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.
I don’t expect refs to call the same number of fouls on both teams but I do expect them to make the same calls against both teams. IF the point guard from team A reaches for the ball while on defense and hits the arm or hand of the ball handler from team B and gets called for the foul, then I expect the refs to call it when a defender from team B does the same thing. I understand a more aggressive team will probably go to the line more often than a passive team, but they will often committ more fouls also and that is fine with me, I just want an evenly and fairly called game. My biggest gripe with refs, and this is primarily refs doing NJAC games is they allow rough play in the paint for 36 minutes and all of a sudden start blowing the whistle against both teams for things they allowed for most of the game and in a close game both teams have their best players in at that point. How can it not be an over the back call for 36 minutes and all of a sudden it is? I also have a problem with the so-called points of emphasis the NCAA stresses every year. The refs pay some attention to them at the beginning of the season and then all of a sudden they are ignored again until the post season. Most refs I have seen still really don’t call travelling unless the player is packing an overnight bag and picking up plane tickets. I guess it is not carrying the ball to start every dribble with your hand completely under the ball before bringing it up and over. My mother could call that and she played basketball back when the girls had six players to a side and the guards couldn’t cross the half-court line and young ladies only played sports intermurally because ladies did not compete in public.
Well, I’m with you on this one, man.
I generally don’t have a problem with a difference in the amount of fouls called as long as the refs are calling fouls consistently.
Raise your hand if you think the officiating in your conference is good.
robooh,
sure as hell not raising my hand! but i gotta admit, they are consistent at something: they are consistently inconsistent! you never know what to expect from ODAC refs! on one play someone could get hammered on a shot and they wont call a foul, next possession someone could just braely get tapped on a shot and they call a foul. Players and teams are supposed to adjust to how the referee’s are calling the game, but it’s impossible when they aren’t consistent with the fouls they call!
STH, that is my point exactly. I don’t care if they suck, just suck consistently so coaches and players know what to expect.
My rant is when there is a discrepencey in the fouls being called against one team or another and the officials seem to suddenly cater to the team that is on the short end of the calls seemingly to make things even out. Say team A has 6 team fouls and team B has 1 team foul. Then you see the coach from team A work the officials and suddenly, team B has more team fouls than team B. This seems to be a regular occurence in the NCAC. Its as if the refs suddenly look up at the scoreboard and see the discrepency and say, Oh no, we better start calling some fouls the other way to even things out.
OK… you all are missing the point of this rant. I assure you, there will be a rant in the future that involves refs and their calls. But this has to do with fans and coaches wanting fouls called ONLY because the scoreboard shows a large margin in the AMOUNT of calls.
I agree, there are times that difference might be because of inconsistencies in calls… but most of the time that inconsistency won’t account for the ENTIRE difference.
d-mac. You are right. We are missing the point. Fan behavior can be very problematic towards refs for the reasons you cite. I’m sure there are many instances of fan behavior that merit a rant. Here’s one. I was at a game early this season where everytime a player from one team was at the free throw line the young daughter (perhaps 5 or 6 years old) of the opposing coach would stomp her feet on the bleachers just as the player went into his shooting motion. This was the only obvious noise in the gym. Unlike Division I games played in huge arenas where the free throw shooter has to ignore the waving fans behind the blackboard, lots of D III games can be quite during free throws. In that instance an obvious attempt to distract the free throw shooter is totally uncalled for.
robooh,
Perhaps your belief on fan responses is the norm in D3 basketball. But that is not the theory of fan response I was trained in (and at the D3 level at Hope College in the MIAA). I know people will say its women’s basketball but I think fan involvement is vital. I believe people should make noise and should distract players if they can within normal bounds. I don’t think I am alone in this view.
Generalized fan participation in a competitive situation, in which there is a lot of noise not directed at a particular quiet moment is certainly the norm in my experience as a spectator. I have never played competitively. The instance I cite above is not the only one of its kind I’ve encountered. I intentionally moved my seat location in a game where a nearby fan was distracting the foul shooting of players on the team I was not rooting for. I felt it was unsportsmanlike and uncalled for in a setting where there was little other noise.