Billy Packer is a psychic. A clairvoyant. A mind-reader. I didn't get to hear him (sad, I know) on television because I was at the game, but I've had several opportunities to listen to his thoughts on the Henderson-Hansbrough incident. Let's review them:
"It was not a nasty, I mean obviously, the contact was strong, but Henderson was not looking for a cheap shot there."
Oh really, Billy? So you've got Bonnie Bernstein reporting live from inside Gerald Henderson's head, neurons firing neurotransmitters across synapses, and you know what's going on?
"I don't think it was a dirty shot at all by Henderson, just one of those deals, you're going after the ball."
Right. The ball that had left Tyler's hand and was away from his face.
"Here's something you can say, 14.5 seconds to go, North Carolina 12 up, what's Hansbrough on the floor?"
Well, he's #50 in white, but I think you meant why is he on the floor. Well, a) there was a sub for Tyler at the scorer's table, but Tyler was shooting free throws, and Mike Copeland couldn't come into the game yet. Hansbrough did not come out with Miller or Terry so those two could get their own curtain calls on Senior Day.
If we're using that logic, why is Henderson on the floor? He was Duke's best player that day, and before Tyler hit the free throw line, all of Duke's starters save the fouled-out Greg Paulus were in the game. If their best player is in the game, why can't we have our best player in the game?
If Duke believes it can come back (and with K's fouling and time out strategy, they sure acted like they were trying to win), why can't Carolina believe it can still be beaten? We've had a history of giving up late leads this season. I don't see any problem with Carolina competing to ensure victory until the buzzer.
"The fans are booing something that was not an intentional foul at all. You can see there, Henderson's coming across the lane, and it was elbow on nose."
Thanks for the brilliant insight.
The worst part of this whole incident is that it overshadowed a brilliant Hansbrough performance. A classic Tar Heel performance in this rivalry. He was unstoppable Sunday. Well, you had to draw blood to stop him, and even then he still wanted a piece of you. Tyler was pushed and hit all game long, and the Blue Devils got away with it. Not anymore.
Don't forget to read Pat Forde.
"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."
I'm late on the ladies' third in a row ACC tournament championship. Congrats to them.
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