I think Karl Rove and James Carville were impressed.

• And spare me the angry emails, Duke fans, about how Coach K is a man of complete and total honesty and never would try to spin the media and public debate in favor of his program. Please. I'm complimenting him. Getting his program painted in the best possible light is part of his job, and I was beyond impressed watching him pull off this sucker.

• With Virginia Commonwealth (27-6) securing the Colonial Athletic Association's automatic bid with a 64-59 victory over George Mason here Monday, the question went to how many other teams from the league will earn bids to the NCAA tournament.

Old Dominion, with its 24-8 record including a victory over Georgetown, appears to be in decent shape. Less certain are Drexel (23-8) and Hofstra (22-9). It seems unlikely both will get in. One may be pushing it.

But depending on how the rest of the tournaments shake out, Drexel certainly is good enough to be considered one of the top 34 at-large teams in the country. With road victories over Syracuse, Villanova, Creighton, Vermont, St. Joseph's and Temple, the Dragons were impressive in nonconference play. Their worst losses were way back in November, and their CAA tourney defeat was to VCU.

Interestingly, Drexel sits in almost the same position as George Mason did last year, squarely on the edge of being selected or left out. It turned out more than OK for that CAA team.

• Mason (18-15) was two minutes away from returning to the NCAA tournament, completing a remarkable postseason rebound. The regular season had been a back-and-forth plod, new faces and new expectations taking a toll. The Patriots had finished the regular season with a loss to Northeastern. By 23. It was their seventh defeat in 11 games.

So as disappointed as coach Jim Larranaga was when the dream all collapsed, there was plenty to build on. In many ways this CAA tournament performance was a reminder how solid this program was. Mason could go off as the league favorite next year.

"This week was a special week," he said. "I think it would have been very easy for our guys to question our ability to come down here and compete with anybody. Four of our top eight guys who played today didn't play in a George Mason uniform last year."

• Another sign of the growth of mid-major basketball is that the Colonial Athletic Association sold out both the semifinals and finals here at the 12,500-seat Richmond Coliseum. These things didn't happen even a half-decade ago.

* The Jerome enters its second week, which means the selections for the remaining conference tournaments – including the big boys. If you don't know what The Jerome is, go back and read the archives. Anyway, here are my selections.

ACC – Maryland
A-10 – Xavier
Big East – Louisville
Big 10 – Ohio State
Big 12 – Kansas
Big West – Long Beach St.
C-USA – Memphis
Mid-American – Akron
Mideastern – Delaware St.
Mountain West – UNLV
Pac-10 – UCLA
SEC – Florida
Southland – Texas A&M Corpus Christi
SWAC – Jackson State
Western Athletic – Nevada

• My Akron guys pulled off the MAC East Division regular-season title with a heated overtime victory at Kent State. In attendance to see his buddies and former coach was LeBron James, who brought along four other Cleveland Cavaliers for good measure.

• Campaign stops Tuesday: Dayton, Ohio


Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Send Dan a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 12:38 am EST


Ignore the bottom as it doesnt pertain to the argument.


But I gotta say I agree with Dan Wetzel here. People are buying that it's party UNC to blame. But much like i said in an earlier post.

It it was a backup that was in the game does that make it ok? no.
Its time for Coach K to step up admit fault and tell Gerald he cant play for a few games. I'd make him sit out the ACC Tourney. Whether or not the suspension was a result of the blood, Gerald Henderson had every intention to knock him on his ass at a point of the game that it was over.

And to knock Hansborough for getting an offensive board? Are you kidding? Its a game, you go out from tip til 0:00.00 no matter who you are, thats sport. All out all the time.

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Packer’s call on Duke foul smells like cheerleading
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Bob Raissman
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

When Billy Packer absolved Gerald Henderson of any wrongdoing Sunday, after the Duke guard clobbered North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough on the beak, the veteran CBS analyst was once again making an unconscious decision in a conscious state of mind.

Or maybe this was simply a case of Packer pulling out his Duke pompoms. Still, on the other side of the aisle, Packer had a rival cheerleader. On the Tar Heels Radio Network, Eric Montross flipped, saying Henderson had hit Hansbrough in the face with a balled-up "fist."

In case you missed it, here’s what happened: With 17.5 seconds left in the game and Carolina up by 12, 84-72, Hansbrough missed two foul shots. He grabbed his second miss in the lane and went up for a shot. Duke’s Steve Johnson knocked the ball away from him. Henderson went airborne toward Hansbrough. With Henderson clearly out of control, his arm came down hard, smashing Hansbrough across the bridge of his nose and knocking the big man to the floor.

When Hansbrough got up, blood was pouring from his broken nose.

There was no "fist" involved. Montross was just seeing Carolina Blue.

On the TV side, Packer had another shade of blue in mind. It only took him one replay to clear Henderson, saying the foul was not "nasty." Then, twisting logic, Packer actually blamed the victim. He questioned Carolina coach Roy Williams’ motives.

"There are 14.5 seconds to go and North Carolina is 12 up. What’s Hansbrough (doing) on the floor?" Packer asked indignantly.

By the third replay, Packer had stepped up his defense of Henderson. "That was not a dirty foul at all," Packer said.

As the replays continued — CBS aired nine — Packer continued, saying Henderson had done no wrong because he was simply "going for the ball." For that reason, Packer said the officials (Karl Hess, Les Jones, Jamie Luckie) should not have called a flagrant foul on the Duke freshman.

CBS’ replays could not provide concrete evidence of Henderson’s ultimate intent or what was going through his mind. Nontheless, the video did reveal the body action of a player who, at the least, was looking to commit a hard foul.

Packer, who may have actually invented college basketball, conveniently forgot to bring that up. For the sake of balance, Jim Nantz, Packer’s play-by-play partner, should have chimed in. Did he agree with Packer? Did he have a different take? Nantz offered no opinion.

Naturally, when the officials ejected Henderson for a flagrant foul, based on what they called "combative and confrontational" action, Packer scapegoated them.

"This," Packer said, "is a poor piece of officiating."

March Madness, indeed.

I didn't hear the radio version... but as I understand it, Montross made that call about the balled up fist based on what he saw live and then with a couple replays he turned it down a bit... Packer never did, replay after replay only served to fuel how right he was...

Not to mention, Montross is the commentator on the UNC RADIO BROADCAST, he's supposed to be somewhat biased.. Packer was on the national television broadcast where he's supposed to leave his Duke sweatshirt in the car...

You can't really believe that Packer has a "duke sweatshirt" or a Duke agenda. If you do I beg you to go back and watch the 2001 Final Four where its more than apparent that plainly is not the case.

Why cant the man just have a different opinion of the play?

sorry, my copy of the 2001 Final Four is loaned out to somebody, I'll have to watch it later....

I actually like Billy Packer, he's more objective than most, the "duke sweathsirt" comment was just a reference to how WRONG he was about this particular incident.....

I HATE listening to Packer .. it amazes how wrong he can be about so many things about the game after all the years experience he has .. he really doesn;t know the game all that well ..

PM me your addy .. i can dub a copy of the 01 final 4 and get it out to u overnight so u can check it out ....

Been this long and no youtube???

WTF

have you tried ESPN motion?

Im sure they'll have it there, or tomorrow, watch Duke/NCST on ESPN2 at 7. Im sure theyll show it enough times, and you can see my NCST squad take down duke!

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and you can see my NCST squad take down duke!

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That honestly wouldn't surprise me in the least... with Atsor (sp?) back, NC State is a much better team.

I'd love to see it.

But theyre bad. Costner is good, but like ive been saying about Pitt and GTown and other teams of the sort, they cant score quickly.

I can hope, but, I doubt it.

That's how Maryland beat them last weekend, they hung around and hung around then Maryland turned up the defense, got some steals, broke out to a 12 point lead and NCState just didn't have it in them to come back...

But Duke isn't Duke this year. I'll go on record as admitting I was right way back in December when Duke was in the top 5, I said they weren't that good... so I was right. On the other hand I also said that come March Coach K would have them clicking... and thankfully, I was wrong. They still aren't that good. They have no scoring punch, no go-to guy, no real leadership. Everybody says, "Never count out Duke and Coach K in March"... well I'm counting them out... they might have a splash, but it will be short lived, they just aren't that good this year.

its true...on both counts. We hung with Maryland, then they just dominated it went from 6 to 18 in about 2 mintues, i was dumbfounded.

But thats what happens when a fast paced team plays a slow paced team. You can only hold them down for so long, and if you cant counter a short run it snowballs. and it did. And the end result was a 20 point drubbing.


About Duke thats true, they arent themselves, and I'm glad to see it. McRoberts, Nelson, or Paulus was supposed to step up and become the guy, and just no one did. I can see Scheyer being that guy as junior or even as early as next year. Just not this year. Works for me though, go NCST.