[Cracked Sidewalks] One man's opinion - this will come down to how tight the game is called by the zebras

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

One man's opinion - this will come down to how tight the game is called by the zebras

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (muwarrior92)

Normally I do not get caught up in the zebras determining an outcome of a game.  Of course they have influence in each game, but by and large they seem to let the players play and determine the ultimate outcomes.

This game could be different.  Washington is a free throw shooting machine of a team....as in free throw shooting attempts.  They have attempted an incredible 855 shots from the charity stripe this year....MU has attempted 645.  To give you some perspective, last year's Marquette team went to the line last year (prior to the NCAA tournament) 862 times.  The 2008-09  MU squad was one of the most proficient in MU history at getting to the line and this Washington Huskies squad visits the charity stripe with near equal frequency.  

The flip side to this issue is the fouling itself.  MU only fouled opponents 560 times while Washington was whistled 711 times.  UW takes more foul shots but they also foul more.

How tight the zebras call this game will be critical for Marquette.  The Huskies love to get to the foul line while Marquette has a short bench not capable of giving up many fouls.  If this game is called tightly, MU could be in real trouble.  UW also fouls If this game is called in a manner that lets them play, MU should be ok.

So how are games called in the Big East vs the Pacific Ten conference?    Using the eyeball test, I'd say the Pac Ten officials call a much tighter game after watching games out west for the last 30 years.  I'm sure there is some data out there that could state in a more scientific fashion if one conference is more foul prone than the other.

The wildcard?  What type of officials will we see?  The Pacific Ten variety or the Big East variety?

Go Warriors

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2010/03/one-mans-opinion-this-will-come-down-to.html

[Eye]

The Pac 10 was much more of a free-flowing league as little as 10 years ago IMHO. With the additions of Howland, Sendek, O'Neill, Robinson and the Bennetts before they both moved on, it's become much more of a half-court, grind-it-out type of league. Not surprising that U of A thrived in the previous style and has struggled a little more in the current style.

[TomW1365]

Considering that the game is being played in Cali, wouldn't it be more likely that the Pac-10 refs will be calling the game?  While that's an interesting article, I don't think that this game is going to come down to how it is called.  I think this contest is going to come down to who's haircuts are more stylish.   

[TallTitan34]

If it's Burr, we move to 0-7 on the year.

[bilsu]

A press is more effective if they do not call fouls. We have a short bench, but I think I rather have them call reaching fouls.

[ChicosBailBonds]

My Pac Ten friends here all said the same thing.....zone, zone, zone, zone.   They felt that UW is not that great a shooting team, dare them to shoot from the outside, and protect our players from fouls.  They also felt that Washington gets away with murder up in Seattle in terms of foul discrepancy.

[Hards Alumni]

Let Erik Williams roam the middle of a 2-3!

[HornDawg1957]

Yes, Washington has struggled against zone defenses. I think the Huskies do better against a 1-3-1 than against a 2-3, but maybe that was based on a worse team running the 1-3-1 and better teams running the 2-3. I've often wondered why Washington doesn't see more zone defense played against them, given their relative lack of success with zones.

As far as foul discrepancies home versus away for Washington, I think a lot of that has to do with how much the team feeds off of the home crowd. Washington has a relatively compact arena--about 10,000--and it's one of the loudest arenas I've ever been in. The team plays with a lot more intensity there, so they do a lot more driving into the lane instead of settling for jumpers, and they're a lot more aggressive on defense and create more turnovers--therefore, more fouls on the opposition. Sometimes I wonder if I'm even watching the same team when they play on the road, because they often seem to be sleepwalking through games.