i have yet to see any media outlet make a comment on the whistle happy referees that we had at this game. Fouls totaled 29 to 16 against Marquette. With Lazar getting two quick fouls and forced to sit a large part of the first half, along with other MINOR fouls to Mcneal, this was enough to slow any momentum that Marquette could muster.
Alot could be said for the fact that West Virginia had adopted a new defense that was better matched with the intensity of our deep guard line up or even that our hands were not all there (13 turnovers), but in my opinion we stood no chance with the officiating that we had.
any thoughts???
While it was poor officiating that took the game over. We need to overcome it. A lot of terrible calls were made against Lazar, Fitz, and McNeal. With these fouls the whole game plan needs to be changed. If Lazar was not in foul trouble, which 3 out of 5 fouls were terrible (see TallTitan's highlights), we win the game by 7.
Nothing new. We saw it against Duke too. When a game against a good opponent is called tight, MU is likely to struggle. Just the nature of our style. Sometimes they'll be able to overcome it, sometimes not.
As I mentioned in a post down below, after two Big East games it appears the refs are calling the games tighter this year. There were a lot of ticky tack calls in the Providence game too. The UC and UL game I watched was the same.
Has the Big East told refs to call the games tighter this year? Perhaps it is to avoid NCAA/NIT foul trouble as those are called tighter.
I think we can adjust. I just hope when Notre Dame, Pitt, and UConn play us they call the game tight. That will be in our favor. However, if the foul calls change drastically game to game, that's not good for any team in the Big East.
The thing that really stood out to me were the charge calls. It seems that any sort of borderline play is called a charge. I think it should be the other way around. If it's borderline, the burden of proof should be on the defender. It seems like defenders come flying out of nowhere when someone is driving, jump in front of them with their arms up, then fall backwards violently and the call goes their way. That's not good defense, but it gets rewarded time and time again. This absolutely killed us yesterday and against Duke, and it's sickening to watch.
Those charge calls are happening because scouting reports are telling teams we're driving out of control to the hoop. It's not a coincidence. Whatever happened to McNeal's pullup?
I DVR'd the game and I rewatched thefouls. The first charge call on Hayward was clearly a charge. The only thing that was questionable was that the defender was close to being too far under the basket, but there is no arc in college.
Foul#5 on Hayward was another charge call. It was clearly a charge. Hayward caught the ball on a pick and roll, put his head down, and drove baselie. The help defender came over and set himself outside of the lane like he should. He was standing there for about half a second to a second when Hayward hit him square on the chest. There is no question this was a charge.
Foul #4 on Hayward was questionable. They got tangled up and it looked like Hayward had position.
Foul#4 on McNeal which was a reach in was a foul. He may have tipped the ball cleanly, but he had to reach across the ballhandler's body in order to tip it. Because of that, he made contact with the ballhandler's body. Furthermore, that play happened near midcourt in an isolated situation and the ref in good position. Unless you get a steal on a crossover, or you are swiping the ball in an upward motion, the ref is going to make the call every single time if you swipe down or across. It was a bad decision by McNeal and it was a foul on the body.
Quote from: MUCrisco on January 07, 2008, 02:12:17 PM
I DVR'd the game and I rewatched thefouls. The first charge call on Hayward was clearly a charge. The only thing that was questionable was that the defender was close to being too far under the basket, but there is no arc in college.
Foul#5 on Hayward was another charge call. It was clearly a charge. Hayward caught the ball on a pick and roll, put his head down, and drove baselie. The help defender came over and set himself outside of the lane like he should. He was standing there for about half a second to a second when Hayward hit him square on the chest. There is no question this was a charge.
Foul #4 on Hayward was questionable. They got tangled up and it looked like Hayward had position.
Foul#4 on McNeal which was a reach in was a foul. He may have tipped the ball cleanly, but he had to reach across the ballhandler's body in order to tip it. Because of that, he made contact with the ballhandler's body. Furthermore, that play happened near midcourt in an isolated situation and the ref in good position. Unless you get a steal on a crossover, or you are swiping the ball in an upward motion, the ref is going to make the call every single time if you swipe down or across. It was a bad decision by McNeal and it was a foul on the body.
I don't have a problem with the foul calls. The question I ask is: are they going to be called (no both sides) when we play Pitt and UConn who knock people all over the court? Is the Big East going to call it tight or loose or in between? The issue is NOT whether Marquette is getting unfair calls. The question I have: has the Big East changed its policy or is this a game to game thing?
And to PRN: totally agree. What happened to our pull-ups? The only one who does it is James? By now, Matthews and McNeal should have a pull-up. We are going to need it against the Ville, UConn, and Syracuse with their big bodies and ability to block shots.
My guess is that it's a game to game thing. You won't get the same refs every single game and refs may call a game differently each game. So, you have to adjust to how a game is being called, not the other way around.