Michigan/Virginia game in Richmond SUCKED

[Fordman50]

What a bunch of crap! A sold out crowd and national ESPN coverage and Richmond screwed up royally with VA in the lead

They covered the hocky ice up for the game but water seeped through and cause the players to slip and fall. Heads must roll for this! you have GOT to read this scathing artical about Richmond!!!



Spartans, Cavs safely slip out of Richmond Coliseum

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By Andy Katz
ESPN.com


RICHMOND, Va. -- Assistant coaches from Michigan State and Virginia met in the Richmond Marriott lobby early Wednesday, asking if either team could hold a "normal" shootaround at the Richmond Coliseum.

The answer was an emphatic and seriously scary, "No".

Neither team could run anything fullcourt, they could only shoot standing still. Seeing the condensation on the surface of the court during the day made every coach and player question if the ACC/Big Ten Challenge game could be played at all later at night.

Eventually it was, against all of their wishes, but then ended abruptly with 15:04 to play and Virginia holding a 31-28 lead. There are no plans to reschedule, although an official announcement is due by Friday at the latest.

“ It's embarrassing. I wouldn't come back here, not if I had anything to do with it. We wanted to play this game. There was a sellout crowd, the national television. But, it was the right decision (to stop). ”
— Pete Guillen,
Virginia head coach

The game officials, and ultimately Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage had no choice, after Virginia's Travis Watson slipped simply backing up and smacked his hip and chin on the court. "I knew then that it was over," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.

"It was a hard fall," Watson said. "They should have ended the game in the first half. A lot of people fell and there could have been injuries. When I hit the floor, it hurt. But this floor was worse earlier (Wednesday). I didn't think they should play the game -- period. I don't want to ever play here again."

Watson's fall followed another basic back-up post move by Michigan State's Aloysius Anagonye that ended up with him doing a gymnastic-like split to the floor, something he probably thought he never could do.

"I was scared stiff," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "I was nervous that guys would rip their groins, tear a knee or break an ankle."

Players couldn't cut to the basket without tip-toeing as if they were walking on glass. Trying to put the ball on the floor and drive was a joke, as players gingerly tried to make a move. Virginia, normally a pressing and running team, looked like it was in slow motion. Michigan State lost a few buckets because they couldn't get to the basket without sliding.

This wasn't a basketball game. It was as if they were trying to play hoops on an ice rink -- without the skates.

The officials warned the coaches at the beginning of the half that they feared injury. It got to a point where everyone just hoped the game would end without someone getting hurt. It did and now it looks like it won't be resumed because of scheduling difficulties.

And, even if a date were found, no one on either team wants any part of the Richmond Coliseum ever again.

"It's embarrassing," Gillen said. "I wouldn't come back here, not if I had anything to do with it. We wanted to play this game. There was a sellout crowd, the national television. We thought we could start it and get through it. We hoped the heat of the building would improve the condensation, but it didn't. It was the right decision (to stop)."

Richmond enjoyed an unseasonable warm, muggy day in the low 70s, but the Richmond Coliseum was an ice box with fans and members of the media wearing overcoats. The ice used for a minor league hockey team could be seen in the cracks of the floor off the court. The court was raised, but not enough to avoid the condensation.

During every time out, officials instructed the ball boys to wipe up the floor. It got so bad during the game that they had them wiping down the opposite end of the court during free throws.

"You should have seen it during the day, it was brutal under the baskets," Izzo said. "I knew we might not play this game. There were times when Al (Anagonye) looked like he was moonwalking on the court instead of running."

The conditions clearly changed the way each team tried to play the game, something that happens in sports that are played outdoors.

"We realized we couldn't do anything fullcourt and just started to pound the ball into Travis because he was the only one who could sort of get position and we figured he was close to the basket," Virginia assistant Tom Herrion said.

That's when the Cavs turned a five-point halftime deficit into a 12-4 run to start the second half. But even Watson couldn't hold his ground and, although some fans booed when the Cavs' momentum and the game was stopped, a number of them cheered, yelling out that the game should have been stopped earlier.

Watson said the floor affected the Cavs' ability to be a pressing team on defense, making them go into a zone and be more halfcourt oriented.

"It was real bad for the guards," Virginia's Roger Mason Jr. said. "We do a lot off the dribble and I had no traction. I told the coaching staff I can't do anything out there. They just said be careful. I couldn't attack the basket and neither could Chris (Williams) or Adam (Hall). That's our game. We were all jogging around gingerly."

Michigan State's Marcus Taylor said he couldn't come off a screen for a jump shot without sliding. He said the cuts were in wide circles.

“ It's disappointing that we would play here. With all the nice arenas we've got, I don't see why we would do this. ”
— Tom Izzo,
Michigan State head coach

"For big men the most important thing about playing is getting position in the post and my feet were sliding around," Anagonye said. "I don't fall in games, maybe if I take a charge. I remember falling three times because I slipped."

The game was played in Richmond as one of the two neutral court games in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge every season. The other one was played in Chicago Tuesday night, where No. 1 Duke beat No. 13 Iowa, 80-62.

"They've had problems here before," said Izzo of an International Basketball League game two years ago in which San Diego refused to play on the slippery floor against Richmond.

"It's disappointing that we would play here," Izzo said of the Coliseum, which is so brown -- from the walls to the seats -- that it looks like the inside of a UPS truck. "With all the nice arenas we've got, I don't see why we would do this."

Michigan State's upcoming schedule makes it improbable to reschedule. Both teams have exams coming up and the Spartans play a stretch of games on Dec. 15, 17, 19, 22 and 29, with the latter date in Oakland, Calif. And then the question becomes, would the game be picked up at this point or started over again.

"I don't think it will be replayed," Gillen said. "Nobody wins. Having 15 minutes left isn't a game. The score was 31-28 and it didn't go 40 minutes. It's a draw and you move on."

"You either play it over again or don't play it," Izzo said. "I'd do anything Pete would want to do but I don't think it's a good idea. We don't have any dates."

Taylor said he wants to finish the game, but not here.

Mason does, too, but in Charlottesville, Va.

"If we had been there, then that would have been cool," Mason said.

But not cold enough to cause the dangerous problems Wednesday night, in a game few of the players and coaches will forget but are glad they all left without an injury.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.

[Nic]

They should have rented out the Siegal Center. I've been to a few basketball games at the Collesium and even as a spectator, if you're sitting down on the floor level the games are unbearable to watch because it's so cold. I can't believe anyone would have agreed to hold a basketball game there in the first place.