In an article published on a pro-Creighton athletics website, basketball player Greg McDermott says he contacted UNC coach Roy Williams to let him know that his team wasn’t out to get North Carolina and certainly didn’t want to jeopardize the Tar Heels run to an NCAA title by hurting guard Kendall Marshall.
“We feel awful that Kendall Marshall got hurt,” McDermott said Monday. “There was not any malicious intent on Ethan’s part. (Ethan Wragge) It was just a basketball play and, unfortunately, Kendall landed on his wrist wrong. I wanted to make sure Roy knew how we felt. We have tremendous respect for each other. He’s a good friend of mine, and I wanted to make sure he knew that we felt bad that it happened.”
While it was a hard foul and one that the slow-footed, less athletic big man should have known better than to attempt it (in part because he was out of position on the play and because his team was down by 18 points at the time).
Despite replays showing Grant Gibbs slapping at John Henson’s bad wrist and Gregory Echenique clobbering Tyler Zeller about the head and neck, McDermott said Creighton is not a dirty team.
“Anyone that watched us play 35 games would know that we’re the farthest thing from being a physical, rough-housing team,” he said. “If anything, we’ve lacked physicality, but now we’re being made out to be the team that tried to bully North Carolina. The thing we feel bad about is the injury, because I would like to see North Carolina make a great run in this tournament.”
The one part of McDermott’s explanations that seems suspect is his characterization that Gibbs’ wink to the bench after slapping Henson’s wrist was simply to acknowledge to the team that he had gotten under Henson’s skin as the Carolina player was called for a technical after confronting Gibbs.
Even if that is true, how did Gibbs get under Henson’s skin? By slapping at his highly publicized bad wrist. McDermott, nor Gibbs, nor the Creighton coach are going to convince me that Gibbs wasn’t trying to hurt Henson. In football, it is common for guys to go after players who aren’t 100 percent. In basketball, while players will certainly be tested as to what they can and can’t do, it is not appropriate to intentionally go after an injury, especially with little protection available. Some would argue that it’s not appropriate in football either but football is supposed to be a physical game. Basketball, unfortunately, has evolved into more of a physical game but that’s not the history nor intention of basketball as opposed to football.
While excusing Gibbs’ physical play, to his credit McDermott did call out his other teammate Echenique, saying that he should have been called for an intentional flagrant foul for his decking of Zeller.
To read the original article, please click here.
I admit it was my brother who taught me the gift of a “hard foul” in basketball, not my coaches, because “girls” weren’t supposed to play to win. The art of the hard foul, my brother always, always, stressed to go high and stay high! To bring your arm down on top of the other players arm or ball, so the person you are fouling can get their feet under them first while they are falling. If you check out the N&O link you will see the Creighton player led first using his forearm and then his hand on Marshall’s waist to push out. Such a shove has only one reason, to injure Marshall.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/19/1944673/kendall-marshall-injury-031912.html
He got fouled, he fell on his wrist, he broke it, big deal! NC fans need to quit crying about this and everything else. Henson’s a talent, but a baby and should’ve been a blue devil!!!!Zeller better get tough, what does he think it’s a tea party under the basket in the NBA?
YOu are obviously a (DELETED) Duke fan. Creighton took our national title. Yeah its pretty dirty!!!
I think Creighton was overly rough, especially when they were down by 18 points with virtually no chance of winning. Were they dirty? Not sure. The wink from Gibbs seems to indicate there was some pre-game discussion about Henson’s wrist or at least trying to disrupt his game by being rough.
As for Zeller, Han Solo, he WAS tough. He got right back up and ran to play defense without a word. He didn’t even look over at the official. How many big men who get decked around their upper chest/neck area do you think would have just let it go?
And having your wrist broken by a much inferior team and seemingly ruining your chances of winning a national championship after two or three guys came back to play another year specifically to do just that IS a big deal.
Some of the rough play is just part of the game and some is extreme. Each fan will have to make up his own mind.