FanHouse JeffPendergraph

Blazers boss Kevin Pritchard hasn't received a ton of good press this summer, so consider this some make-up dap. One of Portland's second-round picks, Jeff Pendergraph of Arizona State, had been practicing in Rip City last week when he seriously injured his hip, requiring surgery. At the time, the Blazers and Pendergraph's agent had been negotiating a contract. (Second-round picks don't have a salary scale.) The surgery will sit Pendergraph for 10-12 weeks.

But Pritchard did the right thing, and signed Pendergraph anyway -- even though he won't play much (as the fourth big behind LaMarcus Aldridge, Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden) once he is healthy. The team obviously likes Pendergraph's game (this is a franchise that doesn't waste draft picks), but it's a pretty big leap of faith to ink the kid after he goes under the knife with medical clearance months away. It puts into perspective the perilous position of unsigned draft picks, who are expected to practice with the team and get into game shape without any real financial commitment. And as we all know, injuries unfortunately happen. Let's hope more teams take the high road shown here by Pritchard (and previously by Billy King in Philadelphia, who made a similar deal with Willie Green).

The NCAA tournament is just one day away, so FanHouse writers and editors got together to talk over each region. The Midwest Region got the ball rolling, followed by the East. Now, the South. What is intriguing about this region, and who do we like?

Matt Snyder: The one thing I like about the South Bracket is it's the one bracket with a bit of a mid-major flavor. Butler and Gonzaga should both have a shot at taking down Ty Lawson (right) and the mighty Tar Heels, and Western Kentucky has a solid chance at beating Illinois in the first round.

From the very start of college basketball's preseason, North Carolina has been in the national championship discussion. Heck, before the preseason, the Tar Heels had people talking about an undefeated season. Obviously, that didn't materialize, but despite a Ty Lawson injury-aided early exit from the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels grabbed a No. 1 seed for the dance.

Oklahoma's never been far from the title talk either, and the Sooners join UNC here as the No. 2 seed. Neither has an easy road to the regional final -- talented teams like Syracuse, Gonzaga and Arizona State are all lurking, but the possibility for an epic Carolina-Oklahoma brouhaha looks strong.

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Tim Floyd obviously wasn't very happy with a particular call in USC's loss to Arizona State the other night. He was so angry, in fact, that he stormed on the court leading ASU's Jeff Pendergraph to say he thought Floyd "... was going to punch the ref." After the fact, Floyd bemoaned the officiating and his inability to discuss said officiating, stating at the end of the following video that, "We don't have freedom of speech as coaches ... I can't discuss it ... Maybe [Barack] Obama will change that rule ... and we can talk." Well played, Coach Floyd. Well played.

Onion Peels is a recap of last night's action and an unofficial Bill Raftery blog.

Duke and North Carolina were separated by a single game in the ACC standings heading into Sunday; little did Duke know it, but they nearly had a chance to tie the Tar Heels again. However, games against Boston College and Miami, respectively, ended the wrong way for the Devils.

Boston College 80, Duke 74: The same problems that have plagued the Blue Devils all season -- point guard play as well as lack of an inside presence -- came into play again Sunday afternoon.

After last week's two controversial calls that helped give UCLA a weekend sweep and the conference title, you'd think that this week's Pac-10 Tournament would feature better officiating -- or, perhaps more accurately, a lack of anything but the most obvious whistles in a particular situation. Of course, if you think that, then you don't know the Pac-10.

Arizona State's Jeff Pendergraph was whistled for an over-the-back call on a huge follow-dunk with 16.9 seconds left that would have tied the game at 57-57. USC's Davon Jefferson was right under the basket on the play and Pendergraph clearly went for the ball and barely touched him, but that didn't stop the whistle. Jefferson hit his free throws at the other end, and the Trojans eventually won 59-55. To get an idea of just how bad this call was, one need only listen to FSN announcers Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini in the video above. At first, they rightfully praise the play, then try to decide if the whistle was for goaltending, and then finally understand that it was a foul call.

One thing's for certain: the conspiracy theories won't hold here. ASU is squarely on the bubble and needed this game to put them in the NCAA field. USC has a bid locked up and is really only interested in seeding from here on out. This call was just a case of gross incompetency on the part of the officials. Frankly, it's even hard to say this was a shocking turn of events.

The real shame is that calls like this one make this game -- and, by extension, the league -- look bad. This was a great game, with All-Conference freshman guards OJ Mayo (23 points) and James Harden (16 points) facing off in a terrific battle of future NBA lottery picks. Unfortunately, the quality of play will go largely untouched, and we'll all focus on how arguably the best conference in the country has the worst officials around.