At almost any basketball game in the nation, you are bound to hear fans and even coaches yell and complain about fouls. This isn’t unexpected.

But, when they start complaining about the foul discrepancies between the two teams that is when I roll my eyes.

Apparently, many people feel that referees should call games tit for tat… not necessarily fairly!

You know… eye for an eye… hand-check for a hand-check.

In other words, the amount of fouls called on team should equal the amount called on another team.

If you haven’t seen the equation for this theorem, it looks a little like this:
(Team A Fouls) +/- 2 = (Team B Fouls) +/- 2

Now, if only the refs had that equation written on their hands… right?!

Give me a break!

Does anyone consider the situation, the teams, the game, and other very obvious – usually visible – facts?

Just because a team commits a foul does not mean the other team should be whistled the next time down the court. The point of the game isn’t so both teams make to the bonus free-throws at the same time!

There are many situations and games that won’t allow this to happen.
Is a team being aggressive defensively… or on offense?
What if a team is playing a man-to-man defense… or a zone?
How about that team that is running an offense that passes the ball around the perimeter instead of cutting through the lanes and driving to the basket?
And don’t forget… there could be a team out there that is simply undisciplined or lacks the experience on the court.

But, that certainly didn’t matter at a game I was at recently. At one point in the first half Team A had 13 team fouls to Team B’s 4. Sounds outrageous on paper and the fans – along with Team A’s coach – certainly pointed this out to the refs… numerous times.

But they weren’t really paying attention to why the fouls were being called in such a – I dare to say – lopsided way.

Team B was playing a 2-3 or 3-2 zone the entire half and Team A simply wasn’t attacking it. And every time Team A got the ball in the middle, Team B had a player already parked there. But that wouldn’t stop a player from Team A from elbowing, hip-checking, or bowling their way in the paint.

(They apparently couldn’t hit a five-foot jumper… they needed that lay-up, no matter who was in their way.)

Whistle! Offensive foul!

“WHAT!!! Are you kidding ME!!! You have called the 14th foul on the team to there four… there was NO WAY that was a charge!!!”

On the other end of the court, Team A was playing an extremely aggressive, in-your-face, man-to-man defense. But instead of backing away timidly, Team B attacked right back! They cut through the paint, set picks, drove the lane, and weren’t afraid of the contact. That resulted in many hand-checks, blocks, and pushing calls to be called on Team A.

Whistle! Hand-Check!

“WHAT!!! Seriously?! You are calling a hand-check on our player? But that is our 15th foul and you know the other team has GOT to be fouling our guys TOO!”

From my point of view, it really wasn’t that surprising. It wasn’t like the refs weren’t calling Team B for the same fouls. Those fouls simply weren’t taking place because Team A sat back on offense against a very simple zone defense.

How is a ref going to call hand-check or a blocking foul, if a player doesn’t even get close to the defender – or visa versa?

Team A was getting called for more fouls because they were initiating contact on defense and refused to attack on offense. All they had to do was attack the zone (and not when the player is camped out and in between them and the basket) and trust me; the fouls would have been called.

But, the fans screamed, the coach complained, and I got a headache.

All I am asking it that next time, before screaming at a ref to even the foul count… figure out if that is even possible. You have to understand that in certain situations, fouls simply can’t be called… no matter how much you are pleading for a whistle.

Taking the time to actually watch a game and learn from it might make you realize that your team is being dumb on the court or playing in a way that contributes to more fouls being called.

Refs certainly are not going to get all the calls right, but don’t ask them to make it up… because the number doesn’t look “fair” on the board.

The point of the refs isn’t to make the scoreboard even.