Syracuse Plays Poorly But No One Will Remember That

posted in: College Basketball | 4

The truth about the latest in what looks like it’s going to be a heck of a rivalry between Syracuse and Duke came down to the end of the game, a questionable charging call and Jim Boeheim losing his cool at the call and getting ejected.

First:

Yes, Syracuse shot 38%, and their guards, especially, couldn’t score to save their lives.

Yes, with 10 seconds to go and down two, Boeheim ruined any chance the Oranage had of forcing overtime.

Yes, one call doesn’t change any of those facts, and Syracuse lost.

On the other hand, a game where the opponent’s big men were in foul trouble all game, comes down to the final minute, and Duke gets one more big foul call, in a game being played at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Where have we heard this before?

Look whether you think it was a block or a charge, and let’s face it, that particular rule is one that you may as well flip a coin on, no one can say it gets called the right way much more than 50%of the time, this game will do nothing to quell the conspiracy theorists who claim that Duke always gets good home cooking from the officials when playing at Cameron. Some would go even further and say that it happens on the road too, but given the way the Syracuse/Duke game in the Carrier Dome ended this year, you could understand why I’m not headed down that particular road. Still, anyone who’s watched ACC basketball for any amount of time knows that the perception is out there, when you play at Duke, you’re playing against. Coach K, the Cameron Crazies, the Duke players, and the officials. At some level that perception is based on some reality. Whether the officials simply like Duke, or get intimidated by the crowd and caught up in the atmosphere, games like this one sure do seem to work out in Duke’s favor an awful lot. This game will just become another example of it to the Duke haters.

They might also be tempted to tell us Syracuse fans, “welcome to the ACC, and to playing at Duke.”

IF you haven’t seen the play, you can catch a glimpse of the video on For The Win.

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