By Roger Groves, Contributor

The Michigan Punch from the Bench. Michael “Spike” Albrecht. A barely recruited youngster who averaged less than two points a game put on Superman’s cape and rained 3 pointers from Midtown Atlanta with perfection (4 for 4). Realizing he was now Superhooper, Spike then became Curly Neal of Harlem Globetrotter fame and dribbled through one of the best guard combinations in the country to make layups. By the end of the first half Spike had 17 points, more than most All Americans make in an entire game. The Louisville Comeback Punch from the Bench. What NCAA championship game makes eye-popping stars out of two people not good enough to start? I suspect never in NCAA championship history has there been the 1-point a game backup be a star (Spike), only to be bested by another reserve (Hancock) who hit four 3-point shots in the same half. And to appeal to the American appetite for instant everything, the Hancock all exploded in less than 2 minutes. When the smoke cleared, Hancock took a team with a 12-point deficit on a 14-3 run that left them only down by 1 at the half.  Academy award winning movies do the same thing – take the viewer on a wild emotional roller coaster with attendant mood swings.  The end of the game so the referees were no longer able to make ill-advised calls. The worst was the 2nd phantom foul against the consensus player of the year, Trey Burke. The fans came to see the best players on the biggest stage. They did not come to watch referees neuter the All-Americans.  The sin most prevalent and hardest to avoid for a referee is anticipating a foul that he saw in his mind before he saw it with his eyes. When a defensive player jumps out at a 3-point shooter and the shot goes uncharacteristically off-kilter, your mind sees a foul before your eyes saw untoward touching. So when Burke jumped out on Hancock, and the sharp-shooter’s shot did not make the rim, it was all the confirmation the referee needed. As a result, the best player on the floor, the Naismith Trophy winner, the consensus best player in the country was sidelined for the majority of the first half. That robbed not only Burke of playing time, but millions on TV and a lost return on investment for on-site fans that sacrificed time and money to watch him. That was just one of many questionable calls. Every 1 minute of play brought another referee controversy. At first the announcers game them the benefit of the doubt. After repeat performances into the second half, announcers just told the truth. They said , “how is that possible” and “not sure what they were looking at there” when Hancock undercut Michigan’s Morgan and it would have been Hancock’s fourth foul. That Wisconsin or some other pass-to-keep-from-playing team did not pollute this game. This fast pace of this game was what makes the game special, entertaining, awe-inspiring and …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest