AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February > 28 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USOfficials are like yo-yos,
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The better team won at Duke Wednesday night, and that’s not exactly a bold statement.
But this game was a mess in its own way not for the way it was played (roughly, at times very roughly), but for the way it was officiated relative to Georgia Tech’s last game. Or the game before that. Or the game before that.
Tech’s sports information department reports that Matt Causey, who suffered a mild concussion on the final play of the first half (he returned in the second) is feeling well this morning, no headaches, etc.
He wasn’t the only one to take a shot in that game. Players on both teams were bounced around.
And it should surprise nobody that Tech was called for 25 fouls. The Jackets came in averaging 23, eighth-most in the nation out of 328 Division I teams. Tech is aggressive, and everybody who knows anything about the Yellow Jackets knows that. Opposing coaches say it all the time.
There were times, though, when it seemed like officials would rather choke on their whistles than blow them. Duke had five fouls called against it in the first 26-plus minutes and took 18 free throws before Tech took one.
Officials made up some of the difference over the final 13 minutes or so, as Duke finished with 15.
But my beef is less about the disparity in fouls (a difference of 10 on the road is not over glaring), and more about how there is almost no way to predict what to expect in a game with regards to how it is going to be called relative to others.
The ACC uses some of the same officials who work games in multiple conferences, but those officials rotate in and out with each other rather than sticking together in three-man crews. There is no consistency in crew constitution, or, perhaps somewhat consequently, the way games are mediated.
Tech coach Paul Hewitt once upon a time (or twice, or maybe more, actually) railed more loudly about officiating. He’s no longer so outspoken about specifics, much to the disdain of at least one Tobacco Road writer who after Paul’s news conference lamented his inability to goad Hewitt into griping about what happened in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
But he’s not going to stay completely quiet, either. I don’t think he, or other coaches, should when the net result playing out before our eyes is one game after another officiated in red, then blue, then green, and so on.
This ebb and flow of style is dictated for sure by the styles and dispositions of teams on given nights, but perhaps moreso by the makeup of crews and what may be a relative lack of accountability among them.
These guys work three, four, maybe five games a week, and travel all over to do it. How often do their moods affect their work? How are they changed by the fact they work with different officials each time out? How often, unless there is an egregious misapplication of rules, are they called before a governing body of some sort to account for their interpretations on a game-by-game basis?
Again, this is not about a specific call or non-call.
It’s about some level of consistency being sought. Officials are like little fiefdoms. They all have their styles, yet they change nightly based on who they work with. And tell me Ted Valentine ever answers to anybody. That guy never saw a TV camera he didn’t seek to wind up in front of. That mess last week where he T’d Georgia coach Dennis Felton for asking where the coach’s box was on the baseline at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium was absurd.
“You get used to it, and you understand that’s how it is. You have to adjust,” Hewitt said of the game-to-game variations. “With that said, I’ve been a long-time advocate of the NCAA taking over the officiating program to bring some uniformity to it, but we got the best officials in the country. We have the best officials in the country, but is there a variation from game to game. Sure.
“If there was anything I would do to help them, I would adopt the Major League baseball philosophy and have the same crews work together all the time so they know each other. Also, teams would know how certain teams call games [and have an idea what to expect]. It’s up to both teams to adjust.”
What an idea, the pursuit of uniformity in officiating!
Sure, there would still be some difference in one game to the next, just as umpires have different strike zones.
But pitchers and hitters at least go into MLB games with a clue about what to expect, whether the zone is going to be drum tight or loose.
In college basketball, it’s a guessing game based not on any one member of the officiating crew, but how they’ll mesh — or not — on a given night.
That stinks.
Comments
By Bravesfan79
February 28, 2008 7:00 AM | Link to this
Your right, the officials were terrible last night and seemed to give several breaks to the home team.
Hewitt is a good coach, the team just makes to many stupid mistakes. I talked 2 games ago on the blog about all the stupid needless fouls we make and tonight that was backed up when ESPN said wed been outshot by 66 freethrows in the past 3 or 4 games. WAY 2 many dumb off the ball fouls! That might work against some teams like Memphis, but not against NC or Duke! Hewitt, unlike coack K, dosent recruit big guys that can shoot the 3 and that kills us when we play teams that spread us out, Matt you should know this, so why you would compare our system in your last blog to coach K’s scheme is beyond me??
Next year we will have a team that will be VERY capable of being a top 4 team in the ACC, and all you fairweather fans will be back. Gee… we lost 2 lotto picks…ease up pple… at least we get TOP recruits, were not UGA, or Ga State!
I honestly think Hewitt needs some fresh blood among his assistants, they could definitely improve in the areas of game planning and running offensive sets.
Keep Hewitt as the glue that holds everything together, and for recruiting purposes, and get some genuis old baskeball minds to help with the on the court details!!
(how about Ga states old coach lefty?) GT spends alot of money on assistants for the football team, why not spend more money on the basketball team when thats GT’s best big time sport!?? Face it….the Basketball team is WAY more capable of winning a national title than the football team will probably ever be. (unless theres a s** to a 8 or 16 team playoff…Gt will always finish no better than 3rd or 5th in the nation because of the lack of respect the ACC gets in football.
So GT… DONT fire Hewitt! Get some new more experienced assistants!!
By ryan
February 28, 2008 7:10 AM | Link to this
THAT WAS THE BIGGEST BS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A GAME! THE REFS HAVE NO CLUE WHAT A OFFENSIVE FOUL OR A OVER AND BACK CALL ARE?! GIVE ME A BREAK! IT JUST SHOWS THAT IF YOU WANT TO BEAT THE BEST YOU HAVE TO BEAT THEM HANDILY BECAUSE THE REFS ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU A BREAK.
TO HELL WITH COACH K AND IS CROOKED REFS!
By Jen
February 28, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this
To ryan: if it’s all about Coach K and “is crooked refs,” then why has Georgia Tech been called for many more fouls than its opposing teams for the previous 3 or 4 games? It’s not about Coach K. Georgia Tech players did plenty of shoving and slamming and elbowing last night to justify the calls made — that’s the tough way they play. Apparently the ACC officials don’t like it. And possibly the ACC officials are so distracted by it they’re missing calls against the other team — I don’t know. But if this is how your team plays, and this is how the games result time after time, blaming it on one opposing coach is ridiculous.
By SuwaneeDawg
February 28, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this
The ACC’s problem is their supervisor of officials, John Clougherty. He sets the standard for those around him. He had a reputation as a top-notch official, has done countless NCAA tourney games and multiple Final Fours. I can’t imagine, for the life of me, why. When he was a, mainly, SEC ref, if you saw him on the floor before a game you could count on a poorly officiated game that would ultimately be decided by a ref’s bad or non-call. He rubbed off on those around him on the floor - Gerald Boudreaux and Ted “Is this my good side?” Valentine are the main “spawn” of ol’ John. Now he’s in charge of officials in, arguably, the top b-ball conference in the country - unbelievable.
Matt - you hit the nail on the head, no consistency and little to no accountability. This is a hallmark of John Clougherty.
But pitchers and hitters at least go into MLB games with a clue about what to expect…
With Clougherty, you NEVER know. If the ACC would like to fix the issue, they should start at the top.
Just two cents from a non-hater UGA fan so you guys can take it for what it’s worth.
By GT76
February 28, 2008 8:48 AM | Link to this
How could they not call Duke for an offensive foul at the end of the first half, when their guy ran over Matt Causey?
Otherwise, it is obvious Hewett encourages the OVERLY aggresive play. It is very frustrating to see us lose games by a wide margin at the free throw line. Also, Tech’s free throw % is not good. I think that is a coaching problem. There is no excuse to not be able to shoot at least 75% from the free throw line as a team.
By Bowie
February 28, 2008 9:25 AM | Link to this
You are right on about the officals, its show time for most of them. You can work your a* off and the officicals will take it away from you with one stupid call. Its not fair for the Kids, fans,school and coach. What can you do about it? Not a damn thing.
By GT55
February 28, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this
I agree with GT76. This is a coaching problem. You can be aggressive without so many fouls and you can learn to hit your free throws. Ifs its free take it, the team that makes its free throw will win 90% of the time. Hewitt needs to Go!
By BobinBuford
February 28, 2008 9:42 AM | Link to this
Ted Valentine? Isn’t he the clown who T’d up CPH a few years ago because of something he THOUGHT he heard him say??
Maybe he has something against Georgia schools.
But then again, has ANY school caught a break at Cameron with Coach Mike “if we lose, it isn’t because the other team was better than us” K?? It seems like once these striped shirts get in there, they immediate realize that it is his HRH Coach K there - so we CANNOT make him upset with our calls. Coach K. is the biggest whiner in the ACC. I guess we will not see anything done until HE thinks he is not getting a break on the calls. THEN we will see some action from the ACC.
Some of the worst officiated games I have seen are in the ACC - and the officials there are the biggest proponents of the “makeup” call. You know - I messed up that call on GT - so I have to give them a break next time.
By Ray Shumpert
February 28, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this
I know I can’t wait until next year, and then see what duke has to say when they get beat twice by GT. The refs will not be able to save them.
By ND
February 28, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this
Even Len Elmore kept commenting on how the refs were swallowing their whistles. GT didn’t lose because of the non calls but it sure didn’t help. It just sucks that we have to always talk about the officiating. In baseball they say the best umps are the ones no one talks about. That never happens in ACC basketball. I don’t care who is playing, it just should not be possible for a team to go 3/4 of a game witout taking a FT.
By Mike
February 28, 2008 9:50 AM | Link to this
Actually, as much of Tech fan as I am, I thought they could have whistled both teams for a lot more fouls than they did..it was very physical out there. I hope the NCAA does something about the refs…it does not matter when you lose by 13, but in some of the close games that get played in college, one key call here or there can change the outcome.
By fred
February 28, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this
Consistent teams have good leadership, meaning good head coaches. Wooden, CoachK, Smith, Williams…..they shared the same refs you complain about—-yet they consistently won/win. WHY??? The buck stops at the top.
Paul Hewitt is not ACC head-coach quality.
By ArkyTech
February 28, 2008 10:43 AM | Link to this
Matt’s right. These guys don’t answer to anybody. It’s obvious the officials are more intimidated by Coack K than their own bosses.
The only solace I get is when Duke gets to the NCAAs and the officials call an even game they panic and lose to a lower seed. All year long they are babied and don’t know how to respond (or aren’t capable of responding) when they can’t get away with arms to the back on rebounds, hacking at shots on defense, hand-checking all the way down court, and falling down any time they want to get to the FT line.
This reminds me of MLB umpiring up through the late 90’s. MLB cleaned it up, made it more uniform, and implemented some accountability. The ACC needs to do the same. Otherwise, why even show up at Cameron?
By J
February 28, 2008 10:57 AM | Link to this
I’m a Duke fan and I totally agree. The officiating in the ACC has gone entirely downhill. You mentioned the officiating in Tech’s previous games but the previous Duke ACC games have been equally inconsistent. Sometimes you can maul people in the post but get called for ticky-tacks on the perimeter. Sometimes breathing on someone too hard is cause for a shooting foul down low yet defenders can hold offensive players off the ball as much as they want. And don’t get me started with charge/blocking fouls. Those are NEVER called consistently throughout the game. I, personally, would like to see the circle under the basket cloned from the NBA to college to see how it works. It will take away some of these extremely dangerous plays and make for fewer confusing charge/block calls.
By Jim
February 28, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this
I have been very concerned about officiating for years. But, this year is a true indication officiating on a national level must be vastly improved.
First, it has been said that teams must adjust to the way the officials are calling the game. I find this statement most absurd and incredibly misleading. In effect what this statement says is that the officials will dictate the game to be played. Teams should be able to develop their style and play that style throughout the year. This also allows fans to enjoy seeing different styles of play in a competitive atmosphere and allows the coaches to focus on strategy of their team’s strengths rather than how to avoid getting fouls. It also will increase the level of play for then the players can focus on playing using their skills and their respective team’s personality rather than trying to figure out what the refs are going to do. Most important, I believe it will greatly reduce the fouls of frustration because the players know what to expect and for the most part the games are called consistently in one way…not just by one crew, but by all crews.
Second, it is too easy for one official to change the dynamics of a game by being able to slow down a running team or make a more physical team back off, and so forth. But worse, all it takes is one call late in a close game that can determine the outcome. I have often wondered when a big upset has occurred and there were one or two calls not at the end but close enough to the end of the game to give the underdog more than a good chance of winning. I wonder, if anyone ever checks up on the bank accounts of officials or trust funds for their kids or retirement plans or off shore bank accounts to see if they gained financially by being rewarded from big time gamblers who won big on an upset…or if the point spread was not made.
Duke’s entire team was fouled out against Wake Forest. To his credit Krzyzewski did not put blame on the loss for the fouls, but nevertheless it did affect the Duke players’ game because it got into their mind about the fouls. Fouls called that are inconsistent with the style the team is used to affects shooting, defense and focus. Singler holds the record for most stitches required to fix cuts…at last count he has had 26 just on his face. I have seen elbows thrown and replayed on TV even when there was a time out and no foul, let alone flagrant fouls called. I have seen a player get pummeled on his back under the basket while attempting to make a shot and no foul called and then a foul called for a touch out in mid-court.
Officiating in basketball needs to be overhauled before the officials destroy the game.
Teams need to develop a style and be allowed to play that style within the rules of the game, not by the officials interpretation of those rules and his own personal bias or as to how they should be applied.
I think sportscasters and journalists need to put more public pressure on the officiating of the games. We need to expect excellence and consistancy by all crews.
And what of that last call that mistakenly gave the out of bounds ball to the wrong team allowing the underdog to win or the point spread shaved? College football has instituted replay, perhaps basketball needs to do the same, but then how to protect the flow and personality of the game?
By Aaron
February 28, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this
I am a huge Duke fan and I take offense to people who say Duke gets all the calls. They do get all the calls at home, just like every other ACC Home Team. ACC Officials are always bias to the home team, but this year has been out of control. A conference the quality of the ACC should have quality officials, but they don’t. I don’t know how many ACC games I have watched this year where things have gotten way too physical. They need to tighten things up or thugs like Derron Washington (VT) are going to end up hurting someone or instigating a brawl on the court.
By Aaron
February 28, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this
I am a huge Duke fan and I take offense to people who say Duke gets all the calls. They do get all the calls at home, just like every other ACC Home Team. ACC Officials are always bias to the home team, but this year has been out of control. A conference the quality of the ACC should have quality officials, but they don’t. I don’t know how many ACC games I have watched this year where things have gotten way too physical. They need to tighten things up or thugs like Derron Washington (VT) are going to end up hurting someone or instigating a brawl on the court.
By Lee U
February 28, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this
When a team is way into the second half before they take a free throw in what was considered one of the more aggressive, scrappy games in the ACC this year, you KNOW there is some sort or discrepancy. It was horrendous officiating and EVERYONE saw it.
By blazer
February 28, 2008 11:58 AM | Link to this
MISSED CALLS ON BOTH END BUT
THE FACT 30 FT’S TO 11 FOR TECH.
HEWITT, PLAY SOME ZONE EVEN THOUGH
DUKE DIDN’T SHOT THREE’S WELL LAST NITE-COVERED BY THE REF’S AGAIN.
By Landogoshen
February 28, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this
Hewitt has made this particular bed—now he has to sleep in it. Or sleep while other teams go to post season tournaments.
He definitely coaches an “aggressive” style of play…there are other words for it…but can anyone tell me what basketball skills Jeremis Smith displays…other than elbowing, pushing and other forms of dirty play?
By boomer
February 28, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this
Aaron, I agree with you. Even though I’m a Duke fan, I do think Duke got more calls than GT. That said, this happens for every home team in the ACC (Duke’s whole starting 5 fouled out at Wake just a week and half a go).
The quality of refereeing in the ACC is abysmal. Call it fair, regardless of the home team. I’m sick of hearing people use the “Duke gets all the calls” excuse since it’s just not true.
By ben
February 28, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this
Accusing the refs of cheating for Duke is like talking about that college athletics is a fraud or that steroids were out of control in MLB. People can’t admit it because there would be no use in watching the games if you knew it was a total fraud. But, we’ve known for years (who can forget Redding grabbing our player by the jersey on an inbound pass at the end of the game with the game on the line and no-call?) that Duke gets just enough calls to give them an edge. Add to that Hewitt’s refusal to coach in a sane manner and you’ve got the butt-whipping you saw last night. Why would you not pound the ball down low to Lawal after seeing that Duke had no answer for him? Why would you not allow Causey to run the game after seeing what a hot start he had? Hewitt refuses to exploit matchups, which in my opinion, is what winning basketball is all about. Clinch’s butt should have been sent to the bench a long time ago. If you don’t have ten effective players, shorten your rotation to nine. If one player is having a hot night, then give him the lions share of the minutes, don’t shuttle his replacement in every two minutes to fit your system.
By shane #1
February 28, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this
tech plays an aggressive defense,so does ut,on a given night it can cost either team.it hurt ut some against memphis. a coach has his style of play and recruits players to suit that style,most coachs do not have the players to change styles,even if they wanted to.i did not like the way the game was called last night,it is a credit to the players and coachs of BOTH teams that things did not get out of hand.i saw players of both teams knocked down right in front of officals and nothing was called.then the refs would call a hand check!this kind of inconsistant calling of a game could lead to a serious injury or even a brawl.i always liked the acc for it’s skilled players.i do not like this physical style that seems to be taking over the conference.all in all i thought tech played a hell of a game considering they were playing one of the top 10 teams in the country.i am a dog fan so it’s none of my business,but i like the effort this tech team gives.i think you should hang on to your coach a little longer.any coach that gets this kind of effort from his players is worth having around.
By GT
February 28, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this
I notice it in football and basketball. A player gets overly aggressive and forgets fundamentals. I use to watch a Georgia strong safety named Blue that got so concern on how hard he hit the ball carrier he would blow assignments being out of position. Now I notice it with Tech basketball. The rebounders are so busy trying to lend on someone they let the ball bounce off their head before they react. Between bad hands and foul shots I was bouncing a few things off my television last night.
By Richard
February 28, 2008 3:42 PM | Link to this
Hewitt is taking enough crap for this season, but I’ve got to really pin this loss on the players.
Hewitt can’t stop Miller from dribbling the ball off his knee.
Hewitt isn’t the one at the free throw line.
Hewitt didn’t miss those easy putbacks in the first half.
At some point the players need to step up and say we lost cause we screwed up too many times against too good a team.
By Bravesfan79
February 28, 2008 4:14 PM | Link to this
And Hewitt isnt the one needlessly slapping guys with no chance of a steal! Our guys gotta play smarter!
By shane #1
February 28, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this
gt,duke would be a very frustrating team to play.they are small but they get more rebounds than you would think because they all crash the boards.the gs and sfs have to box out,you can’t just leave the rebounding to your big guys.i think some of techs fouls were out of frustration rather than aggression.the duke guys are real pests on defense,it is esay for a man to get frustrated and throw a forearm or elbow to get them out of his face.they play the passing lanes well,so you have to be careful with the ball.lazy or off target passes mean easy scores for duke.also,you defeat a press by making good passes and making them on time.you don’t try to dribble through a press,and if you hold the ball too long you will be trapped.that’s where some of techs turnovers happened.of course the purpose of the press is to force a mistake and get a turnover and an easy basket.greg blue did get out of posistion at times,so did thomas davis,but they were playing the way vangorder wanted.they were run stoppers first,and vangorder had a very aggressive defensive scheme,kind of like tenuta.cwm has a softer,bend but don’t break philosophy.both styles have their good and bad points.
By GT80
February 28, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
For all you folks saying Hewitt needs to go and he isn’t an ACC caliber coach, why does every pundit on TV, folks who follow college basketball for a living, disagree with you? I’m biased and think Hewitt is a good coach, but what did you see last night? Did that look like a poorly coached team or just a team with guys making bad decisions and unable to hit shots. How many point blank shots did Smith miss.
And don’t tell me Hewitt is to blame for guys missing FT’s. That is strictly a case of not concentrating. Otherwise why can Jeremis make 11 of 13 in one game and 5 of 12 in another. He’s just not focusing. Why does Clinch, who normally is 90% at the line, suddenly go 2 for 4 last night. The players have to be accountable.
Face it, we lost Critt, Young and Dickey unexpectedly and those were probably our 3 best players. We have some talent but just not enough.
Now, I do pin some of the blame for this season on Hewitt. I do think Hewitt did not continue to exploit the only advantage we had last night, our inside game. Seemed like we ran that Hi-Lo post play about 3 times with success everytime.
Re the hacking BlueDevils, I also blame Hewitt for never having his team ready to man-up against the harrassment Duke dishes out. If you are not ready to get face to face with them then they keep pushing it and the refs just lose sight of some of the fouling. I think Coach K knows this and pushes it and Hewitt has never been able to combat it.
So while Hewitt has plenty of blame for himself, the players still have to do the playing.
By Wallace
February 28, 2008 6:50 PM | Link to this
ArkyTech;
Where have you been?? When Duke gets into the NCAA tournament, then they get beat because they don’t have the refs on their side?? That’s you point?
Who has won more NCAA tournament games than any other team in history
Enough for your expert analysis
By ken
February 28, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
Shut the f*** up all of you!
By Ty
February 28, 2008 10:36 PM | Link to this
Nothing on the game to add … just the same observation as we’ve seen in the ACC since the days of Lenny Wurtz and Dick Papparo . …
In the ACC, the officials unfortunately “orchestrate” the game vs. calling what they see. This makes for great drama (am I the only one that wonders why a team that seems to have gotten lots of calls and builds a big lead suddenly begins fouling……Gee, since the days I played the game I thought that once you built up the lead your objective was to run the clock and NOT let the other team score points with the clock stopped!!)
It’s been documented in SI and other journals the practice of “checking the book” by officials and numerous other ‘strange’ practices.
Unfortunately, in the end, it becomes a disservice to the ACC teams like Duke, UNC, etc. They get to the big dance, suddenly end up in a game with a tough opponent, and the ‘orchestration’ disappears. Then — having no experience at how to manage a game called on balance — they end up going home.
This year will be no different for these two. Don’t expect to see any ACC teams in the Final Four (they’re not that overwhelming and are getting lots of zebra-help this year).
By George P. Burdell
February 29, 2008 12:46 AM | Link to this
You cannot have watched the game last night and think it was fair. No team in modern basketball plays for 30 minutes before they take a free throw. I find it interesting that in their last ACC game, Duke had all five starters foul out against Miami. Now, their next opponent, and we see officiating so bad that people are commenting, even on the national level. Who here thinks Coach K didn’t call up to the ACC, cry foul and demand some kind of retribution? You Dukies can pound your chest and say every home arena has the advantage, but Coach K, as good as he is, is a major crybaby when it comes to officiating. There is no way, no matter how aggressive a team is on defense, that the other team has not given up a foul for a free throw attempt in 30 minutes, period.
The officiating in the ACC this year has been horrendous. That goes for games our beloved Jackets are not a part of, and it has been the worst I’ve ever seen. You can argue all you want, but I am a paying customer and when enough of us disappear because we see no reason to pay for the mirage, then maybe they will understand.
By George P. Burdell
February 29, 2008 12:53 AM | Link to this
And, one more comment,
ESPN was so fixated on whether or not Duke got the ball across halfcourt and then went back, resuliting in a foul(which was not a foul and it is a total embarrassment that the commentator does not understand the rule on that) that ESPN, and the officials, lost sight of the fact that Duke did not get the ball across half court within the 10 seconds, which is also a violation. Anyway, the ACC had better get some non-partial, decent officiating and soon.
By Pearl Vision
March 1, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this
When a Deac 7footer grabs both arms of a Tech shooter/rebounder really close to a ref and is not called with an intentional….makes me wonder just what is an “X” type foul!
Tech made many errors today but …did not quit! Congrats!