Mini-rant: Paul's "posterization" of Mbakwe

[zipsofakron]

I don't know why this has bothered me so much but I thought this would be the best place to get it off my chest.

Early in the first half when Brandon Paul dunked over Mbakwe - two things:

1) He was called for a charge but the basket still counted. Huh? I still don't get it. The ball never left his hand which should preclude the basket from counting in the first place. But I digress...
2) I saw a whole lot of excitement over the dunk from (Brent Yarina from BTN, for instance) who talked about how Paul "posterized" Mbawke.

That's what took me over the edge. You can't "posterize" someone when you get called for a charge on the play. You know why? Because you're playing outside the confines of the rules. You used an unfair advantage to try to succeed. That's not posterization; that's failure. You know who basically got posterized? Paul did. Because Mbakwe owned him. It's like if someone took six steps from half court and dunked from inside the free throw line but got called for a travel. That's not cool or exciting; that's cheating.

Posterization, as I understand it, it making a fool of somebody who tries to stop you when you're going for a dunk. That's not what happened here. It was not a posterization by any means. Mbakwe played smart defense, set himself and took the charge. I can guarantee that if he didn't want Paul to dunk over him then it wouldn't have happened.

Not sure why this sets me off. Probably a combination of the basket somehow counting and people thinking Paul clowned Mbakwe when, in fact, it was the complete opposite. Even BTN promoted the piece on Twitter. YOU CAN'T POSTERIZE SOMEONE ON A CHARGE.

On the other hand, I do like being able to get mad about tiny things instead of, say, a painful loss.

 

[Blizzard]

Number 2 on ESPN's top ten.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

I don't know why this has bothered me so much but I thought this would be the best place to get it off my chest.

Early in the first half when Brandon Paul dunked over Mbakwe - two things:

1) He was called for a charge but the basket still counted. Huh? I still don't get it. The ball never left his hand which should preclude the basket from counting in the first place. But I digress...
2) I saw a whole lot of excitement over the dunk from (Brent Yarina from BTN, for instance) who talked about how Paul "posterized" Mbawke.

That's what took me over the edge. You can't "posterize" someone when you get called for a charge on the play. You know why? Because you're playing outside the confines of the rules. You used an unfair advantage to try to succeed. That's not posterization; that's failure. You know who basically got posterized? Paul did. Because Mbakwe owned him. It's like if someone took six steps from half court and dunked from inside the free throw line but got called for a travel. That's not cool or exciting; that's cheating.

Posterization, as I understand it, it making a fool of somebody who tries to stop you when you're going for a dunk. That's not what happened here. It was not a posterization by any means. Mbakwe played smart defense, set himself and took the charge. I can guarantee that if he didn't want Paul to dunk over him then it wouldn't have happened.

Not sure why this sets me off. Probably a combination of the basket somehow counting and people thinking Paul clowned Mbakwe when, in fact, it was the complete opposite. Even BTN promoted the piece on Twitter. YOU CAN'T POSTERIZE SOMEONE ON A CHARGE.

On the other hand, I do like being able to get mad about tiny things instead of, say, a painful loss.

Just my opinion - who cares the gophers won the game. It was a sweet dunk even with the charge, but really no big deal. If Rodney had done that exact same thing to Paul we would all be talking about how great of a dunk it was.

 

[e.bigelow]

Dude, those annoucers last night absolutely LOVED Illinois. It was really annoying to listen to. They finally started to warm up to the Gophers during the broadcast around the 3 minute mark in the 2nd half.

They were absolutely loving the Paul kid (He is very good by the way) and DJ Richardson #1 was who missed about every shot he took it seemed like. He was unimpressive and the BTN announcers were saying what a great 'threat' he was on the court. Yea, ok guys. Apparently 5-15 from the field in a 17 point loss is worthy of SO much praise from those guys I guess. Whatever.

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

I wasn't as worked up over the 'posterization' talk as I was that the basket counted. That was bunk. Contact clearly came well before the ball was released. That call, and the no-call 1st degree assault on Coleman as he drove the baseline had me concerned that the home cookin' was just getting heated up. Luckily, the officiating improved as the game went on, and even seemed to favor the Gophs at times.

Paul's dunk was hyper-athletic, and damned entertaining. Rodney-esque is how I'd put it.

 

[GophersInIowa]

First on the announcers, Eddie Johnson is an Illinois grad so somewhat expected.

Secondly, you're right about the basket somehow counting. Didn't make any sense to me. It's virtually impossible for a charge to be called (meaning the defender is outside the circle) and the basket scored before the charge occurs on a dunk. The dunker's arms would have to be 5 feet long.

Thirdly, I'd much rather Mbakwe be "posterized" and draw the charge than him go up and foul him.

 

[Blizzard]

In case you need to see again:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab...esota-3-0-big-ten-start-143041821--ncaab.html

Couple of good Gopher remarks included.

 

[Gopher Gold]

Trevor Mbakwe ‏@TMbakwe32
#twitterconfession yes @BP3 dunked on me but in my defense it was a charge haha

 

[Bad Gopher]

I wasn't as worked up over the 'posterization' talk as I was that the basket counted. That was bunk. Contact clearly came well before the ball was released. That call, and the no-call 1st degree assault on Coleman as he drove the baseline had me concerned that the home cookin' was just getting heated up. Luckily, the officiating improved as the game went on, and even seemed to favor the Gophs at times.

Paul's dunk was hyper-athletic, and damned entertaining. Rodney-esque is how I'd put it.

That was easily apparent in real time without even looking at the slo-mo replay. Terrible call.

I think that, in order for it to be a posterization, the defender has to be playing active defense. Trevor was merely standing his position and taking the charge. Posterization? Not even close. Nice dunk, though.

 

[GopherInPittsburgh]

Big dunks early like that can set the tone for the game. The Gophers didn't let that happen. Being a charge also helped too.

 

[MRJ]

Just my opinion - who cares the gophers won the game. It was a sweet dunk even with the charge, but really no big deal. If Rodney had done that exact same thing to Paul we would all be talking about how great of a dunk it was.

Agree. If an early dunk over one of our guys (even if it was a charge) is the worst thing that we have to endure during a road game, I think I can deal with it. Especially considering the last five minutes of the game were basically a dunkfest in our favor.

 

[GophersInIowa]

In case you need to see again:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab...esota-3-0-big-ten-start-143041821--ncaab.html

Couple of good Gopher remarks included.

I liked Tom Creen's tweet at the bottom.

 

[From the Barn]

The botched replacement shooter when Paul went out was worse.

 

[Gdizzle]

How did Paul's nose bleed? I thought the replay showed no contact on the preceding play.

 

[Gold Vision]

I wasn't as worked up over the 'posterization' talk as I was that the basket counted. That was bunk. Contact clearly came well before the ball was released. That call, and the no-call 1st degree assault on Coleman as he drove the baseline had me concerned that the home cookin' was just getting heated up. Luckily, the officiating improved as the game went on, and even seemed to favor the Gophs at times.

Paul's dunk was hyper-athletic, and damned entertaining. Rodney-esque is how I'd put it.

The no call on the Coleman dunk was ridiculous. He got a forearm to the face after the initial arm contact too. It was an absolute mugging!

 

[Pewterschmidt]

Secondly, you're right about the basket somehow counting. Didn't make any sense to me. It's virtually impossible for a charge to be called (meaning the defender is outside the circle) and the basket scored before the charge occurs on a dunk. The dunker's arms would have to be 5 feet long.

Somehow PP's Marcus Fuller thought the ref got the call right. Said so on Twitter. Not sure either knows the rules. Baskets only count if the ball is in the air before an offensive foul is called. If the contact occured with the ball in the offensive players hands, it has to be ruled no basket. Fuller didn't seem to grasp that concept. In theory someone can dunk over a player and have the ball enter the hoop before the contact occurs but not with the a defender's feet outside the charge arc. A player would have to have the longest arms known to man. Something like 5 foot long arms. I've never seen a 10 ft wing span. Have you Fuller?

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

I thought that a few years ago, college went with the HS rule. No basket on any charge.

Has anyone looked at the NCAA rulebook on charging?

 

[Scoreboard]

If it ends up on a poster no one will see the ref calling the charge and then counting the bucket. Great dunk.

 

[Cayman]

I also thought it was kind of stupid that they made such a big deal of what a great dunk it was. It was a pretty good dunk, but it was a charge, and I really don't think Paul should have gotten the points for it. When a charge is called, the defense wins that one, no points are scored, and they get the ball. If the correct call had been made, it wouldn't have been a sick dunk, it would have been a turnover and a heads up play by Mbakwe on defense.

Speaking of bad calls against the Gophers in games against Illinois, does anyone remember that goaltend from 2011 at the Barn? We made a basket, the ball went completely below the rim, but didn't drop through the net because some Illini was holding it, the ball bounced out, the basket didn't count and there was no goaltend called. We lost the game by 9 points, and that call probably didn't decide it, but still a terrible call.

 

[underground629]

This post almost creeps me out.. I feel like you voiced my thoughts exactly from last night and even your tone sounds similar to mine. I don't have anything to add on that topic because you've already said exactly what I wanted to post on here before seeing your thread. I was so annoyed they put that so high on top plays and didn't say anything about it being a charge. I guess a turnover is worthy of top plays.

On another note, I also found it obnoxious that the announcers made such a big deal about Paul's bloody nose. Yes, he had to sit out a little bit and maybe it messed with him a little, but good lord, could they make any more excuses for him? They made such a big deal about how he was wearing a different jersey. At one point one of them said (and I swear it was serious tone) something along the lines of "I think Paul wearing a different jersey is really affecting his aggression."

I don't know why this has bothered me so much but I thought this would be the best place to get it off my chest.

Early in the first half when Brandon Paul dunked over Mbakwe - two things:

1) He was called for a charge but the basket still counted. Huh? I still don't get it. The ball never left his hand which should preclude the basket from counting in the first place. But I digress...
2) I saw a whole lot of excitement over the dunk from (Brent Yarina from BTN, for instance) who talked about how Paul "posterized" Mbawke.

That's what took me over the edge. You can't "posterize" someone when you get called for a charge on the play. You know why? Because you're playing outside the confines of the rules. You used an unfair advantage to try to succeed. That's not posterization; that's failure. You know who basically got posterized? Paul did. Because Mbakwe owned him. It's like if someone took six steps from half court and dunked from inside the free throw line but got called for a travel. That's not cool or exciting; that's cheating.

Posterization, as I understand it, it making a fool of somebody who tries to stop you when you're going for a dunk. That's not what happened here. It was not a posterization by any means. Mbakwe played smart defense, set himself and took the charge. I can guarantee that if he didn't want Paul to dunk over him then it wouldn't have happened.

Not sure why this sets me off. Probably a combination of the basket somehow counting and people thinking Paul clowned Mbakwe when, in fact, it was the complete opposite. Even BTN promoted the piece on Twitter. YOU CAN'T POSTERIZE SOMEONE ON A CHARGE.

On the other hand, I do like being able to get mad about tiny things instead of, say, a painful loss.

 

[underground629]

I still tell stories of that. That was one of the worst non-calls I can remember. I guess the refs thought a dunk could magically pop out of the hoop without touching the rim

I also thought it was kind of stupid that they made such a big deal of what a great dunk it was. It was a pretty good dunk, but it was a charge, and I really don't think Paul should have gotten the points for it. When a charge is called, the defense wins that one, no points are scored, and they get the ball. If the correct call had been made, it wouldn't have been a sick dunk, it would have been a turnover and a heads up play by Mbakwe on defense.

Speaking of bad calls against the Gophers in games against Illinois, does anyone remember that goaltend from 2011 at the Barn? We made a basket, the ball went completely below the rim, but didn't drop through the net because some Illini was holding it, the ball bounced out, the basket didn't count and there was no goaltend called. We lost the game by 9 points, and that call probably didn't decide it, but still a terrible call.

 

[GophersInIowa]

This post almost creeps me out.. I feel like you voiced my thoughts exactly from last night and even your tone sounds similar to mine. I don't have anything to add on that topic because you've already said exactly what I wanted to post on here before seeing your thread. I was so annoyed they put that so high on top plays and didn't say anything about it being a charge. I guess a turnover is worthy of top plays.

On another note, I also found it obnoxious that the announcers made such a big deal about Paul's bloody nose. Yes, he had to sit out a little bit and maybe it messed with him a little, but good lord, could they make any more excuses for him? They made such a big deal about how he was wearing a different jersey. At one point one of them said (and I swear it was serious tone) something along the lines of "I think Paul wearing a different jersey is really affecting his aggression."

I heard that too and just laughed.

 

[PBLIllini]

It was a terrible call. Basket should not have counted. Complete misinterpretation of the rule. But hey, these are big ten refs we are talking about here so it's no surprise.

 

[UofMdad]

In case you need to see again:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab...esota-3-0-big-ten-start-143041821--ncaab.html

Couple of good Gopher remarks included.

Instead of bailing out of the lane when he saw Illinois guard Brandon Paul coming at him with a full head of steam, Minnesota's Trevor Mbakwe did something few post defenders in his shoes would have. He stood his ground and drew a charge, nullifying Paul's vicious poster slam from Paul and helping the Gophers emerge with a blowout road win.

 

[XMan]

The mugging of Coleman was the worst ref non call I have seen in a long time.

 

[freshtrout]

It was a missed call by the refs. So the media goes ga ga .. ok. The NBA folks see that and it worthy of a serious look. That's what it's all about.

 

[underground629]

Who knows, maybe Coleman getting smacked in the face got him going. I'd be pissed and start playing ultra aggressive after that.