Getting hosed by the refs

[ZachTheZip]

Akron's record against the MAC refs for the past four seasons:

Terry Anderson (6-0)

Chris Beaver (1-0)

Frank Bordeaux (1-0)

Bo Boroski (6-5)

Phil Bova (1-1)

Dennis Bracco (1-0)

DJ Cartensen (5-4)

JD Collins (5-1)

Tom Clark (1-0)

Alvin Cox (2-0)

Eugene Crawford Jr. (0-1)

Randy Drury (3-1)

Mike Eades (0-2)

Bill Ek (5-2)

Kevin Ferguson (2-1)

James Ferrari (4-2)

Tim Fogarty (2-0)

Mike Foote (13-2)

Dan Fouser (2-2)

Craig Griffith (1-0)

Jim Haney (2-2)

Rick Hartzell (0-1)

Ed Hightower (1-0)

Tim Hutchinson (0-1)

Jeff Janosik (1-0)

Bill Kaminski (2-0)

Mike Kitts (1-1)

Rob Kruger (1-0)

John LaRocca (1-0)

Glen Mayborg (14-4)

Dan Nawakowski (2-0)

Kevin O'Connell (1-0)

Tom O'Neil (0-1)

Mike Roberts (1-0)

Sid Rodeheffer (4-1)

Mike Sanzere (6-2)

Jerry Sauder (8-2)

Jim Schipper (1-0)

Larry Scirotto (5-1)

Lamar Simpson (7-1)

Lamont Simpson (3-4)

Steve Skiles (4-0)

Darryl Smith (3-1)

Frank Spencer (8-1)

Gene Staratore (1-2)

Ken Turner (3-0)

Ted Valentine (1-1)

Todd Von Sossan (1-0)

David Walker (3-0)

Bret Wegenke (2-0)

Bart Wegenke (4-0)

Todd Williams (3-2)

Terry Wymer (15-8)

John Yorkovich (1-0)

The only one that you can say might really something against us is Lamont Simpson, brother of referee Lamar Simpson.

The more games they ref, the closer they should be to our MAC record if they were impartial. We are 57-20 in the MAC the past four seasons for a winning percentage of .740, and the 54 refs we've had average 4.2 games against us. So I'll say that 6 games against us is a good cutoff point for being a "common" MAC ref.

Of the refs who did at least 6 games for us over the past four years:

Above Akron's winning percentage (+0.051): Terry Anderson, JD Collins, Mike Foote, Jerry Sauder, Larry Scirotto, Lamar Simpson, Frank Spencer,

Close to Akron's winning percentage (within 0.050): Bill Ek, Glenn Mayborg, Mike Sanzere,

Below Akron's winning percentage (-0.051): Bo Boroski, DJ Cartensen, James Ferrari, Lamont Simpson, Terry Wymer

So there you have it. Most refs appear to either be impartial or even favoring Akron. But there are those five refs who seem to be biased against Akron.

Of course, this doesn't take into account the number of fouls called or not called, or who the opponent was (if we played a horrible MAC West team and they tried to throw the game but couldn't).

And then there's the "guest" refs, who don't ref us too often. We are 61-21 against them for a .743 percentage, which is just about right.

[zipzippy]

What do you call a bunch of Zip fans who get together to complain about referees and eat brie? A whine and cheese party.

I'll give 'Zips Supporter' credit, his party is organized.

the officials sucked no doubt, Ohio was in the bonus in the 2nd half with 11+ left ...however 8-30 from 3pt land won't help either....this garbage about the gonzaga of the east is laughable...

this team COULD have had 4 straight ncaa appearances...JC it's hard enough to get to the MAC title game, but in classic akron fashion let's set the record for most championship game loses...

i'm still pissed

agreed but I swear it is always the same thing when we lose. "Well the refs sucked, but our shooting percentage was terrible." I'm starting to think, after that game last night, there is some correlation. when we took the ball strong to the hoop, we got mauled with no call, yet OU continuously drove to the hole and got calls a lot of the time. we were forced to take jumpshots. Also, when you are playing great defense, setting a perfect double team, and your opponenet drags his foot about 5 feet right in front of the ref with no call, it's got to take the wind out of your sails a bit.

ref's don't win or lose the game, but very poor officiating can really affect a game.

The truth is, without the clock mess up against Miami in '07 we could have won.

Can't destroyed us in '08 regardless, but this year we were straight up shafted by the officials. I swore i was watching a womens game with all the no calls on the travels. Even more shocking is that this entire tournament they still were having so much trouble with starting and stopping the clock on time! It's just terrible how bad these guys are, and i think something needs to be done to at least attempt to get some decent officials out there.

+1

[akronad]

I just love the fans around here. If we win, the team played great & the coaching was fantastic. If we lose it is always the same old story; "WE GOT SCREWED BT THE REFS". I agree the some refs re lousy and others are good, but ref's just don't go out on the floor or field with the attitude of trying to screw a particular team. Let's face, we were lucky, yes lucky to even it make it to the championship game.

[Dave in Green]

Great work on the ref analysis, Zach.

Most of the bad calls against the Zips were made by Bo Boroski. I just don't like the way the guy calls games. From the way he carries himself on court, I doubt I'd care very much for the guy in a social situation, either.

But, unless someone believes the conspiracy theory that some refs just hate the Zips so much that they deliberately try to make the Zips lose, bad officiating goes both ways. The results balance out over time and shouldn't affect one team more than another. It's up to the coaches and players to adapt to the type of bad calls that the refs tend to make and try their best to compensate.

[ZachTheZip]

The biggest problems with the Zips are mental ones. They let the refs get in their heads and change their play style because of it. They lose their composure and make mistakes which more disciplined teams take advantage of.

This is what Dambrot needs to work on the most. Not defense, not strategy, but mental toughness.

[UAZip0510]

While I don't feel at all that these games are fixed, I do think the officiating is terrible. I can't remember many games where I felt like the calls were consistent this year, and didn't think any of the tournament games were. I also feel like the officiating DID affect last night's game (look no further then Chris McKnight being mauled when jumping up for the in-bounds pass at the end of regulation). Unfortunately, the MAC doesn't seem to take issue with it, so until they find a better conference, Akron must adjust from here on out and know what they're dealing with going in. It will be inconsistent, it will be frustrating, and it will make it tough to keep a continuous flow of the game...but they have to deal with it.

[ZachTheZip]

Maybe if the MAC paid a decent amount of money for refs they wouldn't have the inconsistency that makes so many games unwatchable. It hurts the product that the conference is trying to sell. I read a quote from the commish that he still doesn't know what the main problems are with the MAC. The biggest one by far is being cheap. You want to improve the MAC, Steinbrecher? Here's something you can do that won't put you in too much opposition of those that control you.

[akronzips71]

Last night Ohio had so many traveling violations that were not called it was scary. But they managed to get Nik every time he had his hands on the ball.

[bUAkronG]

I'm watching the game over as we speak. Seeing a lot of no-calls and questionable calls both ways. Naturally since we lost we are going to feel affected by the refs.

I don't think anyone can say that the refs specifically "had it out" for the Zips but I'm seeing ALOT of calls where no contact was made. For as much as they "let them play" its looking like that was only in favor of the Bobkittens.

[UA Fan]

What do you call a bunch of Zip fans who get together to complain about referees and eat brie? A whine and cheese party.

I'll give 'Zips Supporter' credit, his party is organized.

the officials sucked no doubt, Ohio was in the bonus in the 2nd half with 11+ left ...however 8-30 from 3pt land won't help either....this garbage about the gonzaga of the east is laughable...

this team COULD have had 4 straight ncaa appearances...JC it's hard enough to get to the MAC title game, but in classic akron fashion let's set the record for most championship game loses...

i'm still pissed

agreed but I swear it is always the same thing when we lose. "Well the refs sucked, but our shooting percentage was terrible." I'm starting to think, after that game last night, there is some correlation. when we took the ball strong to the hoop, we got mauled with no call, yet OU continuously drove to the hole and got calls a lot of the time. we were forced to take jumpshots. Also, when you are playing great defense, setting a perfect double team, and your opponenet drags his foot about 5 feet right in front of the ref with no call, it's got to take the wind out of your sails a bit.

ref's don't win or lose the game, but very poor officiating can really affect a game.

There very well may be a correlation but you can't do much about the refs. That's why you have to be able to shoot from outside. 1 more 3-pt. out of 22 misses would have won the game in regulation. It's about 6 feet further than a free throw...should be able to hit about 1 in 3 with all the hours of practice.

[Zips Supporter]

The biggest problems with the Zips are mental ones. They let the refs get in their heads and change their play style because of it. They lose their composure and make mistakes which more disciplined teams take advantage of.

This is what Dambrot needs to work on the most. Not defense, not strategy, but mental toughness.

Mental toughness. Steve Hawkins does very well with that. The Bronco players always seem real comfortable playing their game and stay poised even when they get down. I can already tell his freshmen this year are developing nicely mentally.

[Zips Supporter]

I'm watching the game over as we speak. Seeing a lot of no-calls and questionable calls both ways. Naturally since we lost we are going to feel affected by the refs.

I don't think anyone can say that the refs specifically "had it out" for the Zips but I'm seeing ALOT of calls where no contact was made. For as much as they "let them play" its looking like that was only in favor of the Bobkittens.

That's exactly the point I was trying to make in my 2:21 AM post. I know for sure on a couple drives to the basket by Bassett, Marshall and Conyers were called for fouls which gave him 3 point plays. They were hardly even "touch fouls". They just rubbed jerseys and both were backing away while he was underneath. Usually underneath the basket when players lean back away from the driver, they hardly ever call it. And that's whether you're in the NBA or NCAA.

Conyers and Marshall played awesome defense the whole tournament and the refs couldn't give them any respect. Ohio had lots of bailout calls go their way compared to Akron, I'm telling you. McKnight and Conyers were being mauled by Washington and Van Kempen quite a bit with no whistles. I'm not trying to say they favored one team, but I was saying there was no standard flow of officiating whatsoever. The Cvetinovic holding call on Van Kempen and the McKnight inbounds no-call at the end of regulation really made me jump up.

[bUAkronG]

I'm watching the game over as we speak. Seeing a lot of no-calls and questionable calls both ways. Naturally since we lost we are going to feel affected by the refs.

I don't think anyone can say that the refs specifically "had it out" for the Zips but I'm seeing ALOT of calls where no contact was made. For as much as they "let them play" its looking like that was only in favor of the Bobkittens.

That's exactly the point I was trying to make in my 2:21 AM post. I know for sure on a couple drives to the basket by Bassett, Marshall and Conyers were called for fouls which gave him 3 point plays. They were hardly even "touch fouls". They just rubbed jerseys and both were backing away while he was underneath. Usually underneath the basket when players lean back away from the driver, they hardly ever call it. And that's whether you're in the NBA or NCAA.

Conyers and Marshall played awesome defense the whole tournament and the refs couldn't give them any respect. Ohio had lots of bailout calls go their way compared to Akron, I'm telling you. McKnight and Conyers were being mauled by Washington and Van Kempen quite a bit with no whistles. I'm not trying to say they favored one team, but I was saying there was no standard flow of officiating whatsoever. The Cvetinovic holding call on Van Kempen and the McKnight inbounds no-call at the end of regulation really made me jump up.

+1 that's the best way to put it.

[Hilltopper]

Bo Boroski sucks. I never want to see him officiate another game the Zips are involved with.