Rest of the story on Nevada

[Z.I.P.]

Did Akron have a home court advantage versus Nevada on Friday night?The facts speak differently, and that is the tale of the tape as to where our program lies.I won't comment more on the attendance stat than to say what we already know, 3300 versus a nationally-ranked opponent is embarassing.But what hasn't been stated, here or as far as I know, in any media is this: I followed the Nevada-Akron play-by-play on my cellphone from Stan Sheriff Center, while the Rainbow Classic was going on, and I was just disappointed by the outcome. Looking at the officials calls, it at least didn't look like Nevada got the officials' advantage just for being a top-25 team.Then, between games here in Honolulu, I bumped into the Western Athletic Conference Commisioner of Officials. I was floored when he told me that he sent a WAC officiating crew to do the game in Akron, Ohio! Whoa! Did you just read that? The game in Akron was officiated by refs from the other team's league? How can that be?The only way it can be is if Nevada made it a condition of playing the Bracket Buster return game @ Akron. But it could also only happen if Akron accepted it, which they did. Whether or not the officials were biased toward Nevada is not the point here. What is the point is why KD would be willing to take away what little home-court advantage he might have had by placing the other team's refs on the JAR floor. To me the post-game comments quoted on Gozips.com are indicative of how Akron has accepted a position where they earn little respect.Keith Dambrot (as quoted by UA Sports Information officials):"We haven't been able to play with the High majors. We stayed in it with Clemson and Creighton last year, but those are just prestigious names and not top-level teams. We got beat convincingly by Cal and Louisville last year, and now Nevada. At least we know we can play with the top caliber schools."Nick Fazekus:"Last year they came out to our place and didn't play very well. They watched the tape of that game and were better prepared this time around. Akron is not a bad team and they definitely got my respect after almost taking this one."Yes -- Fazekus (a lottery pick after this season) SAID Akron earned his respect, but you can tell it is begrudging respect at best.But the way Keith speaks about Creighton and Nevada shows that our coach seems to be putting his own team and school in a subservient position in relation to what should --and I would say MUST be considered our equals. The Missouri Valley and Western Athletic Conferences are categorized by the experts -- just like the MAC -- as "Mid-Major" basketball leagues. Yes -- the Valley will get its five NCAA berths, and the MAC will get just one -- but here is where the significance comes in: Akron is most likely going to be playing another member of one of these two conferences at home in February on ESPN. Do you want to play a Butler or Fresno State from a position of strength with the home court advantage, or do you accept second-class basketball citizenship by stating publically that these teams are on a level above your own?When you take the position that your own program is inferior to your opponents, you end up negotiating yourself into a position of inferiority which takes away your own advantages. I know and admire my classmate Keith Dambrot, but dammit man -- you gotta show a little more strength and confidence in your own league, team and future of your program. Don't give away the ship before you sail!Army strong? Zip Strong!

[GoZips]

Honolulu Z.I.P. you are right on the money.Those were WAC officials. And, to an extent they did favor Nevada. A couple ofobservations if you please. One, Nick Fazekus most certainly had a major advantagedue to all the "no calls" he benefited from. Fazekus repeatedly muscled, shoved, andeven tripped J Wood, Fazekus had one foul called on him for the game. Wood hadfour. Two, I noticed that Nevada players have been coached to finish off a "pick" bydelivering a body chuck to their opponent. While fans often complained the WACofficials merely smiled.During Akron's second half run that put them in the lead Romeo Travis was viciouslyblindside fouled from behind with a powerful shove to his back. The WAC officials, toa man, all quickly signaled the intentional foul. However, due to the nature andviciousness of the blindside hit, the rules call for an immediate ejection from thegame. The player was allowed to remain in the game. At one point toward the end of half time a Zip fan (not me) got rather loudly verbalwith one of the officials. Rather than merely walking out of earshot, the officialwent to the court side police and complained about the fan. I suspect that theyconsidered removing the fan from the stands.I admit that I joined the fan at this point and also verballed the official. Loudly Iinformed Mack Rhoades that removing the fan for his comments was a potentiallaw suit as no abuse (unless the truth is abusive) was committed. No name calling,no gestures, no swearing, merely pointing out the obvious.For some reason, the university and Akron police merely stood and stared down thefan. Later he received many kudos from people around him, me included.All this said and done, if the Zips shoot their free throws, they win the game.

[zipboy]

Good points. One clarification, last year a MAC crew did the game in Nevada. The way it was set up MAC crew in Nevada and WAC crew the following year. I am not sure if all the bracket busters are set up that way but I seem to remember the same thing happening with Drake.

[Z.I.P.]

Good points.  One clarification, last year a MAC crew did the game in Nevada.  The way it was set up MAC crew in Nevada and WAC crew the following year.  I am not sure if all the bracket busters are set up that way but I seem to remember the same thing happening with Drake.

Okay, mahalo Zipboy. If this is a preset rule of the Bracketbuster, then I take back my slight shot at KD. I know how tough it is for a program rising like Akron's to get quality opponents, especially at home, and when we have the home court, I hate to see any of that advantage go by the wayside.Let's just be and go get a rematch with a neutral crew.

[joshgozips]

It is true that part of the contractual obligation of playing in the ESPN BracketBuster event is playing an opponent on the opposing floor the following season and that your conference's officials travel and do the game. Coach Dambrot had nothing to do with his decision - in fact, it really could not even be considered a "decision".

[74ZIP]

please..stop being dangerfield...if you have to complain about the officiating at HOME...DON'T..NEVADA CLEANED 'EM OUT THERE AND BEAT THEM HERE...for now they are the better team...

[FearTheRoo]

the officials....again..! No one ever complains about the officiating when we win!NCAA Rule Book:Rule 2: Section 10: Officials' Duties Related to ConductArt. 1. Penalize unsportsmanlike conduct by a player, coach, substitute,team attendant or follower.A.R. 17. Who is responsible for behavior of spectators? RULING: The homemanagement or game committee, insofar as it can reasonably be expected to control the spectators, is responsible. The officials may call indirect technical fouls on either team when its supporters act in such a way as to interfere with the proper conduct of the game; such technical fouls do not count as team fouls.A good official does exactly what he did. You contact security and/or game management and have the offender removed rather than penalize the home team. In fact, a little trick we use is to have security just look at them as 90% of the time they behave because they think they will be removed. I hope everyone reading that remembers that if/when a T is issued for your stupidity. Until you get a whistle and a card and get into the position these guys are in to have the correct angle, you won't realize that 95% of the calls you disagree with are the correct call. Yes, we miss calls. And the players miss shots. All are human.Now let's focus on terrible freee throw shooting. If we made three more we wouldn't be having this discussion!

[ZachTheZip]

Officials in NCAA basketball make too many make-up calls which can ruin a game. It's not just the MAC, WAC, or whoever we play, it's everybody and that needs to stop. Does anyone know if the refs get reviewed after every game on their performance, like in football? If not they should be.

[FearTheRoo]

Yes.And there is no such thing as a makeup call. Sure, you might get that with a poor HS official or a JV official.We don't look at the board and say, "Hey, Akron has 8 team fouls, and Nevada has 3. Let's call more on Nevada to even things out." The play dictates the call. Usually and under-matched team (size or talent) will fould more as they try to compenate for their lack of size or talent with agressiveness.What you may pereceive as a make up call is normally just part of the game. Now I will say if you get bodies on the floor and a player control foul is called, you best get the same call at the other end if the same play happens. That is something we get harped on by our assigners. But it is for the exact opposite of what the casual observing sees in his eyes. We are more aware of it in the spirit of calling an even, fair game. Now, in the same example, if you have a player control at one end and then at the other end it is clearly a blocking violation, then the block will be called...not the player control just because it was called at the other end. What we try to avoid is bodies on the floor at one end= foul, then bodies on the floor at the other end= no call.Look, I go to the games just like everyone else and I get upset when I see what I feel is a missed call. But I also know that I cannot make that call from 100+ feet away when the official has the better angle and is 5 feet away.

[FearTheRoo]

Sorry for posting again, but I thought this would be helpful. This has circulated around a bit. I would love it if this was printed in every college and HS program! The following are a few "problem" rule areas that we are presenting in order that coaches, officials and players are operating from the same perspective. 1. A player cannot travel unless he is actually holding the ball and moves illegally. A player may fumble the ball the entire length of the court and has not traveled. A player may dive for a ball, secure it and slide (via momentum) 10 feet, 15 feet, or more, and has not traveled. If a player attempts to stop a dribble, loses control and fumbles the ball, then gains control, the player has not traveled. 2. There is no limit as to the height of a dribble. The ball may be dribbled over the player's head without any violation occurring. 3. After establishing a legal guarding position, the defender is permitted to move in any direction, except into the player being guarded. In this situation, if contact occurs on the defender's torso, it is usually a foul on the offensive player. If a player control foul is called, the protest of "but he was moving" should never be heard. The defensive player is allowed to move in order to maintain a guarding position. This principle is maintained until the offensive player is able to get his head and shoulders past the defender. The defender's feet need not be in contact with the floor in order for a player control foul to be called.4. Slapping the backboard is ignored if it is incidental to playing defense.5. A shot may be blocked or pinned against the board even after hitting the backboard, unless it is on it's downward flight or within the cylinder. 6. There is no violation for accidentally touching the basket, including the net, unless the ball is on the rim or within the basket.7. There is never a situation in which a player with the ball is entitled to "step". The player is not entitled to "time or distance" if the player has the ball. 8. There is no free landing area for an airborne player if the defensive player was in that position before the airborne player left the floor.9. Accidentally striking the ball with your foot or leg is not a violation. Kicking the ball must be a positive act to be called a violation. 10. The three-second count is suspended while a player drives to the basket. There is no three-second count during rebounding situations. The count ends every time a shot is taken and a new count begins when the offensive team regains control. 11. A moving screen is not a violation. It is a foul only if there is contact. When these situations are called incorrectly or not understood by the officials, coaches or players, it causes unnecessary dialogue and/or interruption to the game. Hopefully these problem areas can be eliminated and lead to an improved game for your basketball players.

[ZipAlumn]

Yes.And there is no such thing as a makeup call. Sure, you might get that with a poor HS official or a JV official.

With all due respect there are "make-up calls" and one happened tonight with Loyala Mariemount. One of their players faked a shot and an Akron player (McKnight?) went up in the air and came down on him. No call was made then, but a few seconds later the same offical called Cedric Middleton for a "non existant foul" on a rebound. From my point of view that was a "make-up call", the official missed the first call, knew he missed it, and called another to "make-up" for the missed call. A foul should have been called, just not on Middleton.

[FearTheRoo]

Difference of opinion.....and angle!I didn't see anyone complaining about the mismatch in fouls when at the 9:48 mark in the 1st half LMU had 6 fouls to Akron's 1 foul. If the theories presented in this thread are correct, the officials should have started "making up" calls at about the 14:00 mark to even things out.

[ZipAlumn]

Difference of opinion.....and angle!I didn't see anyone complaining about the mismatch in fouls when at the 9:48 mark in the 1st half LMU had 6 fouls to Akron's 1 foul. If the theories presented in this thread are correct, the officials should have started "making up" calls at about the 14:00 mark to even things out.

Maybe it is a question of semantics. I don't believe that make-up calls have anything to do with the total number of calls against either team. To me a make-up call is when an offical misses a call or makes a "bad call" then turns around and calls a foul or violation (walking, 3 seconds, etc.) to even up the score.

[FearTheRoo]

Again, a view from a fan versus a view from an official. The few officials I have ever worked with that actually do what you folks say they do, don't get past Varsity basketball and many don't get many of those games! Hey, it's a tough job. Every time you blow the whistle, someone will not be happy.