Officiating

[aphilso1]

So yeah...that sucked.  But it's officially the offseason and time to start countless threads of paralysis by analysis.  Why not start with a doozy -- referees.

 

IMO, a lot of factors go into "getting the calls." 

1. Home court environment.  This one is scientifically proven, and there's no arguing with science.  The biggest advantage of playing in front of a rockin' fan base is getting a couple extra whistles.

2. Style of play.  Aggressive offensive teams get the calls.  Aggressive and *disciplined* defensive teams get calls.

3. Coach prestige.  The Mike Kryzwsjudieskijdzxqucski factor at Duke.  The Boeheim factor at Syracuse.  I cold go on, but you get the point.

4. Human nature.  Refs can only get yelled at so much before they start wanting to retaliate against the team doing the yelling. See Exhibit A, 2014 NCAA Second Round game, 11 Nebraska v. 6 Baylor.

5. School's reputation.  I don't think this one actually exists, but I hear people claim "Kentucky treatment" or "Carolina treatment."  More often than not, the root cause is probably one of the first three factors that is instead perceived as favoring a school with basketball history.  Schools that are rich in tradition usually hire well-respected coaches, have sold arenas, and recruit premier athletes.  So yeah, they're gonna get some calls, but not simply because of the name on the front of their jersey.

 

Now as far as the officiating goes this year, I actually thought the last three games were potentially the most poorly officiated of the year.

Wisconsin - We were aggressive and constantly getting contact driving the lane, while the Badgers settled for jump shots.  Yet somehow, the foul and free throw counts were approximately even.  Should not have been the case.  But our guys were en fuego that game, and were able to overcome an officiating crew that clearly thought "fair" meant blowing the same # of whistles on both teams, regardless of whether they deserved it.

OSU - I could go on forever on this one...but let's just say they got the Craft Treatment.  

Baylor - Factor 4 was huge in this one.  Ticky tack calls early on both teams, Miles got frustrated and Drew didn't.  Our players threw their hands up in disgust after every iffy call, Baylor's didn't.  And then the zebras just got tired of it.  Two techs on Miles, a million FT's for the Bears, and we never even made it into the bonus in the 2nd half.  Do I think the refs sucked?  Yeah.  But, I can kinda see why.

[hhcscott]

The real tragedy is that the refs failed to get the record for ft attempts by only 8. That would have been quite a feaster in their crap

[Nebrasketballer]

If you live in ACC country and you follow college basketball, chances are you have some strong opinions about a man named Karl Hess. And chances are, those opinions are negative. Hess is a referee (the same way that Napoleon was in the military), one that was always destined for the grandest stages and the brightest lights. Karl Hess is notorious. Karl Hess is infamous. Karl Hess is KING.

His modus operandi is simple: stealing the spotlight in any and every game he officiates, and making blatantly awful calls in huge situations. His style is so controlling and aesthetically depressing that we’re all compelled to notice the man in black and white. Now and again, he pulls off truly spectacular stunts. There was the incident in Raleigh, for instance, when he ejected N.C. State legends Tom Gugliotta and Chris Corchiani from the premises for heckling him. In that case, even the head of ACC officials admitted Hess was wrong. This year, Hess managed to line up UConn and Marquette facing the wrong direction at the start of overtime, incorrectly disallowing a UConn basket in a game Marquette would go on to win.

And then Hess (somehow) earned himself a Final Four assignment. When he took the court for Louisville–Wichita State, even I knew something amazing would happen. Cardinal fans were well aware of Hess’s legend, having watched him give Rick Pitino a technical for yelling at his own player in the Elite Eight last season. The Shockers were less familiar, but that wouldn’t last long.

At first, King Karl helped the underdogs out, combining with Les Jones to call an incredibly tight game that disrupted any possibility of flow, producing a disjointed, ugly mess, and making it difficult for Louisville to play its trademark pressing defense. (I wish we could somehow find stats for things like, “How many potential college basketball fans were lost in the first hour of Saturday’s game?”) Wichita ran up a 12-point lead with great defense and solid execution on the press break. But just when things looked really bad for the Cardinals, they made their run.

And that’s when Hess went from merely ruining the game to becoming its main attraction. It began when he called a bizarre double foul on Louisville’s Stephan Van Treese and Wichita’s Ron Baker after it looked like Van Treese hit Baker in the face. That changed the possession arrow and set the stage for Hess’s tour de force: a jump-ball call with six seconds left when Baker, his team down three, briefly lost control of the ball and tussled for perhaps three or four milliseconds with Luke Hancock before recovering it. As Gary Parrish noted, the whistle was far too quick, but nothing on the court happens so quickly that it can escape Hess’s whistle. The arrow belonged to Louisville because of the double foul, and instead of having a chance to tie with a late 3, Wichita watched Russ Smith seal the game from the line.

If the Shockers thought they could escape the wrath of King Karl, they were dead wrong. But there was a silver lining to the one-man terror show — the Twitterverse was raging against Hess all night, holding him accountable with a mix of bile, humor, and a sort of desperate, furious frustration. Here were the 50 best Hess-themed tweets of the night, starting with an incredible bit of prescient foreboding on Saturday morning.

[Nebrasketballer]

[Nebrasketballer]

[Nebrasketballer]

[Nebrasketballer]

[colhusker]

Halftime crew talking to a guy that over sees the officials, he refused to call Karl Hess out and then the desk crew went off on Miles.

[Nebrasketballer]

[CardHusker]

If you ever watch a game with Sean McDonough doing pbp and Karl Hess reffing McDonough will crack you up. He will straight up call Hess out for his behavior on live tv. He and Jay Bilas during Big Monday games especially will both rail about him.

[atskooc]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-50-best-tweets-about-king-karl-hess-the-notorious-r-e-f/

[Huskerpapa]

I won't pick soley on Hess, all three struggled officiating this game.  I thought they took the game away from the players, and that should never, ever happen!!!

[jimmykc]

First it was Michael Myers, then Freddie Kruger, and now ...Karl Hess. I wonder if his Uncle Rudolph's cell is still available?

[Bisonbacker]

I registered here just to comment on this.  As an NDSU fan I was rooting for Nebraska and Coach Miles for obvious reasons.  Having watched Miles Coach for years I can tell you as you probably already know he's one of the most professional and passionate coaches in the game.  Take the winning or losing out of the equation for a minute.  I know the right thing to do is to "take the high road"  which Coach did in the presser after the game.  But those who oversee the officials for the NCAA had ought to take notice of this game.  When you see a disparity as wide as it was in fouls between two teams called and as you can clearly see it's not a first for this official or a crew he's been a part you really have to raise an eyebrow.  Yes those who watched the game can agree that in the end the Huskers didn't do themselves any favors by the way they played yet its beyond unfortunate that for all the years of hard work for these players, coaches and the grand stage they get to play on if they are talented and lucky enough it shouldn't be hijacked by an unprofessional ref or crew.  Let the teams decide the game not the refs.  So unfortunate it went down the way it did but I have no doubt Tim will have you guys back in the tournament and get that first "W" in the coming years.  He's a winner as you already know.

"Go Bison"

[GATA]

I registered here just to comment on this.  As an NDSU fan I was rooting for Nebraska and Coach Miles for obvious reasons.  Having watched Miles Coach for years I can tell you as you probably already know he's one of the most professional and passionate coaches in the game.  Take the winning or losing out of the equation for a minute.  I know the right thing to do is to "take the high road"  which Coach did in the presser after the game.  But those who oversee the officials for the NCAA had ought to take notice of this game.  When you see a disparity as wide as it was in fouls between two teams called and as you can clearly see it's not a first for this official or a crew he's been a part you really have to raise an eyebrow.  Yes those who watched the game can agree that in the end the Huskers didn't do themselves any favors by the way they played yet its beyond unfortunate that for all the years of hard work for these players, coaches and the grand stage they get to play on if they are talented and lucky enough it shouldn't be hijacked by an unprofessional ref or crew.  Let the teams decide the game not the refs.  So unfortunate it went down the way it did but I have no doubt Tim will have you guys back in the tournament and get that first "W" in the coming years.  He's a winner as you already know.

"Go Bison"

Good post. Good luck the rest of the way in the tournament!

[brfrad]

The problem I have is the foul calls down low in the 2nd half on Smith, Rivers, and Pitchford.  They were battling for position against Austin, Gathers, and Jefferson.  A couple times, Rivers would beat Austin to the spot.  Austin would throw Rivers' arms away, and later in the possession, he would back his way into Rivers, and Rivers would get called for the foul.  Petteway on the other end, would drive the lane, and get hammered by Austin, and no call.  Rivers would get hit by Austin, and no call.  After the first half, when they were calling fouls on Baylor, they stopped for some reason.  Shields call on Cherry, or Franklin after the missed alley-oop, was by far a terrible call.  He BARELY touched the player.

[LSEHusker]

https://mobile.twitter.com/JackM_KLINRadio/status/447089149699293184/actions

[GATA]

https://mobile.twitter.com/JackM_KLINRadio/status/447089149699293184/actions

They should also apologize for being terrible at their jobs for the rest of the game, too.

[Bugeaters1]

here's a goody.

[Bugeaters1]

[Huskerpapa]

here's a goody.

Well...that doesn't make up for the numerous other missed calls.

[jayschool]

All I can say is: "Poor Luke. What were his parents thinking?"

 

here's a goody.

Well...that doesn't make up for the numerous other missed calls.

 

[Bugeaters1]

 

here's a goody.

Well...that doesn't make up for the numerous other missed calls.

 

Just posting what is tweeted

[Ron Mexico]

This is the worst officiated game I've ever seen....ever. A 48-16 disparity is criminal. Yes we played poorly but so did Baylor. The difference was Baylor getting to the FT line 3x more than Nebraska. The refs completely took the game out of the players hands. Would we have lost if lets say the difference was just 2x more? We will never know because the refs took the outcome of the game out of the players hands.

 

I don't want to take to much away from Baylor. They came as advertised, long and athletic. They absolutely owned us in the post.

[nuled2dance]

If youbthin officiating hurt us only you are a crack addict...sad to say but true