The problem with this play is that there were 2 errors with the time. The clock should start when the ball is touched on the inbounds pass. The Clemson player caught the ball, stepped back a little, shot a 20 foot shot. Once the ball is through the net, the clock is supposed to stop.
Instead, the clock started when the ball went through the net and stopped way later. The refs went back and looked to see when the ball went through the net which according to the clock was with 4.4 seconds left, but the clock didn't start at the correct time.
Common sense dictates that a player can not catch a ball, step back, shoot a shot which must travel 20 feet in 0.6 seconds, but I guess that’s what happened. (My math may be off, but the ball would have to have been traveling 68 miles per hour to go 20 feet in .6 seconds)
ESPN ran this as there lead story today on Sports Center. They ran a clock side by side with the game clock and showed the correct time which should have been 2.2 seconds left in the game. There have been countless news stories about this game now and how this is becoming a common thing vs. Duke.
3 Duke Players including there center played 30 minutes plus throughout the game and never committed a foul ERRRRR never were called for a foul. There was one play with about a minute left where James Mayes hit a lay-up, and in the process McRoberts smacked him in the face trying to block the shot. There was even an official time out for Mayes to put his contact back into his eye. There was also a botched goal tending call where Clemson's shot was sitting on the rim and a Duke Player knocked the ball away.
And to top it all off, the ACC posted a statement today acknowledging the screw up, and it would be handled internally. Long story short, I really hate UNC, but I'll be pulling for them when they play Duke, and I can't wait for Duke to come to Little John. The students are already planning on wearing referee shirts and bringing cardboard clocks. Whatever happens though, it should be fun.
If you want to read something funny, here is a link to the UNC message boards.
Click me Things you can do in .6 seconds in Cameron Indoor Stadium. There are 41 pages of posts from just today, but some are really funny.