Officiating

[LA_Mustang]

We get hosed by the officials and the NCAA all the time. That's what any good fan is supposed to think, but......SMU has actually had the fewest fouls called against us per game than any school in the country.

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-me ... t/team/642

[Junior]

Two plays stuck out to me. First, when a guy rode Sterling from the 3-line to the basket but didn't get called. Then Nic barely touches a guy on the same route when the UH guy was driving, yet Nic gets called. And the ref made it seem like he attacked him or something. It was the same ref mentioned above.

[EastStang]

First, the calls on Nic (on the loose ball and the block out) were beyond the pale of stupid. In fact, the Houston player elbowed Nick as he dove for the ball so if anyone were to get called (and in my view neither should have gotten called) it should have been the Houston player. The foul disparity was because I believe UH had a fouling strategy against our bigs. Kennedy, Tolbert and Ben are historically bad free throw shooters, although MK has really gotten to be pretty good and it really got us out of our rhythm. I think we went five minutes without a basket, but had several free throws instead. I also think the refs were missing 3 point shots. A couple of Nic's looked like 3's and not two's and I think one of theirs might have been a three that they missed. Anyway, an ugly game that we won. Keep it up. Next up the Owls from Temple.

[ender3]

Yes I was, in person. And, I will never forget them either. In Vegas, I felt like they were on a power trip, while last night I felt like they were doing everything in their power to give the game to Houston. Both, groups were horrible.

I was at both in person, too. We probably met. I hate asking people "Are you on PonyFans?"

even worse is "what's your handle?" Seems so 1970's CB language.

[Pony_Law]

First, the calls on Nic (on the loose ball and the block out) were beyond the pale of stupid. In fact, the Houston player elbowed Nick as he dove for the ball so if anyone were to get called (and in my view neither should have gotten called) it should have been the Houston player. The foul disparity was because I believe UH had a fouling strategy against our bigs. Kennedy, Tolbert and Ben are historically bad free throw shooters, although MK has really gotten to be pretty good and it really got us out of our rhythm. I think we went five minutes without a basket, but had several free throws instead. I also think the refs were missing 3 point shots. A couple of Nic's looked like 3's and not two's and I think one of theirs might have been a three that they missed. Anyway, an ugly game that we won. Keep it up. Next up the Owls from Temple.

Actually only Kennedy is struggling from the line. He is 62.5% this year. Ben is 71% this year (and I think it would be higher if he was fresher) and Tolbert is 73%. As a team we are shooting 71.7% this year which is good for 91st but the number one team in the country only shoots 78.1% from the line. He doesn't get a lot of looks but Jarrey is only 44% from the line which is yikes for a 3/2. Shake is also only a 74% free throw shooter. Both of them should work themselves into the 80s over time.

Speaking of Jarrey I think he is of all the players suffering from the grind of a college season. His shot is off, he is being less aggressive and he is making more Freshmen mistakes than he did earlier. Not too surprising given his injury history (first time in a long time he has played a lot of games). I am still really high on the kid because of his athleticism, length, and what talent I think is there but he needs to play better for us to keep rolling.

[TidePony]

So true ender3! That Vegas trip was a good one! I'm pis*ed I didn't get to Nola last week. NY next year, we have a date!

[Prideful Pony]

I think they were clock issues. That can be technical or timekeeper. Does nobody remember the goal tending against UCLA? That was a bad call. Nothing last night is in the same ballpark, zip code, country, you name it.

There actually was something very similar last night -- one of our guys (forget who) put up a shot and Houston's big white guy Meyer (sp?) snatched it before it could hit the front of the rim. Would've ended up well short but caught a decent amount of iron; using the same logic as the UCLA call it should've been goal-tending. Not even a flinch from the refs, which makes that NCAA call all the more galling.

[pwnyxpress]

4 foul differential is clearly within the margin of error.

[lollaperuna]

Don't forget that Houston's game plan was to get us in foul trouble and that contributed to them making fouls themselves. The flipside is that we are trying very hard NOT to foul.

[b_caesar]

Was listening to the game last night on 770 AM - both Fisher & Stone groaned and complained loud and long about the ridiculous foul called on Nic with just seconds to go.

[CalallenStang]

Didn't the Coogs have about 8 more fouls?

The refs were bad both ways last night, but...

This argument is absolutely completely awful when trying to say that refs were favoring one team over another. Teams that have the lane driven against them tend to commit more fouls. Let's say that there was a game between a team that drove the lane each possession and a team that shot a three each possession. Let's further say that the officiating in this particular game was perfect. Which team do you think would have committed more fouls? Is that evidence that the officiating was slanted against that team?

[stangsup4]

Didn't the Coogs have about 8 more fouls?

The refs were bad both ways last night, but...

This argument is absolutely completely awful when trying to say that refs were favoring one team over another. Teams that have the lane driven against them tend to commit more fouls. Let's say that there was a game between a team that drove the lane each possession and a team that shot a three each possession. Let's further say that the officiating in this particular game was perfect. Which team do you think would have committed more fouls? Is that evidence that the officiating was slanted against that team?

I would usually agree with you but in the case of Valentine, he always tends to favor coaches and teams over others... depending on how they react and if they complain early on in games.

[lollaperuna]

I didn't think there was a conspiracy against us, just really bad officiating.

[freqz]

I didn't think there was a conspiracy against us, just really bad officiating.

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

[gostangs]

its no conspiracy - just buffoonery. They were bad both ways - which contrary to earlier opinion usually hurts the better team by changing the rhythm of the game.