80% of ucla believes that obviously illegal shot was either legal or too close to call.

And at last count 30% of Americans believe O.J. is innocent; and 3% still believe Elvis is alive.

But back to sports-- these last two games with the bruins only proves what I have contended for years-- Sports win-lose illusion.

"Sports win-lose illusion."

Wow, Truth. That's profound, and really deep man.

You should totally form a new blog of your collected works. You could call it "Musings of a Haiku Troll, Volume 1."

Just wondering. If a shot during regular play, hits the rim, then by bounces high off the top of the backboard, then comes down thru the net, does that count as a basket? Or is it out of bounds/out of play as soon as it hits the top of the backboard?

It would seem to me that the basket would be good, but that is how little I know about the rules.

Nope, out of bounds.

Do you really expect ucla fans to say that they lost the game? Do you expect them to admit that that they benefitted from TWO bad calls in the last 15 seconds and it took both of them to beat ninth-place Cal by a point at home?
That this was two games in a row that the public thinks the refs gave them a game? Other than Duke, nobody gets more favorable calls at home than ucla. The Pac-10 wanted them to win and get a #1 seed. There was no benefit to a Cal win - except for the Cal team that deserved it.

Maybe it's just me, but ONLYTHETROLL was much more interesting when he posted as our old friend "LAWYER JOHN."

At least then, when he felt compelled to "correct" our wayward opinions with his USC bias, he did so under the auspices of a juris doctorate, which somehow gave his opinion a much stronger illusion of authority and credential.

How I miss those days. Sniffle.

I believe most referees try to make the right decision, but there is a psychological component present as well.

I mean, 12,000 fans are going crazy at Pauley over Shipp's shot. Are you going to stop play, call the shot illegal, and turn the ball (and the game) over to Cal? Not only are you a party pooper, but you might not get out of Pauley alive.

USC fans were much more honest and forthright when they acknowledged that Reggie Bush blatantly pushed Matt Leinart into the end zone against Notre Dame in '05, helping secure their berth in the BCS National Championship game.

I mean after all, there was no "benefit" to a Notre Dame win in that game either.

Wow, NOTHING is so telling about $c's bb program as finding, on the day following a decent win by their own bb team, their fans are more interesting in participating in a UCLA sports site. Thanks for the compliment, $c troll....

As to the game, the refs swallowing their whistles was probably best, the shot appearing to go over the corner of the backboard but the refs not wanting a judgement call of that sort to decide the game. They have said publicly they wished they'd made the same decision Thursday night. Probably should have - Hill DID foul Collison, but the body stuff - which they called - wasn't enough for a call that late in the game and the REAL foul, with Hill's LEFT hand on Collison's shooting arm elbow as both were going up, they missed entirely.

The REAL question about the Cal game is how Ucla stayed close enough to give Love and then Shipp any chance to win it in the end. Fact is, Cal's shooting % of 56% is misleading as it doesn't factor in the number of times Ucla turned them over or got additional possessions through offensive rebounds and steals. Here are the stats that leap off the stat sheet:

Cal: 27 RBs (4 Off), 12 assists to 12 TOs, 2 BLKs and 3 steals;

Ucla: 33 RBs (14 Off), 18 assists to 9 TOs,4 BLKs and 7 steals.

Add Mbah a Moute's 2nd double double in two games and 87% FT shooting - best when it mattered most - to offset Cal's 90+% FT shooting - and Ucla's number of chances greatly increases and Cal's percentage of converting its possessions into actual points (the true measure of bb effectiveness on both O and D) drops significantly.

A great game by Cal, brilliantly coached (for all those Ben Braun critics - he gets his due props for that one for sure) and tribute to this Ucla team's heart and grit. On a day when both Ucla and Stanford came out predictably flat, the Bruins found a way to win yet again. Congrats to the Bruins - even our Trojan fan can't stay away from our site!

The implications of this amazing basketball weekend extend beyond any parochial interests.

Because the game is so fast, there are many bad calls in every basketball game. It is time to implement a coaches' challenge at the end of games, similar to what football has in place i.e. a coach gets two challenges (which he would probably reserve for the end of the game). -- Would have solved the problems that arose this weekend.

Final note and I am outta here: Friday night, SC-ucla (probably). Both teams are at full strength, tied at 1-1. This is for the ONLY championship that will be won in Los Angeles this year-- the City Championship.

People sure will disagree with me on this point. I have good friends who have been high school and college officials for years in both football and basketball They have said basketball IS the hardest to officiate. It is fast and you are so close to the action the it is hard to SEE everything because of positioning that changes in milliseconds

I think it interesting the people who are upset about the stanford game (refs calling a foul that was technically a foul, but most believe it should have been let go that late in the game) are now critical that referees did exactly what they were complaining they didn't do in the Stanford game. In this game, they let things go at the end and only called clear cut fouls.

You can't have it both ways.

LOL, the mythical "city championship". Sorry, we've got bigger fish to fry. You guys try to stay out of the NIT.

Haha.."city" championship? We got our eyes focused on the NATIONAL championships.

Hey Brian,

How about showing some parity in your use of opinion adjectives in your articles. You say repeatedly "questionable" call, "controversial" no-call, and again, "questionable" call. Yet in describing the game, you're as bland as can be. "Josh Shipp.....drove the baseline and hit a floater.."...yawn. How about "Josh Shipp...drove the baseline and while falling back with a defender in his face hit an incredibly tough floater..."

Or instead of "Kevin Love hit a double-clutch 3-pointer.." Yawn again. How about "Kevin Love hit a near-miraculous double-clutch 3-pointer..".

Either use your opinion adjectives equally, or save them for the Opinion section of the paper.

The shot was legal. According to a quote in LA's other newspaper, Hank Nichols, the NCAA national director of officiating, said that the original intent of the rule is to prevent teams from lobbing the ball over the backboard to an immensely tall player, ala Wilt Chamberlain. Nichols said "The rule was not intended to prevent a circus jump shot". That's coming from the NCAA national director of officiating, who in my mind trumps the head of Pac-10 officiating. Therefore, based on the national director's comments, the shot is legal, should have counted, and did count.

Fact: Ball went over the backboard, thus it should not have counted. Plain and simple.

As for the question posed by fan4life of a ball hitting the rim, bouncing up onto the backboard, and then dropping back in.

That basket would count. It is out of bounds if the ball goes completely over the backboard.

The ball must be COMPLETELY behind the backboard before it is ruled out of bounds. Case in point is the rebound scenario; it is still in play if it bounces off the top of the backboard and comes forward. It is not out of play until it goes completely behind the backboard. In Shipp's shot, the ball was not completely behind the backboard. It's good, game over.

PLH55: 3 officials on the floor thought it was too close to call. That's good enough for me. Josh still made a great shot.

OTT: UCLA's taking it one game at a time, but the big picture for our program is another Final Four appearance. Good luck with your back to back Sweet 16 and "city" championship!