Quote:
Originally Posted by petegz28
That's a still...look at the actual play, not just one split-second of it ...it was a clear charge
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I re-watched the game on ESPNU after the SB last night and when you're not at a bar and watching it for particular moments, they look a little different.
The charge on Taylor is clear as day. The more I watched that one, the more obvious it became. That was absolutely textbook defense on a committed player. To try to argue that this wasn't a
clear charge just destroys someones credibility. It would've been called a charge on any neutral site in the nation. Go in real time or slow it down; immaterial - it's a charge.
The Robinson one, OTOH, was much closer as you watch the whole play. If I were a completely disinterested fan, I'd probably say it should've been a no-call in that situation and with those stakes. How the game had gone to that point, I think you could definitely justify the official just swallowing his whistle.
That said, from a textbook standpoint, I think it was a charge. Moore had his feet set and he had his position. Robinson charged into the lane and used his elbow and Moore's body to roll off the defender and improve his shot attempt. To play that offensive series 'clean', Robinson would've had to have stopped his forward momentum and taken a much tougher shot. He would probably needed to pick up his dribble as well. In other words, Moore did a nice job of defending that play and Robinson had to body him up and elbow him to get himself free for that easy put up.
That's exactly what we have charging violations for - to reward the defender for putting himself in a spot where he can stop the offensive player's drive. Moore did exactly that and he held his ground (as he is entitled). Without bodying into him and getting that elbow into his chest, Robinson wasn't going to have nearly that easy a shot attempt, if he even got a clean attempt at all.
The way the game was called and at that point in the game, I could see the official letting it go. At the same time - the rules say that's a charge. As a Missouri fan, I'd have been pretty pissed had they let Robinson use his body to create a shot like that.