Is That You Ron?
I’m not saying we should have won this game. While reviewing the gametracker it is obvious Clemson played a great game, minus our rebounds in comparison to Duke’s. What I am upset over is the clock management at the end of the game. Bottom line here is this game should have gone to overtime. The timeline is as follows: McRoberts(Duke) passes the ball inbounds to Hamilton (clock should start at the moment Hamilton touches the ball) and the clock stops after the shot is in the net. The five seconds that were on the clock tick to 1.8 seconds (time should have been replaced here-1.5 seconds). The refs in all their wisdom decide to place 2.6 seconds back on the clock giving Duke their 4.4 seconds they managed to win the game in. I’m not a VERY smart man, I have my limitations, but I know simple math. Giving the clock 2.6 seconds to equal 4.4 on a play which previously started with 5.0 seconds on the clock means Hamilton received the ball, set behind the 3-point line, loaded and made a twenty foot shot in less than .6 seconds………HORSESHIT. Was Ron Cherry a ref last night, anyone? The game should have gone to overtime and what happened then should have gone to the books, win or lose.
Update: ESPN.com is all over this. Go here to see the latest including an official comment from the ACC indicating a mistake was made. For my two cents, I watched the last 10 seconds with Walker. I noted time should be added once the ball went through the hoop. I didn’t catch the lack of clock used on Hamilton’s three. You think, maybe, the extra run off was a clock operators way of making up for the front end? Too bad the officials, nor most of the rest of us, thought of this during the game. ~ Bowman
The officials were truly to blame for that call. If logic exists, there’s no way that Hamilton’s shot took only 0.6 seconds from set, jump, shot, and 20 feet through the hoop. Sportscenter apparently took a real time clock to the shot and estimated it took 2.6 seconds which would have left Duke with 2.4 seconds to score. Would Duke have run a different play with less time on the clock? Maybe. Would that amount of time allowed them to score the way the game ended? Absolutely not. Would Clemson have pulled out an overdue victory against the Devils in enemy territory given the overtime period? We’ll never know. I will say this: We’ve got your number Duke. Come Feb. 22nd I think we dominate in front of the home crowd.
YouTube has the last few minutes.
The last play wasn’t defensed particularly well. Still, it’s hard to tell how they picked 4.4 seconds. I guess they didn’t notice that they forgot to start the clock when Hamilton got the inbound pass. The clock operator must have been stunned into inaction.
What a load of crap!!! the video that is…. but what so you expect from a ref staff that was missing calls on both sides of the ball all day.
Amen Robert.
If you want a real kicker, watch the end of the first half as the ball is kicked around the floor by the Duke defender after they made a basket. the clock just runs out as Clemson waits to get it on the baseline to pass it in. Yeah….explain that one.