The Style Of Play

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Lady Gryphon Zikeena Parker has won the State indoor championship in the 55 meter dash this afternoon in Fayetteville.


Being a die hard Wolfpack fan I know most of you think there is no way I can say much good about North Carolina or Duke. Quite the opposite, I may be one of the few but I pull for both Duke and Carolina when the Wolfpack is off somewhere else when Carolina and Duke Play.

Dean Smith is one of the greatest college coaches of all time. You young folks won't remember this but I think the year was 1975 Phil Ford may have been on that team but Carolina Played Syracuse in the NCAA tournament and with just three or four seconds to go Syracuse had a one point lead and taking the ball out under the Carolina basketball.

Dean Smith set up a defensive play where the Carolina defense forced the Syracuse player who was suppose to catch the inbounds pass run into a Carolina screen and Carolina wanted a charge. It worked to perfection except for one thing. The refs swallowed their whistles. Syracuse got the ball inbounds and ran out the clock.

I thought that was the greatest play I ever saw in basketball. Everyone in the building is thinking Carolina has to foul and Dean Smith was trying to get Syracuse to foul them . Not every coach would think of that. Smith also invented players diving on the floor to keep you from getting the ball. Now here is where coach Smith an I differ. I think diving on the floor is not meant to be in basketball. The rules say you must bounce the ball once every two steps you take. The intention of basketball is to be on two feet and dribbling the ball.

Last night there was one time in the Northern -Rocky Mount boys game a play where players were diving all over the floor for the ball and it looked as if there had been a fumble in football with players piled up on top of each other. Everyone in the gym thought a jump ball was going to be called. In all that mess of a pile there were players on top of each other. Why isn't there a foul if you lay on top of another player. After the refs got everyone off the pile one ref signaled that Rocky Mount had called a time out. How in the world in all that mass of bodies could anybody tell who had the ball much less having control of the ball to be able to call time out.

I think everyone who was at the game last night went home scratching their head as to some of the calls made both ways. Hard contact was not called and mystery calls were made when no contact occurred at all.

I think we can all blame the way basketball is played today on Dean Smith. He required his players to hustle even dive after the ball if necessary. Basketball is a non contact sport but the way the refs call it this day and time they allow jamming at the line of scrimmage. So Dean Smith 's vision of diving on the floor has become clipping and a 15 yard penalty that is never called.

In all honesty there is a place for diving after a ball in basketball. We need officials who officiate basketball not football.