Monday, March 20, 2006

Officials: Please Take Charge

The offensive foul calls in the NCAA Tournament have reached a ridiculous level. Any contact is now a charge. Players are flopping, arriving late, sliding under airborne players, turning sideways ... all offensive fouls. I am still for whistling a guy when he goes out of control or runs over a stationary player or even tries to get away with a push-off. But this is ridiculous. Not only is it very damaging to the style and flow of the game (seriously, just watch how many charge calls there are), it has also made games a three-point shooting contest, because the incentive to drive has been all but eliminated. Threes are already worth more and are ridiculously easy to shoot (move the line back!), so why risk a turnover by going in the lane, where any contact is going to go for an offensive foul? Not to mention the fact that the refs/rules are creating an incentive for players to slide under guys when they have already left the ground (see: the horrendous charging call on Corey Brewer of Florida yesterday, which resulted in a turnover and a concussion for the Gators swingman), which is going to get some people very badly injured. This is out of hand and somebody needs to step in and right the ship before it ruins the game, or worse, ends someone's career.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree, the officiating almost makes the games too hard to watch at times.

Anonymous said...

Forget the officials, Pitt's involvement in any game makes it too hard to watch.

Anonymous said...

What I've noticed this year is how many clutch free throws these kids are knocking down compared to other years. At the end of most of the close games this year, players who have been fouled, even those who aren't the best foul shooters have been extremely clutch and it's almost rare for someone to miss a shot with under a minute to go. As far as the officials go, one of the worst things I've seen this tournament is the number of ticky tack fouls called on players who brush someone who is shooting a 3-pointer. Nearly every time someone gets near a 3-point shooter, the shooter just falls to the floor like his arm is broken and the refs buy it every time and, often, it's at a crucial stage in the game.