sims@hou2b.UUCP (J.SIMESTER) (03/27/84)
I just have to raise a voice of protest over the NCAA allowing
a tournament team to play games on its home court. The case in
point here is Kentucky. I freely admit to being partisan, being
an alumnus of Illinois, but I really do believe that the Illini
would have won the game Saturday had it been played on a neutral
court. They played excellent defense, for the most part neutralized
Kentucky's big front line, and played well enough to win despite
the Wildcats' home court advantage. However, Kentucky benefitted
from a number of "homer" calls by the officials.
Two obvious examples towards the end of the game: the foul on Douglas
after Kentucky was trapped near mid-court (first, even the TV
commentators stated that the Kentucky player had travelled, and second,
Douglas had all ball in the replays anyway - if anything, it should have
been a held ball). Then, Kentucky fouled twice in the final seconds
trying to keep the Illini from setting up for a shot. Since the purpose
of the strategy was so tranparent, how could the fouls be anything but
intentional (and therefore worth two shots!!!) And those are just the
two major examples I can remember - I can recall being livid about several
other similar instances during the game. (BTW, I've had several
non-Illinois fans I know agree with me about the game completely, so
I don't think it's just me.) And the NCAA has the b*lls to run
commercials during the game about how their officials are so careful
to ignore such things as fans and the home court - BULL! As the saying
foes, you can't beat the refs - and they certainly GAVE Kentucky that
game!!
(Sorry about the flames - I'm still hot about that game!)
(Slowly calming down again) Back to my point. The tournament committee,
in its infinite wisdom, carefully seeds the tournament. Their seeding
indicates who they *expect* to go to the Final Four. They are also
aware of the sites for the regional games. If they really want a fair
tournament that allows the *best teams* to survive, they could (and in
my opinion, should) see to it that no highly seeded team is allowed
to play on its home floor. This year, since they had to do a bunch of
shuffling anyway, they could have sent Kentucky to the West and let
Georgetown play in the Mideast.
I've read several times that the home court is worth at least 5 points
to a team (sorry, no reference). During the regular season, with teams
playing home and home, the advantages even out. But I don't think such
an advantage should be allowed in the NCAA tournament. It just plain
isn't fair. (Yes, I'm aware of the big bucks involved in tournament
play, but I seriously doubt that there would be any problems with
ticket sales for Regional games. Illinois could have filled Rupp by
itself.)
Anybody else have thoughts on the matter?
--
Jim
..!houxm!hou2b!simsrkp@drufl.UUCP (Pierce) (03/27/84)
Yes Jim, I do have some comments on home court advantage in the NCAA playoffs. Teams are grouped in their certain regions so that fan participation will be at an optimum. The top four seeds in the tournament (except for Georgetown) were placed in the regions that had most interest in the team (North Carolina in the East, Kentucky in the Mideast, and DePaul in the Midwest). Now, the cities that are selected for the certain games were done probably five years ago (I assume this is correct because Denver is bidding for some regional games here in 1989). The committee members of the NCAA are not stupid. They know if they put North Carolina in the East, more fans are likely to attend the early round games. It is that way for any of the top seeds, except, of course, Georgetown. (I guess since there are no good teams in the west area, some team had to go west, and the logical choice was Georgetown.) If Houston had been the 4th seed, they would have logically been sent to the West Regional. I guess you are saying that five years ago, when Lexington got the bid for this years regionals, the committee knew that Kentucky would be one of the top teams? Come on, give us a break. I don't hear you complaining that Virginia had the home court advantage when they played Indiana. They were playing in an ACC town (Atlanta). Maybe you don't like Indiana so you don't care if that game was fair. Now, as far as the actual game goes, I have to agree and disagree on some of your points. Yes, I agree that they tied up Dicky Beal there in the 5-second zone and no foul should have been called. No, I don't agree that there were too many fouls on Illinois. All of Illinois' shots came from 15-20 feet (and they were hitting them) so logically, not many fouls would be called on Kentucky. Most of Kentucky's shots came from inside where most fouls occur. I'm not too sure about those "intentional" fouls at the end of the game by Kentucky. They say that as long as you go for the ball, it is unintentional. They seemed to be going after the ball. Anyway, when a team is behind and they foul to put another team on the foul line, how many times have you seen an intentional foul called then? The bottom line is that Kentucky is going to win the tournament this year. Not beacuse North Carolina is out of it or DePaul is out of it, but because Kentucky plays good enough to win, and thats all you can ask. By the way, did you know that Kentucky only lost to teams in their own conference? That must say something about the SEC. Tennessee forever. Russ Pierce drufl!rkp
sims@hou2b.UUCP (J.SIMESTER) (03/28/84)
Russ: In reply to your reply comments. First, regarding the placement of teams in a regionally logical sense for early round games to promote fan interest and attendance, witness the following for the first two rounds: EAST: Charlotte, NC Temple, St. John's, Auburn, Indiana (#3 seed) East Rutherford, NJ VCU, Virginia, Arkansas (#2 seed) MIDEAST: Milwaukee, Wis BYU, Tulsa, Villanova, Marshall, Morehead St. Birmingham, Ala BYU, Oregon St., West Virginia, Maryland (#3 seed) MIDWEST: Memphis, Tenn Oral Roberts, Purdue, Fresno St. Lincoln, Neb Ill. St., Alabama, Alcorn St., Wake Forest (#4), DePaul (#1) WEST: Pullman, Wash SMU, Nevada-Reno, Miami (Ohio), Duke (#3), Georgetown (#1) Salt Lake City, Utah Princeton, LSU, Dayton, Oklahoma, UTEP (#4) Not quite 2 teams in each region have any real natural local drawing power. I'm well aware of the fact some of these locations don't have many local teams, but there are still too many displacements for the "Keep 'em home for the local fans" theory to wash. In fact, for quite a number of years now, the tournament committee has puposely juggled the regions in an attempt to achieve a better balance. As I said in my original note, I just don't believe that ANY games would have a bad draw for the regional semis and finals (too many roundball nuts out there!) > I guess you are saying that five years ago, when Lexington got the > bid for this years regionals, the committee knew that Kentucky would > be one of the top teams? Come on, give us a break. I don't hear you > complaining that Virginia had the home court advantage when they > played Indiana. They were playing in an ACC town (Atlanta). Maybe > you don't like Indiana so you don't care if that game was fair. No, I am NOT saying any such thing. What I DID say was that the committee knew the Mideast regional was set for Lexington and that they thought enough of Kentucky to seed them first. Ergo, they expected the Wildcats to make the regional finals. They thereby in effect granted Kentucky the home court advantage, which I feel is absolutely WRONG!! In this case, it would have been just as easy to put DePaul in the Mideast and Kentucky in the Midwest (Lexington-St. Louis is only about 40 miles further than Chicago-St. Louis). BTW, Virginia playing in Atlanta just ain't the same as Kentucky playing at Rupp - the question here is home COURT, not home region. As far as the fouls are concerned, I never said Illinois was called for too many. It was simply my observation that the officials were sufficiently intimidated by the location that they made some bad calls (or no calls) at several critical points in the game. This is (unfortunately) rather common - how many real basketball fans out there can honestly say they haven't seen close games won or lost based upon home-influenced officiating? That is my gripe - in the NCAA tournament, the refs should not be put in the position where a home (note, a truly HOME) crowd and arena might have an effect on the way they call the game. And the only way to do that is to keep teams off of their home courts!! > The bottom line is that Kentucky is going to win the tournament this > year. Not beacuse North Carolina is out of it or DePaul is out of > it, but because Kentucky plays good enough to win, and thats all you > can ask. No, if Kentucky wins the tournament, it will because they had their regional final given to them by its location and the resulting officiating. The best team did not win. -- Jim ..!houxm!hou2b!sims
rkp@drufl.UUCP (Pierce) (03/28/84)
Concerning the chairman of the tournament committee, it was Wayne Duke, none other than the commissioner of the Big Ten! (At least, I think that was his name. Anyway, whatever his name was, he is the Big Ten commissioner.) Russ Pierce drufl!rkp P.S. The only reason I am pulling for Kentucky is that I picked them to win it all at the beginning of the tournament. Any other day of the week, I despise Kentucky basketball (True Tennessee fan at heart).
liem@houxm.UUCP (L.NGUYEN) (03/29/84)
I thought the tournament selection committee chairman is Garvit (or some name like that) who is the Big East Commissioner.
rs55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Robert E. Schleicher) (04/03/84)
While I don't know who would win the most games out of ten between Illinois and Kentucky (and would be inclined to think it would be Kentucky), I DO feel that on this occasion, Illinois outplayed Kentucky, but lost the game due to the refs unwillingness to risk the boos of 20,000 Kentucky fans by calling fouls on the Wildcats. U of K went to the line 15 times in the second half to Illinois' two times. Several no-calls were clear on the TV coverage. The refs were all from other conferences (no Big-10 or SEC refs), but, like many people in the spotlight, seemed to want to minimizepublic outcry. I've heard that the chairman of the NCAA seeding committee (who played where) was from U. of Kentucky. Can anyone confirm this? The estimated crowd allegiences at Rupp Arena were about 20,000 for Kentucky, and about 3,000 for Illinois. Interestinly, the Louisville-Kentucky game a few days earlier had about the same imbalance, even though U of L is in Kentucky, too. Oh, well, there's always next year (with Illinois loosing only 1 starter, and regaining Anthony Welch, they should be even better) Bob Schleicher ihuxk!rs55611 AT&T Bell Laboratories