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He's not who I thought would be the go to guy.

BUT....there were nine seconds left and he was wide open.  I think he would have been better served to give the ball up instead of driving into a double team...if he is double teamed, someone is open somewhere, and in fact, McRae was in a good spot.

As for the call...bleah, I don't even want to discuss it really.  I thought it was questionable, but Stokes did plow into the guy.   

Whatever...it was a really nice comeback that came up just short.  And I give the team props for fighting back...it would have been so easy to quit.

Agree.  We dug ourselves in a gigantic hole and almost pull a miracle.  Would love to have all those missed FT's.

Watch it again (if you want to torture yourself)- he didn't plow into the guy.  He was flopping before Stokes' shoulder even touched him.

Actually, now that I think about it, Stokes might have been trying to draw a foul...which makes that call even worse.   :banghead:

I still feel good about the way the season ended, but I hate that it ended with a questionable call.   :mad:

I don't blame the UM player for flopping, that's part of it.  Ref was quick in the whistle but from his angle it's close.  Thems the breaks.  

I know.  But that call in that spot is very, very rare.  Once, just once, I'd like to see us be the beneficiary of that kind of call for a change.  We've now been bounced from two straight postseason tourneys on BS calls at the end. :mad:

Yes, the guy was falling back before contact was made. And Stokes didn't even have much momentum going forward, because he was in the process of stepping into a pass rather than making a move towards the basket. It was the wrong call at any point of the game, but at that stage of the game and in that situation, it was probably one of the worst calls I've ever seen.

We can talk all night about missed FTs (yes, they were frustrating) or poor defense on multiple pick-n-roll situations (yes, that was frustrating, too). But that doesn't excuse the fact that the game came down to the final 10 seconds and an official who should've swallowed his whistle put himself in the spotlight. We've seen it time and time again in college basketball this year alone, and it's to the point of really having an impact on the integrity of the game.

Yeah, pretty much...

LOL...wow...speaks volumes

This.  It gets really old hearing the same old, "they shouldn't have put the refs in a position to decide it".  BS.  It's the Sweet 16, and most every game is evenly matched.  The refs are in a position to decide every game from now on, before they even tip off.  Poor FT shooting and defensive lapses are part of the game.  A ref trying to steal the spotlight in crunch time isn't, in theory- but sometimes it is in practice.  Usually when we're playing this time of year. :banghead:

I did watch it again.  The thing is, the Michigan player clearly touches Stokes in the chest before he started to dribble...what happened the "touch foul"?  Maybe it would have been questionable also, but...

Also, the double team occurred later than I thought, and it did look like Stokes was trying to pass in slo mo.  In real time it looked like he wanted to drive to the hoop.

Finally, the ball was knocked out of bounds.  The best call there is Tennessee ball out of bounds...second best is a foul on the defender...ref chose the third best option.    :frown:

We just look at it differently, I guess.  I hated that last call but we can't change it.  I just try to dwell on what we could've done differently..  I have a hard time blaming refs, typically.

I thought the same thing.

 I didn't hear the interview, but a friend told me Martin said the play was for Stokes to draw a double-down from Jordan's defender and then kick to him for either a shot or drive.  Maymon was to crash boards from the weak side.

I went back and watched again and it does seem that Stokes is looking at Jordan to get him the ball - and the lane had an opening.  All a coach can do is draw up a play that gets the look for the player(s) he wants. Players gotta make plays.

If this was indeed the plan, it appears to me that the plan was solid.

I can buy that reasoning, say, when our football team loses to Kentucky on a questionable call, like they did a couple years ago.  It was a terrible call, but even as bad as that team was, they still shouldn't have been in a position to lose to UK.  No one to blame but themselves.  But when you have two evenly matched teams in the postseason, every little call is critical.  Especially in the final seconds, when you deprive a team that had clawed back from a big deficit of an attempt to win the game.

And both teams can point to questionable calls. Just a few plays earlier a ball that came off the glass and clearly went off Maymon's hand was awarded to UT. 

I am as big a Vol fan as anyone, and I absolutely hated the call on Stokes, but if we don't miss so many layups, or if we make a few more FTs, or if we guard a little better on the perimeter we win in spite of that call.

All told, I am proud as hell of the effort this team gave and how they fought through adversity to finish the season strong.

My feelings, as well.

Agree...that's how it looked in slo mo.


There is criticism on other sites that Stokes got the ball where he got it, probably inspired by the color guy's remark during the game, but in slo mo the plan looks exactly like what you said and IMO was a solid one.

And again, given this teams' occasional struggles, I am glad they got it in to anyone...anyone at all.  :biggrin: