What was the game of the decade?

Bull GreenDog

Bull GreenDog

Well-known member
Started this thread on the football forum and have gotten some great responses. What was the best game of the 2010s and why?
 
 
It was a game the Irish lost, but the 2016 D2 final between STVM and New Concord John Glenn was likely the most anticipated game of the year. And it certainly lived up to all the hype!
 
Marion Local vs Cornerstone Christian.

Game was so good, it should get at least 2 mentions for top game. Part of what makes a game excellent is when the better team does not win, but plays very well themselves. It is an incredible game by the underdog that makes this one stand out. What it took just to get to OT was worth a top mention here. Watch the entire game, a couple times, and you will see a team that simply willed itself over the better team.
 
D4fan said:
Marion Local vs Cornerstone Christian.

Game was so good, it should get at least 2 mentions for top game. Part of what makes a game excellent is when the better team does not win, but plays very well themselves. It is an incredible game by the underdog that makes this one stand out. What it took just to get to OT was worth a top mention here. Watch the entire game, a couple times, and you will see a team that simply willed itself over the better team.
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Nathan Bruns corner three that barely nicked the backboard to go in was a shot straight out of a movie.
 
Hard to say where they would rank among the game of the decade, but the two games that stick out to me as a St. Edward fan are the 2014 D1 state championship game against Upper Arlington and a 2011 regular season game against Mentor.

The championship game saw the Eagles prevail in OT 62-58. All hope seemed lost when UA stole a pass and drove for a layup to go up three with under 5 seconds left in regulation. Coach Flan drew up an inbound play that resulted in a kick back to Marsalis Hamilton who drilled a cold-blooded deep three with two guys guarding him to force OT.

The regular season game in 2011 saw the Eagles walk out of Mentor's gym with a 108-105 victory. It was a shooting battle between an uncharacteristically guard-oriented St. Edward team against an always guard-oriented Mentor squad. Big bucket after big bucket where the team with possession last won.
 
zebrastripes said:
Actually, it was 100 percent the correct call and the official should be (and was, by people who matter) praised for having the conviction to make it, knowing the backlash and threats he would receive.
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Watch the play. He was not on the rim for very long. Also, a teammate flashes in front him during the dunk. Thus, there is a safety aspect to the play. It is a poor call.
 
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vikings4life said:
Watch the play. He was not on the rim for very long. Also, a teammate flashes in front him during the dunk. Thus, there is a safety aspect to the play. It is a poor call.
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I agree. I've been to a ton of games and seen a lot of dunks. Never occurred to me when I saw it live, especially given the time/situation that they would issue a technical. It has no effect on play and it is not necessary to call. I dunked in my younger days and it is WAY UP there .... kid could have easily been hurt if he had let go. Eerily similar play to when Evan Turner broke his back after loosing his grip on a dunk down the lane.
 
EaglePride01 said:
Hard to say where they would rank among the game of the decade, but the two games that stick out to me as a St. Edward fan are the 2014 D1 state championship game against Upper Arlington and a 2011 regular season game against Mentor.

The championship game saw the Eagles prevail in OT 62-58. All hope seemed lost when UA stole a pass and drove for a layup to go up three with under 5 seconds left in regulation. Coach Flan drew up an inbound play that resulted in a kick back to Marsalis Hamilton who drilled a cold-blooded deep three with two guys guarding him to force OT.

The regular season game in 2011 saw the Eagles walk out of Mentor's gym with a 108-105 victory. It was a shooting battle between an uncharacteristically guard-oriented St. Edward team against an always guard-oriented Mentor squad. Big bucket after big bucket where the team with possession last won.
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Agree on the 2014 game. What a clutch shot. Was the Ed's- Mentor game from 2011 decided in regulation? Shooting percentages must have been insane in that one
 
vikings4life said:
Watch the play. He was not on the rim for very long. Also, a teammate flashes in front him during the dunk. Thus, there is a safety aspect to the play. It is a poor call.
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I think it was the right call, my bias aside. I think it's a bad rule. The kid is excited, and there was the safety element involved. I felt for him, I really did. He had a great game and hopefully didn't feel that cost them. My Dogs still had to make plays to get it to OT and win it.

He and the coach were all class though. Hated seeing that play a role in a well played game on both sides.
 
D4fan said:
Not worothy of a T in my opinion. Was unsafe to intentionally swing legs up.
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Exactly, he intentionally swung himself forward such that his body went parallel to the ground. No amount of “momentum” would cause that on its own. You can see the kid’s elbows bend and his legs kick up and no players around him–that was not the dunk itself that caused that.

And if he doesn’t grab the rim to begin with when he dunks, we aren’t even having this discussion. You are allowed to grasp and hold onto the rim for safety–once you chin-up, kick your legs around, or otherwise showboat, you aren’t hanging for safety anymore and are asking for a T.

This is 110 percent a technical foul by the spirit and letter of the law, at any point during the game. It was communicated to OHSAA officials statewide that the play was correctly officiated and that a technical foul was expected. For the “it had no effect on the game” crowd, please share with us what other rules should be ignored that have no effect on the game.

Thankfully, most officials and those who matter that know the rules agree that this was a correct (and courageous) call.

If this call was NOT made the Defiance coach would have had a perfectly legitimate gripe with the crew.
 
zebrastripes said:
Exactly, he intentionally swung himself forward such that his body went parallel to the ground. No amount of “momentum” would cause that on its own. You can see the kid’s elbows bend and his legs kick up and no players around him–that was not the dunk itself that caused that.

And if he doesn’t grab the rim to begin with when he dunks, we aren’t even having this discussion. You are allowed to grasp and hold onto the rim for safety–once you chin-up, kick your legs around, or otherwise showboat, you aren’t hanging for safety anymore and are asking for a T.

This is 110 percent a technical foul by the spirit and letter of the law, at any point during the game. It was communicated to OHSAA officials statewide that the play was correctly officiated and that a technical foul was expected. For the “it had no effect on the game” crowd, please share with us what other rules should be ignored that have no effect on the game.

Thankfully, most officials and those who matter that know the rules agree that this was a correct (and courageous) call.

If this call was NOT made the Defiance coach would have had a perfectly legitimate gripe with the crew.
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It’s not a T. Bad call by the ref. Thought the kid handled it pretty well
 
zebrastripes said:
Exactly, he intentionally swung himself forward such that his body went parallel to the ground. No amount of “momentum” would cause that on its own. You can see the kid’s elbows bend and his legs kick up and no players around him–that was not the dunk itself that caused that.

And if he doesn’t grab the rim to begin with when he dunks, we aren’t even having this discussion. You are allowed to grasp and hold onto the rim for safety–once you chin-up, kick your legs around, or otherwise showboat, you aren’t hanging for safety anymore and are asking for a T.

This is 110 percent a technical foul by the spirit and letter of the law, at any point during the game. It was communicated to OHSAA officials statewide that the play was correctly officiated and that a technical foul was expected. For the “it had no effect on the game” crowd, please share with us what other rules should be ignored that have no effect on the game.

Thankfully, most officials and those who matter that know the rules agree that this was a correct (and courageous) call.

If this call was NOT made the Defiance coach would have had a perfectly legitimate gripe with the crew.
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I'm not gonna argue with you in regards with what your body does and how careful you need to be when dunking and landing cause I don't feel as if you'd understand. What I will argue is effect on the game. Had that gone uncalled I doubt there would have been any reaction from Kirk or the Defiance crowd. Totally irrelevant what happened on that play. The inconsistentcy when it comes to that call is all over the map and you have to admit that. I saw worse that wkd that went uncalled and frankly I didn't care. Totally irrelevant.
 
It was the swinging the feet up to the supports that probably prompted the call. Tough luck for Lillard, but he didn't have to do it on the wide open dunk.
 
FlightCrew said:
What I will argue is effect on the game.
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It certainly can have a great effect on the game.....particularly if it's not called.

Besides this being a textbook violation of the rule and a text book application of the penalty, when an opponent sees this go unaddressed, their next dunk typically seeks to "one-up" the prior dunk. And now we have the potential for a ----storm. (followed closely by "the refs lost control" battle cry)

It's why it has to be addressed. It's easy for those not directly involved and those that don't suffer any repercussions for ignoring this to sit back and criticize.
 
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ShoelessJoe said:
It was the swinging the feet up to the supports that probably prompted the call. Tough luck for Lillard, but he didn't have to do it on the wide open dunk.
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This is the key. When you grab the rim and do something you don't have to do, a technical foul is likely coming your way.

I don't know how anyone can watch the video and not think "the kid intentionally swung his legs forward." It's too bad that he made that poor decision in the last minute of a state championship game, and it's too bad that the official, of course, shoulders the blame for "ruining" the game on a correct call.

I actually don't think most people acting like this was a bad call would think the same if it happened in the second quarter. But of course, because it's the last minute of a state championship game, the refs should "let the kids decide it" by swallowing the whistle. :rolleyes:
 
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FlightCrew said:
I'm not gonna argue with you in regards with what your body does and how careful you need to be when dunking and landing cause I don't feel as if you'd understand. What I will argue is effect on the game. Had that gone uncalled I doubt there would have been any reaction from Kirk or the Defiance crowd. Totally irrelevant what happened on that play. The inconsistentcy when it comes to that call is all over the map and you have to admit that. I saw worse that wkd that went uncalled and frankly I didn't care. Totally irrelevant.
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I understand completely. That's why the rules allow a player to grab the rim for safety. Unfortunately, this kid may have grabbed it for safety initially, but while hanging on he chose to showboat. If you can't see that he intentionally kicks his legs forward, I can't help you. Not only that, but he didn't even have to grab the rim on an uncontested dunk with no one around him.

As for your claim that it had no effect and Defiance wouldn't have cared - coaches argue for technical fouls for actions half as blatant as this one. Two FTs and possession would have quite an "effect" in the last minute of a state final, and a blatant action like this going unpenalized is quite clearly something most coaches would not be happy about.
 
zebrastripes said:
I understand completely. That's why the rules allow a player to grab the rim for safety. Unfortunately, this kid may have grabbed it for safety initially, but while hanging on he chose to showboat. If you can't see that he intentionally kicks his legs forward, I can't help you. Not only that, but he didn't even have to grab the rim on an uncontested dunk with no one around him.

As for your claim that it had no effect and Defiance wouldn't have cared - coaches argue for technical fouls for actions half as blatant as this one. Two FTs and possession would have quite an "effect" in the last minute of a state final, and a blatant action like this going unpenalized is quite clearly something most coaches would not be happy about.
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zebrastripes said:
I understand completely. That's why the rules allow a player to grab the rim for safety. Unfortunately, this kid may have grabbed it for safety initially, but while hanging on he chose to showboat. If you can't see that he intentionally kicks his legs forward, I can't help you. Not only that, but he didn't even have to grab the rim on an uncontested dunk with no one around him.

As for your claim that it had no effect and Defiance wouldn't have cared - coaches argue for technical fouls for actions half as blatant as this one. Two FTs and possession would have quite an "effect" in the last minute of a state final, and a blatant action like this going unpenalized is quite clearly something most coaches would not be happy about.
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Even with the call, I was impressed that Defiance nailed the two free throws and managed to score a game-tying basket. They then managed to win in overtime without one of their best players, who fouled out. Really a tremendous game. Definitely one of those where it was too bad someone had to lose.
 
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