USC coach Tim Floyd was in no mood to talk about the discrepancy in foul shooting between UCLA and USC. The Bruins went to the line 31 times (compared to only five for the Trojans) in their victory over their cross-town rival. Floyd was batting back reporters inquiries, even going to the Drew Rosenhaus staple, "Next question." The interview was kind of weird to witness. Watching the game, it didn't seem like the free throws were that uneven based on the style of play of both teams. But the stat really jumps out at you in the box score, even though UCLA was going to the line at the end of the game as USC was trying to come back. Don't let Floyd's display take away from UCLA's play down the stretch. The Bruins just seemed to make the plays when it counted, while USC kind of folded down the stretch. Having Taj Gibson foul out down the stretch certainly didn't help. (Hmm, no wonder Floyd was so pissed.) But there wasn't a guy on the floor who could cover Darren Collison in the man-to-man defense.
Overall, good win for the Bruins. Both games have been close this season, but you still get a feeling that USC has a little bit further to go.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-08-2007 @ 10:18AM
insomniac said...
Thirteen of UCLA's free throws came in the last minute and a half when USC was intentionally fouling while trying to come back. Another two came as the result of a technical foul, plus there were two more when Tim Floyd employed the "swat-a-mata" tactic with UCLA in the 1 and 1 in the first half. Take those out, and the margin becomes 14 to 5- still one sided, but not quite as outrageous.
There were two factors which led to the discrepancy: The refs were allowing the teams to bang inside in rebound situations, and UCLA's defense in the second half was so porous, they weren't even close enough to foul if they wanted to.
Btw, it should come as no surprise that in a game in which the refs were criticized, Dave Libby was the head official. Man that guy blows. But you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that watched the UCLA-Stanford game a few weeks ago that Libby was pro-UCLA.
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2-08-2007 @ 10:19AM
insomniac said...
My mistake- there were three free throws that were the result of the Swat-a-Mata technique. So, it was 13-5 in free throws where the refs had discretion.
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