Dave Sez

Hands Down

According to Hank Nichols, the NCAA national coordinator of men's basketball officiating, refs are making a concerted effort this year to call hand checking and stiff arms. I haven't noticed the difference so much, but the players say the can tell the difference. With so many good, aggressive guards in the ACC this year, this is obviously a critical point. If the refs don't allow defenders to hold (and they shouldn't), guys are gonna drive the ball more.

The N&O article (linked above) comes with a handy (ha! I crack me up) little clip art graphic showing good and bad touching. Kind of like sex ed class.

One interesting stat from the main article is that Duke shooter J.J. Redick has been called for only 17 fouls this year in 19 games. Wow. That must be because he has such other-worldly foot speed that he's able to stay in front of his man without fouling.

Redick is on pace to break Easy Ed Cota's ACC record of .90 fouls per game. Coincidently, Cota also set the record that year for yells of "Help!" to his teammates.