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Wednesday, November 15, 2006
If you want to look up he traveling rule yourself, you will find it in Section 66 of the Definitions section of the NCAA rule book, in a 108-page pdf file.
If you'd prefer to let somebody else look for you, we are happy to report, we did. We can say with pretty much confidence there is nothing there that would make you think it was possible to make a ref's arms do the rotary mower routine while still dribbling the ball.
Yet there was Bucknell point guard Abe Badmus, sticking up for the official who made just such a call on the Bison senior with 6 seconds left in overtime, his team down by 2 against Wake Forest. Even though the spin move Badmus was trying to bust had sprung him in the lane all nigh. Even though it was the same move he has used for three seasons.
“That is the right call to make,” said Badmus, alluding to how he had seen a similar move on the points of emphasis tape the NCAA circulates in the preseason. But when asked how it could be traveling when he was still dribbling the ball, Badmus had no explanation.
Bison coach Pat Flannery did.
“He didn't walk,” said Flannery, who left no doubt how he felt about the officiating after his team was called for 34 fouls. “That's crap. That is crap.”
At the time, there was no hands on the floor Bucknell would have rather had the ball in. Badmus had scored 8 of Bucknell's last 11 points. He had the hot hand.
All night long Badmus had been able to beat his man off the dribble. Even though he had four personals, so did any other offensive option left on the floor after three Bison starters had fouled out. Badmus figured to have a good chance of at least drawing a two-shot foul, giving the Bison a chance to tie and force a third OT. Best case scenario, he kicks to a wing for an open game winner at the arc after the defense collapses on him.
No guarantee he would make the play. In fact, when the whistle was blown, Badmus didn't look completely in control of the situation. But before the whistle blew, Bucknell still had a chance.
That in itself is some pretty good news for the more realistic Bison fans. The Sojka Psychos, and their more reserved, golf-clapping=whole=game-sitting non-student crowd, have gotten used to Bucknell being giant killers. They forget three years ago going to OT would have been considered an accomplishment.
They forget the team two years ago started out 3-5 before finding its identity That team went on to beat Kansas.
Last season, the Bison had the benefit of an established top of the rotation. Roles were already established. Yes, they also had Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt.
This, like the Albany game, was the sort of game that team had learned to win. Close games belonged to the Bison. They seemed to thrive on those situations. Bucknell was up as many as a dozen in the first half. They led most of the first half and all but 14 seconds of the second half up until the point where Harvey Hale tied it with a pair of free throws after John Griffin became the second Bison to foul out.
This team is very different, though. New guys are in new roles. Old guys are in different roles. The non-conference part of this season is like a shakedown cruise, and from that perspective, there was a lot of silver lining for Bucknell.
Six players scored in double figures
Three of them came off the bench
The bench combined for 37 points and 18 rebounds
Juniors Andrew Morrison and Rob Thomas established their credentials. Morrison with strong interior defense, along with 10 points and 5 rebounds; Thomas with 16 points, 3 for 3 from three-point range, sharing the team lead with Badmus
They took an ACC team to OT despite Chris McNaughton's vanishing act. Foul trouble limited the Bison's star center to 20 unproductive minutes (1 for 3 from the field, 2 for 6 at the line, for 4 points.
McNaughton never got into any kind of a flow. He turned the ball over more times (4) than he shot it. He picked up two quick fouls in the middle of the first half, another late in the half, and a fourth less than a minute into the second.
“He is much easier to guard when he is sitting next to Coach Flannery,” Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said,
“Foul trouble really killed him. He is a better player (than that),” said the man responsible for many of McNaughton's fouls. Wake center Kyle Visser. Visser lit up McNaughton, and an equally foul-challenged Darren Mastropaolo for 26 points. Early in the game, he was almost the Deacons entire offense.
Mastropaolo also fouled out. So did Donald Brown, who was another bright spot in the second half when he finally came out of his offensive shell. He scored 10 of his 11 after the break, after becoming more aggressive.
Morrison and Badmus each finished with four fouls, as did McNaughton.
It wasn't Wake Forest's 45 trips to the foul line – a Sojka record – that caused Bucknell's demise. Wake made only 23 of those. While it certainly did not help, the Bison also didn't lose because they were only slightly better (21 for 35) at the foul line.
It was more the combination of attrition and pace that the constant whistles influenced. The need to sit guys with foul trouble forced others to play longer stints, wearing them down.
More importantly, the whistles destroyed any rhythm the game might have developed. That kept Bucknell from pulling away. The only real run of the game was an 11-0 Bison spurt early in the first half. The game was devoid of flow.
“It was choppy because of so many whistles, so many free throws” Flannery said.
Not all the whistles were questionable. Without doubt, the Bison did not help their cause in some instances – like McNaughton's fourth foul, which came trying to provide backside help on a driving Hale. With three fouls to start the half, McNaughton should have shown discretion and let Hale go.
Ditto for Badmus, who picked up his fourth trying to come from behind to contest a fast-break layup by Wake's 6-7 Kevin Swinton. It came two trips up the floor and less than a minute after he had picked up his third.
Seniors need to know better. They need to know how to play without picking up dumb fouls in those situations.
But plenty of the calls were a mystery – both ways. There were plenty of calls against Wake that had to have Prosser scratching his head, too.
The cumulative effect, especially when you factor in the lengthy TV timeouts, was a game with a score in the 80s and a feel in the 40s. Their was precious little up and down. It was a game played in fits and starts.
It made it near impossible for Bucknell to ride the momentum of its early lead and took the sold-out crowd of 4,330 out of the game by lulling them into a catatonic state of boredom. Early the Bison student sections were a pogoing sea of orange noise. It's hard to maintain that energy watching a foul shooting contest.
Bucknell's 33 fouls were easily the most called against the Bison in at least the last two years, probably longer (we are missing one media guide from the past seven seasons, so we can't say definitively it was the most this century, but it probably was). No Bucknell opponent the last two seasons got whistled for 29 like Wake, either. A combined 62 fouls in one game?
“One time at Xavier, in the old Cincinnati Gardens against George Washington there might have been 63,” said Prosser. “It was like rollerball.”
Did the officiating cost Bucknell the game? Of course not. You could hardly make that claim when a team misses 14 free throws and turns the ball over 22 times. But only a liar or a fool would not tell you the officials did negate any homecourt advantage the Bison should have had.
The Bison's top players were unavailable for long stretches, and handicapped by foul trouble much of the time they did play, limiting their aggressiveness, especially on defense. Flannery's rotation was in shambles, with combinations cobbled together and guys forced to go longer stretches than usual without a blow, ultimately wearing them down.
With Bucknell's bigs unable to assertively contest his shots, Wake's Kyle Visser had his way on the blocks, pouring in a career-best 26 points while going 9 for 12 from the floor. If Visser could shoot free throws, he'd easily have scored 30 – he made just 8 of 18 at the line.
Against a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference, that's too many handicaps for a team still seeking its identity to overcome.
It is a disappointing loss for Bucknell, but ultimately, the net result could well be a positive. Despite pie in the sky preseason talk of at-large bids, until the Patriot League actually gets a second team into the tournament, realists understand what matters is winning the league. If the Bison come out of this with answers to some of the questions raised at Albany, then its as close to a win as you can get when the scoreboard is light on your side.
One game does not a season, or a career, make. But it seems Bucknell learned a lot about itself from the game. Juniors Rob Thomas and Andrew Morrison would seem to have both established their roles. Thomas as an offensive spark and a legitimate go-to option; Morrison as a tough, strong post defender who rebounds, passes and has some range on his jumper.
Mastropaolo's career-high 10 points gives credence to talk of him as an offensive threat beyond his set in concrete screens.
For the second straight game, John Griffin showed maturity running the point while Badmus was off the floor. He had 6 assists and just 1 turnover against an athletic Wake defense that tried to rattle him with pressure.
Donald Brown finally started asserting himself on the offensive end. After looking lost on offense for the first three halves of the season, Brown started going to the hole late in the second half. Brown went 3 for 4 after taking only one shot in the first half, and finished with 11 points.
Likewise, Badmus, when he was on the floor, started exhibiting the scoring ability Flannery has been counting on as he planned for this season. Time and time again, Badmus went to the hole hard and finished strong. He still passes on too many open threes, but with 1:37 left, and his team down 5, he didn't hesitate to fire, and connect, from the top of the arc. Badmus scored 6 of the Bison's 8 in OT.
Time will tell, but it would be no surprise if, at the end of the season when 20-20 hindsight sets in, Bucknell looks back on this game as one where the pieces began to come together.
GAME STORIES:
(Daily Item)
(Patriot-News)
(Sun-Gazette)
(REPUBLICAN & Herald)
(AP)
EXTRAS
Bucknell's postgame press conference (audio).
Gameblog
If you'd prefer to let somebody else look for you, we are happy to report, we did. We can say with pretty much confidence there is nothing there that would make you think it was possible to make a ref's arms do the rotary mower routine while still dribbling the ball.
Yet there was Bucknell point guard Abe Badmus, sticking up for the official who made just such a call on the Bison senior with 6 seconds left in overtime, his team down by 2 against Wake Forest. Even though the spin move Badmus was trying to bust had sprung him in the lane all nigh. Even though it was the same move he has used for three seasons.
“That is the right call to make,” said Badmus, alluding to how he had seen a similar move on the points of emphasis tape the NCAA circulates in the preseason. But when asked how it could be traveling when he was still dribbling the ball, Badmus had no explanation.
Bison coach Pat Flannery did.
“He didn't walk,” said Flannery, who left no doubt how he felt about the officiating after his team was called for 34 fouls. “That's crap. That is crap.”
At the time, there was no hands on the floor Bucknell would have rather had the ball in. Badmus had scored 8 of Bucknell's last 11 points. He had the hot hand.
All night long Badmus had been able to beat his man off the dribble. Even though he had four personals, so did any other offensive option left on the floor after three Bison starters had fouled out. Badmus figured to have a good chance of at least drawing a two-shot foul, giving the Bison a chance to tie and force a third OT. Best case scenario, he kicks to a wing for an open game winner at the arc after the defense collapses on him.
No guarantee he would make the play. In fact, when the whistle was blown, Badmus didn't look completely in control of the situation. But before the whistle blew, Bucknell still had a chance.
That in itself is some pretty good news for the more realistic Bison fans. The Sojka Psychos, and their more reserved, golf-clapping=whole=game-sitting non-student crowd, have gotten used to Bucknell being giant killers. They forget three years ago going to OT would have been considered an accomplishment.
They forget the team two years ago started out 3-5 before finding its identity That team went on to beat Kansas.
Last season, the Bison had the benefit of an established top of the rotation. Roles were already established. Yes, they also had Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt.
This, like the Albany game, was the sort of game that team had learned to win. Close games belonged to the Bison. They seemed to thrive on those situations. Bucknell was up as many as a dozen in the first half. They led most of the first half and all but 14 seconds of the second half up until the point where Harvey Hale tied it with a pair of free throws after John Griffin became the second Bison to foul out.
This team is very different, though. New guys are in new roles. Old guys are in different roles. The non-conference part of this season is like a shakedown cruise, and from that perspective, there was a lot of silver lining for Bucknell.
McNaughton never got into any kind of a flow. He turned the ball over more times (4) than he shot it. He picked up two quick fouls in the middle of the first half, another late in the half, and a fourth less than a minute into the second.
“He is much easier to guard when he is sitting next to Coach Flannery,” Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said,
“Foul trouble really killed him. He is a better player (than that),” said the man responsible for many of McNaughton's fouls. Wake center Kyle Visser. Visser lit up McNaughton, and an equally foul-challenged Darren Mastropaolo for 26 points. Early in the game, he was almost the Deacons entire offense.
Mastropaolo also fouled out. So did Donald Brown, who was another bright spot in the second half when he finally came out of his offensive shell. He scored 10 of his 11 after the break, after becoming more aggressive.
Morrison and Badmus each finished with four fouls, as did McNaughton.
It wasn't Wake Forest's 45 trips to the foul line – a Sojka record – that caused Bucknell's demise. Wake made only 23 of those. While it certainly did not help, the Bison also didn't lose because they were only slightly better (21 for 35) at the foul line.
It was more the combination of attrition and pace that the constant whistles influenced. The need to sit guys with foul trouble forced others to play longer stints, wearing them down.
More importantly, the whistles destroyed any rhythm the game might have developed. That kept Bucknell from pulling away. The only real run of the game was an 11-0 Bison spurt early in the first half. The game was devoid of flow.
“It was choppy because of so many whistles, so many free throws” Flannery said.
Not all the whistles were questionable. Without doubt, the Bison did not help their cause in some instances – like McNaughton's fourth foul, which came trying to provide backside help on a driving Hale. With three fouls to start the half, McNaughton should have shown discretion and let Hale go.
Ditto for Badmus, who picked up his fourth trying to come from behind to contest a fast-break layup by Wake's 6-7 Kevin Swinton. It came two trips up the floor and less than a minute after he had picked up his third.
Seniors need to know better. They need to know how to play without picking up dumb fouls in those situations.
But plenty of the calls were a mystery – both ways. There were plenty of calls against Wake that had to have Prosser scratching his head, too.
The cumulative effect, especially when you factor in the lengthy TV timeouts, was a game with a score in the 80s and a feel in the 40s. Their was precious little up and down. It was a game played in fits and starts.
It made it near impossible for Bucknell to ride the momentum of its early lead and took the sold-out crowd of 4,330 out of the game by lulling them into a catatonic state of boredom. Early the Bison student sections were a pogoing sea of orange noise. It's hard to maintain that energy watching a foul shooting contest.
Bucknell's 33 fouls were easily the most called against the Bison in at least the last two years, probably longer (we are missing one media guide from the past seven seasons, so we can't say definitively it was the most this century, but it probably was). No Bucknell opponent the last two seasons got whistled for 29 like Wake, either. A combined 62 fouls in one game?
“One time at Xavier, in the old Cincinnati Gardens against George Washington there might have been 63,” said Prosser. “It was like rollerball.”
Did the officiating cost Bucknell the game? Of course not. You could hardly make that claim when a team misses 14 free throws and turns the ball over 22 times. But only a liar or a fool would not tell you the officials did negate any homecourt advantage the Bison should have had.
The Bison's top players were unavailable for long stretches, and handicapped by foul trouble much of the time they did play, limiting their aggressiveness, especially on defense. Flannery's rotation was in shambles, with combinations cobbled together and guys forced to go longer stretches than usual without a blow, ultimately wearing them down.
With Bucknell's bigs unable to assertively contest his shots, Wake's Kyle Visser had his way on the blocks, pouring in a career-best 26 points while going 9 for 12 from the floor. If Visser could shoot free throws, he'd easily have scored 30 – he made just 8 of 18 at the line.
Against a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference, that's too many handicaps for a team still seeking its identity to overcome.
It is a disappointing loss for Bucknell, but ultimately, the net result could well be a positive. Despite pie in the sky preseason talk of at-large bids, until the Patriot League actually gets a second team into the tournament, realists understand what matters is winning the league. If the Bison come out of this with answers to some of the questions raised at Albany, then its as close to a win as you can get when the scoreboard is light on your side.
One game does not a season, or a career, make. But it seems Bucknell learned a lot about itself from the game. Juniors Rob Thomas and Andrew Morrison would seem to have both established their roles. Thomas as an offensive spark and a legitimate go-to option; Morrison as a tough, strong post defender who rebounds, passes and has some range on his jumper.
Time will tell, but it would be no surprise if, at the end of the season when 20-20 hindsight sets in, Bucknell looks back on this game as one where the pieces began to come together.
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