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Yeah, Zags will give UNC a game and may well prevail. UConn women's inexperience showed under immense pressure. Nice and rare today to hear an adult, Auriemma, sound truly mature and with perspective.
I stopped being a "fan" of a lot of sports. I'm sorry to say I stopped watching all basketball. Someday if and when the NCAA starts paying their student athletes I will start watching again.
Today's men's game would be a lot less acrobatic if the rules were properly enforced. Almost every "dribble" these days is a carry and the refs seem to never count the third step which in my day was a travel. You cannot begin a big swing across the top of the key without carrying the ball, nor can you accomplish an "athletic" drive to the hoop if you have only two steps to cover about 20 feet. Gymnastics on a trampoline looks foolish and so does basketball outside the rules. The "player initiated" interpretation of contact with the defensive player exonerates the violent, in-your-chest collision that was, of course, a charge when b'ball was played so gracefully and intelligently by the teams of John Wooden. Wouldn't surprise me if I'm starting to look like a relic of the past; I certainly think like one. FWIIW, I played freshman ball at UConn in the day.
@BenWP: I tried my hand as a youngster with basketball. I made sure to obey the rules. I always got whistled. The other guys, who were all elbows and knees, didn't. So, I stopped. I think your observations are actually spot-on.
Carrying now means ball coming to *rest* with the palm on the underside (below the equator), I believe. It did modulate, yes. It was probably overcalled prior. It is perhaps undercalled now.
The steps thing is not only clarified but much stricter than ever at the start of a drive. Sometimes missed at the end, I agree.
UConn started to make reputation in 64-65 with a player who eventually made it to the Celtics bench; the court was laid over the dirt floor of the Field House and the university was just emerging from its past as an ag school and teacher training institution. I played in 60-61.
They still have a faint lingering of that ag tradition, like the big Midwestern publics; I had a cousin-in-law who was a farming prof there, dept head or something, I think. Younger than you, U of R '65-'66.
Comments
Regards,
Ted
Bing Crosby And Gonzaga University:
http://researchguides.gonzaga.edu/c.php?g=334991&p=3308126
Going My Way: Bing Crosby:
https://home2hollywood.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/07272010bingcrosbystatuerb-003-4858216300-o.jpg
I refuse to feed the beast.
Looks like this might be Mark Few's best team; they're loaded, amazing depth.
Derf
The steps thing is not only clarified but much stricter than ever at the start of a drive. Sometimes missed at the end, I agree.
I too played freshman ball, probably older than you, and at a lower level than UConn for sure, and by played mean sat the bench, going in to shoot, mostly the same as 50y later:
https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/12525634_10154015308902790_7555789782729079356_o.jpg?oh=41324afcf62255585da63dcc41dc9d82&oe=598FF842
They still have a faint lingering of that ag tradition, like the big Midwestern publics; I had a cousin-in-law who was a farming prof there, dept head or something, I think.
Younger than you, U of R '65-'66.