Iowa St. - BYU

[Cincyclone]

Kane is a thug. My buddy has a son who goes to ISU and knows him, and he sent my buddy this screen shot from his phone yesterday afternoon:

Seems legit. Especially since the game wasn't at Hilton.

 

[Bewilderme]

This. This is thug life.

 

[Cincyclone]

I like Hoiberg and don't mind Iowa State, so I'm not just trying to bring ISU and it's players down. I keep watching the replay trying to see it from your point of view, but man, I just don't see it. Regardless of where a player expects the ball to be or how fast it happens, I have never seen a player go for a block or strip in a high poking/jabbing motion like Kane did. They'll either swipe in a downward motion, or try to get their hands up to block it away, but Kane didn't do that at all. Why would he be going in a jabbing motion if he didn't intend to hit him in the face/head? Also, if you look closely, he never even attempts to look at the ball. He stares Mika in the face (the apparent target) the entire way through. I'm not sure how an objective minded person can defend this. Don't you think it's at all possible that you're wrong and he did in fact try to hit him in the face (not necessarily the eyes, but somewhere in the face/head region)?

How would it make sense for him to do that? I highly doubt a senior would think he could get away with something like that and it makes zero sense for him to do that intentionally with less than 3 minutes left in a very close game. To me, it looked like Kane expected Mika to go up for a layup like most bigs would do in that situation and intended to get a strip as he brought the ball up. Instead, Mika lowered the ball and his head. Even the BYU announcers didn't think it was intentional and didn't think it warranted an ejection after watching replays of it.

 

[GophersOnTheRise]

How would it make sense for him to do that? I highly doubt a senior would think he could get away with something like that and it makes zero sense for him to do that intentionally with less than 3 minutes left in a very close game. To me, it looked like Kane expected Mika to go up for a layup like most bigs would do in that situation and intended to get a strip as he brought the ball up. Instead, Mika lowered the ball and his head. Even the BYU announcers didn't think it was intentional and didn't think it warranted an ejection after watching replays of it.

That still doesn't make sense though because when people try to strip the ball, they do it in a downward motion. Kane used a jabbing motion. Never seen a player do that (above the waist) who intended to strip the ball. Maybe Mika pissed him off somehow (talking trash or getting him with his elbows or something throughout the game) and Kane just lost his head for a second? I don't know. It would be stupid to do it intentionally, but it also doesn't look even remotely accidental. Pretty clear we're going to have to agree to disagree though.

 

[Cincyclone]

That still doesn't make sense though because when people try to strip the ball, they do it in a downward motion. Kane used a jabbing motion. Never seen a player do that (above the waist) who intended to strip the ball. Maybe Mika pissed him off somehow (talking trash or getting him with his elbows or something throughout the game) and Kane just lost his head for a second? I don't know. It would be stupid to do it intentionally, but it also doesn't look even remotely accidental. Pretty clear we're going to have to agree to disagree though.

Fair enough. In bang-bang plays like that people generally see what they want to see.

 

[Unregistered User]

Seems legit. Especially since the game wasn't at Hilton.

Was the fact that I linked a picture to ifaketext.com your first clue, Sherlock?

 

[mplarson7]

Fair enough - I don't want to defend him too much (I guess I already have). He did what he did and no one likes to see another player hurt. The only person that knows the real story is Kane, and I doubt he will ever speak to it either way. Thankfully Mika appears to only have a scratched cornea.

Six of one half dozen of the other, as the Brits say.

He'll be lucky to only have a scratched cornea.