Jay Williams on the officiating in this Tournament

[longislandcuse]

on ESPN just now:

"This has been the worst officiated tournament I've ever seen".

"The calls made in the last two minutes of some of these games have just been brutal"

I'm glad these officials are being publicly called out. Something has to change here.

 

[HoustonCuse]

In the end of that Duke game they were just guessing. I saw two regular fouls and 1 technical go uncalled against Jefferson but then several other complete guesses go against Duke. Same thing happened to South Carolina too. It was not a good situation.

 

[Cusefan0307]

This isn't new. It's been bad all year.

 

[Lucid]

In the end of that Duke game they were just guessing. I saw two regular fouls and 1 technical go uncalled against Jefferson but then several other complete guesses go against Duke. Same thing happened to South Carolina too. It was not a good situation.

I was at the game and for long stretches the officials made it impossible for either team to establish any offensive rhythm. They seemed to want to be the ones on the court making a difference. I hate it when they assume that's their role.

 

[orangefog]

I couldn't get a handle on what Greenburg was trying to say. First, he says that what is a foul in early in the game should be a foul at the end of the game. THEN, he says that they should have common sense and know that they shouldn't call certain things at the end of the game.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don't find Jay Williams credible.

 

[longislandcuse]

I don't find Jay Williams credible.

I actually like him, although he should probably lay off pictionary for a while.

 

[Funk Doc]

The last few minutes of the UNC Ark game was pretty brutal as well. The Hicks dunk should have been an and 1. The Berry miss, Meeks put back, should have been a charge or a travel. The missed three clearly went off Meek's fingers. It was just brutal to watch them screw up the end of that game.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I actually like him, although he should probably lay off pictionary for a while.

He's bad at his job.

 

[Fat tire 13]

There are a couple of god awful ones that everyone will remember a few weeks later. The goal tending by Gonzaga. Then the bizarre one in Baylor/USC where they purposely made the wrong out of bounds call to offset the missed foul. I don't think the officiating is ever that stellar, but the highlighted bonehead calls are enough to cement the perception

 

[RF2044]

He's bad at his job.

That doesn't make him wrong.

 

[81South]

Refs were bad at the end of unc game and duke game...really bad.

 

[Brooky03]

All I know is Northwestern should riot lol. They got jobbed pretty much the whole game. At one point, they called a defensive foul on Northwestern because a Gonzaga player set a successful screen! There was contact, but nothing excessive. I was floored. I've never seen a defender get called for a foul because he got screened unless he trucked the screener.

The missed goaltending call near the end of the game, that was perhaps the most blatant goaltend in the history of basketball, should be a fire-able offense. All of those refs should be banned for life from officiating anything higher than middle school girls basketball.

 

[Townie72]

I don't find Jay Williams credible.

OK.

But what about believing your own eyes?

Improvements in cameras, more camera positions and angles, and a willingness on the announcers and producers to show you what actually happened are making it clear just how many bad mistakes there have been. Some of these were on plays that actually decided the game.

Maybe officiating has always been this bad. But I don't need Jay Williams to tell me. I can see it in slow motion from five different angles three or four times.

Maybe the game has gotten so fast and the players so big and so skilled that we are at a point where refs need to depend more on camera shot replays.

 

[Ghost]

All I know is Northwestern should riot lol. They got jobbed pretty much the whole game. At one point, they called a defensive foul on Northwestern because a Gonzaga player set a successful screen! There was contact, but nothing excessive. I was floored. I've never seen a defender get called for a foul because he got screened unless he trucked the screener.

The missed goaltending call near the end of the game, that was perhaps the most blatant goaltend in the history of basketball, should be a fire-able offense. All of those refs should be banned for life from officiating anything higher than middle school girls basketball.

I know, they justify the goaltend by saying its hard to see in full speed and we only notice on replay. Uhhh, the whole Northwestern bench and coaches saw it in full speed. I would think 1 out 3 refs should have.

 

[Newhouser]

The NCAA needs to sit down with the NBA and find out why the professional stripes have so many less obvious misses. I'll grant you the higher quality of play may make it easier than the muck that college hoops has become, but something needs to be done.

 

[Brooky03]

I know, they justify the goaltend by saying its hard to see in full speed and we only notice on replay. Uhhh, the whole Northwestern bench and coaches saw it in full speed. I would think 1 out 3 refs should have.

Yeah that's a garbage argument. What did they think moved the net? The wind? lol

 

[Cowtown]

The talking heads on college basketball games invariably know bupkis about the rules. I find that pretty much all of the complaining about basketball refs around here comes from guys who have never done it. I didn't watch every game this weekend, so I don't know what happened in those instances cited here. However most of the time when I saw close calls reviewed, it appeared the ref's call was correct. I don't even respond much in the game threads anymore to the "These refs blow!" and "That was a horrible call! We were robbed!" because all too often what I saw on the TV - in-game or on replays - it looked like the right call. Now of course, they're not always right, and yes there are problems with the "old boys clubs" at the top. But that won't change until more people get involved.

So here's my annual appeal to those who think it's so easy to get the right call every time: please join your local association. If you're all that good, we could sure use your help! I've made that appeal every year since I've been on these things, however I haven't heard from anyone who has. But that door is still open, and always will be!

 

[Cowtown]

The NCAA needs to sit down with the NBA and find out why the professional stripes have so many less obvious misses. I'll grant you the higher quality of play may make it easier than the muck that college hoops has become, but something needs to be done.

Here's the issue to which you're referring. The NBA has about 75 professional officials. It's their full-time job. It's very easy to get them together regularly and develop consensus on interpretation and application of the rules. The NCAA has about 350 Div I teams, Div II about 270, and div III another 350. Then there is the NAIA, and all the junior colleges. And don't forget about all the women's basketball teams. So the NCAA has thousands of officials, all of whom are part-time and spread all over the country. I'm sure you can see the nature of the difficulty in getting them "all on the same page."

 

[OttoinGrotto]

That doesn't make him wrong.

Agreed. Case is that the messenger is the wrong person.

OK.

But what about believing your own eyes?

Improvements in cameras, more camera positions and angles, and a willingness on the announcers and producers to show you what actually happened are making it clear just how many bad mistakes there have been. Some of these were on plays that actually decided the game.

Maybe officiating has always been this bad. But I don't need Jay Williams to tell me. I can see it in slow motion from five different angles three or four times.

Maybe the game has gotten so fast and the players so big and so skilled that we are at a point where refs need to depend more on camera shot replays.

I don't disagree. It hurts the case if Jay Williams is the champion here though.

 

[SU2NASA]

It's the pre-emptive whistles for fouls that they're anticipating to happen that drive me nuts. Any time a guy drives to the basket there's a 50/50 chance of a whistle, and most of the time the whistle comes before contact could even happen.

 

[Newhouser]

Here's the issue to which you're referring. The NBA has about 75 professional officials. It's their full-time job. It's very easy to get them together regularly and develop consensus on interpretation and application of the rules. The NCAA has about 350 Div I teams, Div II about 270, and div III another 350. Then there is the NAIA, and all the junior colleges. And don't forget about all the women's basketball teams. So the NCAA has thousands of officials, all of whom are part-time and spread all over the country. I'm sure you can see the nature of the difficulty in getting them "all on the same page."

OH I agree it is a large task - that is why it should be broken down and simplified. Each conference has their own director of officials right? Im sure they have different emphasis than another league cheese. I would also be interested to stack the NBA rule book next to the college rule book and see what is thicker. I appreciate the difficulty of the job - I also appreciate the fact that I can see the same guy ref 4 times a week covering 3 different time zones, focusing on different points of emphasis. It's not easy - but the current state is not good and needs to improve.

 

[cuseincincy]

The call that had me flummoxed was I believe in the UK - Wichita St game (I could be wrong). But a charge was called. But then with no review the refs decided that the defenders left foot was inside the circle co they changed it to a made bucket and a blocking foul so they gave him an and 1. Now they could review it so were just going on each others opinion. The replay would not have overturned the original call in my opinion. It showed the right foot clearly outside the circle, the left foot...ball of the foot was on the ground outside the circle, the heel was in the air and if it had been on the ground it would have been on the circle line. In the NFL that's a catch as long as the foot doesn't ever come down on the line! I honestly don;t know what if anything it is supposed to be in college. But how do they change a foul from a charge to a block? In my opinion if they were going to change it they should have wiped out the charge, scored the bucket, no foul against Wichita St and their ball. The reason I mention the NFL is that it was the NFL ref that made the initial call and another ref changed it.

The back to back Duke players running over SC players and getting blocks call was ridiculous. SC beat more than Duke yesterday.

 

[raf4488]

The end of games have been brutal, they are calling it way too tight. I think these refs are so concerned about getting graded well and being chosen to ref the next rounds that they call anything that looks close because they fear missing a critical call

 

[Madbiker]

The call against Northwestern where the Gonzaga player put his arm trough the rim to block a shot and it wasn't called goal tending was atrocious. It likely decided the game. Change the damn rules to let them use replay to correct such egregious calls.

 

[Easy Goer]

It's the pre-emptive whistles for fouls that they're anticipating to happen that drive me nuts. Any time a guy drives to the basket there's a 50/50 chance of a whistle, and most of the time the whistle comes before contact could even happen.

This and the refs that are out of position making the call also drive me nuts. Like the Cooney baseline botched call last year. One ref standing right there, but another ref out of position making the wrong call.