After the overhead camera view Flip getting lambasted on twitter.
we have to do a better job on this but Flip flat out trip elbowed one dude lost his balance because of it and then another guy bumped into him. nothing To see here. Lord this is so Duke.
I've broken this shit down like the Zapruder film, from multiple angles. The first kid was trying to avoid him, which is why he is turned. His right leg is lifted and he is turning his body so that he won't make contact with a guy who is roughly 7 feet, 250 pounds. Yeah, you can talk shit to them all game, but it's a bit different when you're on the same level with them-- you don't want to bump into that. Those guys are literal giants. His attempt to avoid would've been enough, except Flip tripped him, which looks more intentional than the shove. The shove you could argue is reflexive, except that he extends his arms so it looks like at the very least a "Get the fuck away from me," which frankly, would be understandable. That trip, though... (and it was the trip that caused the stumble and the injury)
So that causes the kid to go sprawling on the floor and Flip stumbles forward. There is no evidence that the kid who supposedly "shoved" Flip actually did that. Flip was stumbling prior to being touched, but he absolutely was touched. Whether he was pushed, hit/slapped on the back, or grabbed in an attempt to prop him up (this one seems unlikely, but I can't rule it out). The kid shouldn't have touched him regardless, but he was not at all responsible for the stumble or the injury.
We would be pissed if it were Sallis or somebody, but Duke has 40 years of whining about literally everything that preceded this. They are by far and away the whiniest bitches in college hoops. If there were national titles for such things, they would have an unprecedented dynasty. And now it's at a different level because their media mouthpieces picked up the ball and ran with it. And it happened with a guy who is known for punkass behavior on the court. No, he isn't Grayson Allen, but he's still a shithead.
It is true that none of this would happen had the fans not been on the floor, but that's a monumentally shallow take. That's like saying it wouldn't happen if Duke had won, or if they hadn't played the game at all. The fact is it was going to happen if Wake won. Everybody knew this, including Duke. The security thing is real, but the Joel is a pretty vast area to cover-- more than people realize. I saw a pic of the UConn-Creighton game where Creighton's security pretty much isolated the UConn bench area and that seemed pretty common-sense. But of course Flip wasn't anywhere near the bench so I'm not sure what good that would've done. I can tell you that when kids want to storm the court or the field, it's going to happen. They will find the weak link and exploit it. Nobody in the media is going to criticize Scheyer, but I guarantee that in Durham they're making it known that he needs to be more proactive in getting his players off the floor when the game is definitely lost. Guess he was hoping for a four point play, but c'mon. Take the L. This isn't the postseason.
