K.E.N.T. Officiating

[FearTheRoo]

OK, I try to post objective opinions about the officiating. I know they are rarely popular here (the officials And my opnions! ). I want to preface this by saying that there is no way I could be 100% objective last night being a true Zips fan. I will cover two that stand out in my mind. There were many more, but I don't have the time to type them all!The Traveling Call:The call was made by the Trail official. It was in his primary. If you watch the replay on TV, you will see that he was screened by a Can't player and there is no way possible to make a 100% accurate call. In that situation, ESPECIALLY under 2:00 minutes to go in a tight game, most officials will tell you the correct thing for him to do was to pass on the call. If it truely was a travel, it would have been picked up by the Lead official (on the baseline) as that would be in his secondary. Since the play occurred very near the "boundary" between each official's primary and secondary, it is likely that both officials would have seen the play. Bottom line: bad call. The official should have passed and relied on his partner if a call was at all necessary.Wood Getting shoved out of boundsI've heard from a few people regarding the "late" call that had Wood getting shoved out of bounds. This occurred when he was displaced going for a rebound and Travis ultimately get the ball for a dunk. The complaints I have heard are that the call came way too late and shouldn't have been called because it takes away the dunk. There are a couple of things to consider: first, if you watch the play develop in real time on TV, the official actually blew the whistled and motioned juest BEFORE the dunk occurred. Now, I appreciate the arguement that they should have held the whistle. Officials are trained to hold just a split second to let the play develop, but if you see how badly he was displaced, most should agree that it was an obvious foul. Now, if the official doesn't make that call, then it would be expected that they not make that call at the other end of the court. More importantly, when those calls don't come, the players usually try to "even the score" themselves. That means anothe foul, technical foul, ejection, injury, etc. In my opinion, it sucks that it took away two points, but it was the correct call in that particular situation.Any others?

[GoZips88]

How about the shoulder by a Can't player (don't remember which one) into the middle of Nate Linhart's chest sending Nate flying to the floor in the first half. Replay of baseline camera angle couldn't have been any more clear that the Can't player deliberately lowered his shoulder to clear space for a layup. The Can't player missed the layup but a foul was called on an Akron player going for the rebound or contesting a follow-up shot. Nate could have been acting a bit but it sure looked like a solid lowered shoulder offensive foul to me.Still holding firm on "MAC OFFICIALS SUCK!"

[Zips Win!]

Now, I appreciate the arguement that they should have held the whistle. Officials are trained to hold just a split second to let the play develop, but if you see how badly he was displaced, most should agree that it was an obvious foul.

Foul? Absolutely. In this instance there is NO need to let anything develop and wait a split second. The foul should have been called IMMEDIATELY.It's calls like this that make me wonder if the fix is on. Giving up a sure two points to send the worst FT shooter to the line is the result. Blow the whistle now.....waiting makes him look indecisive.

[timmyboy]

How about the one with Dials getting bodied by the Cant player at the end of the first half that left him laying on the court dazed for a few moments. Or the one where dials had the ball an was pounded by 2 different Cant players and then when he fell he grabbed Omni Smith's leg an was called for the foul? That was IMO a turning points because it gave Cant Momentum cuz that started the 8-0 run they had.

[FearTheRoo]

Timmy, from what I could see on the two different replay angles, you have an excellent arguement there. The fould occured with the Can't players left hand smacked Dials in the face. Everyone was in position to make the call. They missed it.As for the shoulder, I don't remember. I would have to see it.As for holding your whistle, I may not have been clear enough in my previous post. My point is that in real time, the official DID react in time without holding his his whistle. The play happened in about 2.5 seconds total. You can't really hear the whistle too well on TV and it take more reaction time to raise your hand. The whistle came and then you saw the hand go up. In my opinion, his reaction time was fine. Just crummy luck on the end of the play if you are a Zips fan.

[JP Morgan]

The call was made by the Trail official. It was in his primary. If you watch the replay on TV, you will see that he was screened by a Can't player and there is no way possible to make a 100% accurate call. In that situation, ESPECIALLY under 2:00 minutes to go in a tight game, most officials will tell you the correct thing for him to do was to pass on the call. If it truely was a travel, it would have been picked up by the Lead official (on the baseline) as that would be in his secondary. Since the play occurred very near the "boundary" between each official's primary and secondary, it is likely that both officials would have seen the play. Bottom line: bad call. The official should have passed and relied on his partner if a call was at all necessary.

My observation of the replay lead me to believe that the trail official had an unobstructed view. It happened 5 feet in front of him. The baseline official may have had an obstructed view (a Can't player). I believe there was 41 seconds on the clock when the travel was called. It completely changed the complexity of the game. In the end...we both agree, should not have been called...very bad officiating.For this league to get better, we need to get better officials.

[ziprowdy]

what about the call when the ball went out of bounds on the opposite of the court across from the benches...the ref went to signal to the zips, and mid arm throw stopped, and threw his arm in the direction of the flushes...what was up with that????...it was apparent he had his mind up that he was gonna give possession to the zips, and then got scared or something...i mean just b/c youre in front of a bunch of cant fans shouldnt affect anything...ill be honest, i was on the opposite side of the arena, up behind the flushes bench...so i was pretty far away, and i havent seen a replay...but all im saying is, i saw clearly something awry with the ref and his call...it looked like it was knocked out by cant, but like i said i was pretty far away

[Hilltopper]

I think that the travelling call on Linhart was actually a foul on the Can't player who banged into Nate. Him crashing into Nate made the ref think he had moved his pivot foot. :blink: It was a classic anticipation call. You know, something just happened here in front of me so I blow my whistle and now I can't remember why. So a call must be made even if its the wrong one!

[zippyrifle32]

EVERYONE CONSIDER THIS!!! at least we don't have ovc refs

[SoFlaZip]

WORSE OFFICIATED GAME, FROM BOTH TEAMS PERSPECTIVE, I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.THE ENTIRE OFFICIATING CREW SHOULD BE SUSPENDED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON FOR CHOKING ON HEIR WHISTLES. Can't'S COACH SHOULD TAKE A PAGE FROM COACK K (DUKE), REVIEW THE FILM AND HAND OUT SUSPENSIONS WHERE WARRANTED - ASSUMING HE DOES NOT CONDONED SUCH BOORISH BEHAVIORDEFENSE SPEED DEFENSE SPEED DEFENSE SPEED DEFENSE SPEED DEFENSE SPEED DEFENSE

[FearTheRoo]

Ziprowdy, that's the easiest one to explain: he simply got the directions mixed up. It happens to me a few time a season. You know exactly which TEAM gets the ball, but for a split second you lose which direction. Honest mistake. It happens all of the time. Unless you live your life wearing an aluminum foil hat, that is the most likely explaination.

[GoZips88]

Ziprowdy, that's the easiest one to explain: he simply got the directions mixed up. It happens to me a few time a season. You know exactly which TEAM gets the ball, but for a split second you lose which direction. Honest mistake. It happens all of the time. Unless you live your life wearing an aluminum foil hat, that is the most likely explaination.

That's the way I read that one too FearTheRoo.

[meatwad]

I must honestly say that I don't think the officiating was that bad. The traveling call on Nate was brutal, and Dials was getting molested a few times in the first half but thats really all they missed in my opinion. Its a shame that the travel came at such a pivotal point in the game, but if that happens with 10 minutes left, or any other point in the game really, its a non-issue. I really can't understand why everyone is so pissed off about the officiating. It was consistent and fair enough... the fouls were 22-20 Akron (in an overtime game, so not a lot of calls made really). On the road that's not a bad margin at all; you take that every time. Sure you can argue that Dru got hosed on a few, but I think Quintance could make a case as well. A dangerous trend is developing among Zips fans to complain about the officiating after every game, even when they did well. Let's enjoy the win and try to be a little more objective...

[ZachTheZip]

I objectively thought that the refs did an OK job on both sides, except for a few blatently obvious wrong calls that came at key points in the game for both teams. I like to call that "choking". The refs are fine when they don't have to be on their toes, but once the pressure is on...

[Captain Kangaroo]

I like to call that "choking". The refs are fine when they don't have to be on their toes, but once the pressure is on...

...and thus why the refs in-question do not merit refereeing the MAC finals. I want non-choking refs in that game.

[skip-zip]

I'm sure that the MAC has to settle for, let's say, "not the cream of the crop" when it comes to refereees. But, this year seemed to be a particularly bad year. Funny enough, the Austin Peay game seemed to be the worst. Which makes you wonder, if the MAC refs are this bad, what is the quality of officiating in lesser conferences? The traveling call on Nate Linhart was particularly disturbing, for a number of reasons....1) They somehow thought they saw his feet move, but completely ignored the more obvious fact, which is that he was pushed. 2) His pivot foot never moved, which should have easily been seen by any of the refs on the floor. The position of someone's foot is normally not something that is easily blocked from someone's field of vision. 3) You best not call traveling at that juncture of the game, unless you are absolutely sure. Players are always gettting leniency these days on traveling calls, during any part of the game, let alone at that critical moment. I really believe that he blew his whistle, and then tried to decide what to call. If there is ever a clear case where a coach should complain to the league about poor officiating, this call really takes the cake.

[FearTheRoo]

Understand this: If an official spent the entire game looking at player's feet, they would never see a single foul since 99% occur above the waist. Traveling is called when the movement warrants it. If an official is on top of the play (as this one was) he will not be looking at the player's feet. If he is farther away, chances are the feet will be in his field of vision. As I said before, this guy was screened and should have never made the call.Oh, and by the way, while we are letting you in on a few "secrets": it's not "3-seconds".....it is a "lane violation" which in reality is about 5-6 seconds. I chuckle to myself when I hear the fans counting "1-2-3!". I especially love it when the count continues after a shot was attempted (if you don't get that last part, read a rule book!)