Blame the refs

In response to Lauren's post below: I have an explanation as to why this year's tournament was so boring.

I'm usually not one to defend David Stern, but after watching college basketball this year, I have to admit that the NBA is doing something right. The NBA has enforced rules to favor skilled players, which creates a fast-paced, entertaining game that just doesn't exist at the "highest levels" of college basketball. Half a million people now think they deserve to be called experts (for being able to determine which team had a lower number next to their school name) all because the NCAA officials, without any discernible guidance from the NCAA, have decided to benefit unskilled forces underneath who make no effort to go around their opponents, but attempt to go through them instead.

While watching the Florida vs. Butler game, I saw Al Horford back someone up by bumping into him as hard as he could while still having control of the ball. He turned into the defender, knocked him over, scored the basket, and the foul was called on the defender. Then Horford proceeded to flex his muscles and stared at his biceps to gloat over how strong he is. Since when was basketball about being rewarded for being able to knock over your opponent? What happened to the days of guards taking over in March and making the tournament interesting?

As more evidence of the refs' bias towards Florida, let's take a look at some numbers from their Elite Eight game against Oregon. Florida got called for 14 fouls while Oregon got called for 30. Florida shot 43 free throws while Oregon shot only 16. You might say, "Well, Oregon is a jump shooting team, and you're not going to get fouls if you just throw up three pointers all game." True, but Florida shot 24 three pointers compared to Oregon, which shot 22. This means that Oregon's ball handlers were driving and their post players were creating, but the refs couldn't bring themselves to call fouls against the beloved Florida Gators.

So as we continue to watch Florida's awful players take on the incredibly boring UCLA, remember that the Final Four could've had some incredible playmaking teams like Oregon, Texas A&M, and Pittsburgh (or maybe even VCU) if the refs and the NCAA would've allowed the best team to win.