Das Feller-Forum » narrow 1-0 defeat over Belgium

SAN ANTONIO -- North Carolina had 1.6 seconds to score and avoid another early NCAA tournament exit, but instead spent that precious time trying to call timeout. A fittingly frustrating end to a frustrating Tar Heels season. With coach Roy Williams jumping and gesticulating for a timeout, the No. 6 seed Tar Heels inbounded the ball to Nate Britt who dribbled past midcourt as time expired, ousting them in the third round for a second consecutive season in a 85-83 loss to Iowa State on Sunday. Officials huddled for several minutes reviewing the clock on replays before confirming that the game was over. Williams -- who collapsed his hands on his knees as Britt surged toward him -- then shook Iowa State coach Fred Hoibergs hand as North Carolina began absorbing the heartbreaker. "We made some mistakes. We practice all the time that situation for five guys to be calling timeout, and Im supposed to be calling timeout, and I was calling timeout," Williams said. "Referees didnt recognize it. We practice those scenarios, so we made mistakes. " Iowa States DeAndre Kane did exactly as his coach had instructed, driving for a layup with 1.6 seconds left that gave the Cyclones the lead. His twisting shot put Iowa State in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000. "Hes been our Mariano Rivera. Hes been our closer all throughout this season," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. Now the No. 3 seed Cyclones (28-7) are headed to the home of the former Yankees star, New York City, where they will play No. 7 seed Connecticut in the East Regional semifinals next week. The No. 6 seed Tar Heels (24-10) are gone in the NCAA tournaments opening weekend for the first time in consecutive seasons under Williams, who choked back tears following the end of his 10th season in Chapel Hill. "Lets not anybody lay it on the officials or anything like that. We didnt call the timeout with 1.6 seconds to play," Williams said. Britt said he thought North Carolina got the timeout before the buzzer. "When I looked up at the clock I saw one-point-something time left," he said. "I saw staff screaming and trying to call timeout." Kane finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. It was just the kind of big game the Cyclones needed without forward Georges Niang, who broke his foot in Fridays win against North Carolina Central. The 6-foot-7 sophomore sat on the bench wearing a bulky boot while the Cyclones tried their best without their third-leading scorer and tallest starter. Kane said the last possession called for him to attack the basket, unless North Carolina defenders swarmed him as he penetrated. "But nobody helped, and I made an acrobatic shot and it went in," Kane said. Marcus Paige led North Carolina with 19 points and Kennedy Meeks had 15 points and 13 rebounds. But North Carolina played nearly the entire game without forward Brice Johnson, who sprained ankle in the opening minutes. The team said X-rays were negative, but the Tar Heels third-leading scorer never returned. The Tar Heels crave a fast pace, and -- after dealing with the grind-it-out style of recent opponents -- Williams and Paige had spoken of relishing the chance to finally hit the gas against the similarly up-tempo Cyclones. But this was no track meet. Undersized Iowa State bottled up the Tar Heels before they could run and bombarded them with 3-pointers (12 of 26) instead of quick baskets. The first dunk came from Kane, not the high-flying Tar Heels, and not until 12 minutes into the game after a handful of bungled North Carolina fast breaks. Niangs injury left Hoiberg with a tough choice: go small with his best remaining five or a put a little-used big man in place of his star sophomore. He opted for size over another shooter, giving 6-foot-8 forward Daniel Edozie his first career start. Edozie missed the only two shots he tried and grabbed four rebounds. But Johnsons bum ankle reduced North Carolinas size advantage. Johnson, who came in averaging 10.6 points and is the Tar Heels second-leading rebounder, tumbled to the floor with North Carolina up 12-7. He sat on the bench before hobbling to the locker room. Coincidental or not, the Cyclones got hot the moment Johnson left the game. They shook off a 1-for-10 start from the floor and erased a seven-point deficit in less than 1 1/2 minutes. After that, neither team led by more than single digits. "Once Georges got injured people didnt think that we had enough to pull out this win," forward Dustin Hogue said. "This goes to show that we have depth and we have heart. With enough heart you can beat anybody." Cheap Nike Sb Shoes . Curlings version of the Ryder Cup will introduce a new format beginning with the 2015 event, set for Jan. 8 to 11 in Calgary, as itll be Team Canada taking on Team Europe this season and in the 2017 event, while itll be Team Canada against Team World (including the U. Cheap Nike Sb Shoes Australia .1 million contract. The club said that Boll will earn $950,000 in 2012-13 and $1.15 million in 2013-14. The 26-year-old Boll had two goals and one assist with 126 penalty minutes in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2011-12. http://www.cheapnikesbaustralia.com/ . -- Slugger Jose Abreu, All-Star left-hander Chris Sale and closer Matt Lindstrom are on the disabled list. Cheap Wholesale Nike Sb Shoes . The move - the latest twist in Greeces nearly three-year financial freefall -- is the first such action by any of the countrys major sports bodies. It immediately halts all domestic track and field competitions, including track meets May 12-13 in several Greek cities. Nike Sb Shoes Australia . As a follow-up, TSN.ca offers you the opportunity to chime in on all the big issues with our insiders. Read up on all the questions and answers, and put in your own two cents on our popular Your Call feature.We dont like penalty shootouts to end matches. Thats what they tell us. Play on until they score. Argentina and Netherlands may still be playing until Sundays final if that were the case. It was a drab affair, arguably the worst game of the World Cup. With so much on the line, no team came close to proving why they deserved to win it. Fittingly, the record books will show it as a draw: A stalemate in every sense of the word. It was a chess match where both players didnt make moves for long stretches. Just when it looked like either of them could capture their queen, along came two of the best pawns on the board. It was Javier Mascherano vs. Ron Vlaar. Both players were magnificent for their team but their standout performances said a lot about the oppositions weaknesses. Argentina have been waiting for a player to step up to a level that Lionel Messi has been at during this World Cup, but on a night when their current captain didnt get close to that level, their former skipper stepped up with an absolutely immense performance. Mascherano sat deep, allowed the defenders to play deep as well and flat out refused the Dutch any space in front of them. It forced their opponents to play long balls to try and get Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie into the match. In possession, Mascherano was also excellent with distribution helping his side attack down the right and target Bruno Martins Indi. Louis van Gaal reacted quickly at half-time by removing the Feyenoord man. That Argentina forced them into a move so quickly played a big part in how the game was played. When Nigel De Jong, back after a thigh injury, had to come off in the second half, suddenly van Gaal only had one move left. A move he decided to use by removing the ineffective van Persie in extra time. No one could argue that the Dutch team needed Klaas Jan Huntelaar but for a game that looked so destined for penalties, the removal of the Manchester United striker could be questioned. What definitely needs to be questioned is the order of the penalty takers for the Dutch. It was clear that van Gaal wanted to keep as many of his players in the same spot as they were used in the shootout victory over Costa Rica. That day the Dutch went four-for-four in order: van Persie, Robben, Sneijder, Kuyt. Huntelaar was the fifth taker but wasnt used. Against Argentina, van Gaal looked at his team and knew the only one he had to replace was van Persie at number one. Every credit to Ron Vlaar, the Aston Villa player, to step up and replace van Persie in the shootout but making him the first shooter was the wrong decision. In 24 previous World Cups the team that missed first lost 20 times. You cannot ask a player to take tthe first penalty in a key shootout when he wasnt even in your choice to be in the top five in the last shootout.dddddddddddd. Vlaar had had a wonderful match. Argentina tried to force things wide but ultimately they were drawn back centrally and Vlaar, in the middle of the back three, won every tackle and aerial duel he went for. After 120 minutes, though, his job was not done. Showing nerves, he stepped up quickly, from the prompt of the whistle, and it wasnt a good penalty. The moment Vlaars effort was saved by Sergio Romero the momentum changed. Lionel Messi was the right choice for Argentina to take the first penalty and, to no ones surprise, he scored. Messi had struggled throughout the game, which was the first World Cup game he has played when he didnt get a touch in the opponents penalty area. It was clear the Dutch had done their homework and their mandate was to shut down Messi. He will receive his fair share of criticism based on this performance but, once again, this match was another shining example of how much he needs his teammates to take him to glory. The Barcelona man has carried Argentina to this stage, it is only fitting that some - in this case Romero, Mascherano and the rest of the shooters - helped carry him to the final. They are, however, a team that arrives in the final with flaws. This is nothing new. Many teams have reached the World Cup Final when not playing very well but few have won it. Argentina showed a lot of grit and fight in this semifinal, just like they did in the 120 minutes against Switzerland and the narrow 1-0 defeat over Belgium. However, despite their fight they do look very ordinary. They arrive in the final after scoring just two goals in three knockout matches. The only team in World Cup history to do that was Argentina in 1990 and that was a terribly average side who frustrated Germany for over 80 minutes in arguably one of the worst games in football history. No one will be hoping for a repeat on Sunday but I am sure it will cross Argentinas mind that they will be naive to think they can play an open, expansive game against Germany. The Dutch end their quest to be world champions with their heads held high. They went further than most imagined and many of their young players, players produced by their own clubs in their own league, will grow and get better for this experience. Many will also find new clubs, too. However, they will also reflect on just how close they were – once again – to getting over a significant hurdle on penalties. Van Gaal departs for Manchester United after a very good World Cup but ultimately his decision on the order of the takers had a massive impact on this result. ' ' '