Press Conference: Duke vs. UCF Second Round Postgame

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[GUNDAM-NOLASAINTS]

Zion is so respectful... love this kid

[joehill]

UCF played really well, could’ve won if Fall hadn’t fouled out. Duke needed this wake up call

[youngarmyant]

I'm a huge Duke fan but, I salute UCF for playing their hearts out. The game could of went either way.

[ralphthompson]

Coach Dawkins trained them right. They gave no excuses for the loss, missed shot, or fouls!

[leroywashington]

One thiing about March Madness that I love, is you get to see other great players you may not have been aware of. Johnny Dawkins son is a straight BALLER! Wow, he has a nice game! With more work Taco, will be a very nice big man for the league in the future. I'd like to see him come back at least one more year. This was an instant classic!

[optimistic__]

Aubrey Dawkins just jump in as a lottery pick in the NBA..

[DaTryHard]

reddish needs to be up there, hit some timely shots when they needed it

[nighthawk]

My hats off to Coach Dawkins and the UCF Knights!! Hold your heads up high!! Charge on!!

[Ai_humThong]

What an exciting game both teams played great

[rodneyt]

I really want to give it up to UCF, the players, the coaches and the whole program. Keep your head up that was a great game you guy's have nothing to hang your head about. What about Aubrey talk about being on fire!

[alexforbesvevo]

I think O’Connell needs to play a little bit more to give that extra 3 point shooting

[keyshawnirvin]

~15:10 to 18 is why I don't have the hate for Duke like so many. Not my team, but Coach K and Johnny Dawkins are why we love sports.

[Q.Q.]

On the question at about 29:00 on whether Zion had charged on Tacko, there was no way that that could've been a charge, because, simply, Tacko jumped. On whether or not it was a foul on Tacko, while he went straight up with his body, he had his arms angled out into Zion's space, and then also swung down, so it was definitely a foul on Tacko. The real question is whether or not Zion charged on Taylor before the portion of the play involving Tacko had even developed. Some years ago, rules were changed in the NBA on charges (and perhaps subsequently in NCAAB, as well, but haven't checked). It used to be the defender had to have both feet firmly planted; i.e., if your feet were still moving, it was a block. Current NBA rules, as I understand it, allow the defender to be able to have "established position" if even his feet are still moving, not planted firmly on the ground, as long as he is in front of the driver. If the current, latter, rules were faithfully applied, in this case there is a case to be made that Zion charged. On the other hand, I never liked the rule change in the NBA, and feel strongly that the defender should have to have both feet firmly planted when taking a charge. On this play, Taylor was still moving his feet (his left foot) when contact was made between himself and Zion. On whether or not there should’ve been a call on the Taylor/Zion portion of this play, it could be argued either way on whether it should’ve been a charge or a block. On the subsequent Tacko/Zion portion of the play, there is no controversy, and the call was correct.

Others have complained about a supposed pushing/loose-ball foul that should've been called on Barrett on Zion's missed FT. I looked at the play numerous times in slow motion, and what I see is that while I see that Barrett had his hands on Dawkins’ back, his “pushing” appeared very light and had negligible impetus, and that even this had ceased by the time Dawkins had jumped and was in the air. Simply, Dawkins, in his eagerness, misjudged the trajectory of the carom of the ball, and jumped himself past the rebound. His errant trajectory was not influenced by the slight “pushing” of Barrett’s while he (Dawkins) was still on the ground. There was no pushing while Dawkins was in the air, and, on a pushing-in-the-back loose-ball foul, it’s the push while in the air that really adversely impacts the jumper, because pushes impact a person in the air so much more than while on the ground. Here, what I see is a misjudgment on the part of Dawkins. No pushing impacted his jump trajectory.

The call that the Duke detractors (I am most definitely not a Duke fan) refuse to cite is the potential shot-clock violation call that was reviewed by the refs. Upon numerous slow-mo views, it seems rather evident that the ball never touched, even grazed, the rim. The ball does not alter, at all, its revolution motion until it hits the board. It moves past the back of the rim, never altering its revolution, again until it hits the board. This should’ve have been clear to see to the refs, and their initial call of granting the Tacko basket should have been reversed. But, of course, this would benefit Duke, and those complaining about the unjust calls in the game favoring Duke clearly have no interest in bringing this critical call up for discussion.

[GUNDAM-NOLASAINTS]

John Dawkins is a special player for Coach. Because he was one of his 1st tier 1 athlete to attend Duke in the lean years 1980s

[tinawilliams]

I'm not goin to lie i can't breathe til the end i didn't want to see Zion stop playing yet Zion made big boy moves today, congrats Duke

[PassdeDutchie]

F'n Krzyzewski: Just when u want to hate on him; he shows u why we respect him so much ! When he talked abt JD: I knew it was authentic!

[joshrmcgee]

Can the media ask better questions? I’m tired of the “how did you feel” questions. Questions being asked in press conferences now are terrible.

[seanjones]

Dawkins missed the tip, but he will have a great professional NBA career and that is pretty cool. He worked his tail off to be as good as he is, and it will pay off. Total class from Duke on this one.

[tburna]

UCF made one costly mistake. When they were up 4 (74-70 I believe), they should've ran some time off the clock.

[FashionRoadman]

Duke absolutely lucked their way into that win but it was such a great game 🔥