The Last Word

[msf22b]

Women's basketball deserves better than lousy officiating and paternalistic discourse

Time to level up for women's basketball: Fix officiating. Treat the product as a money-maker. Allow tough women to fight their own battles.

theathletic.com

 

[Pharos]

Not sure I agree with all of the subtitle. "Fix..." yes. I don't care about the money. "...tough women..." I like the old-style finesse game better. If it becomes "tough women" who preen their superiority (or supposed superiority), won't watch. If that drifts in to the UConn environment, won't watch any more.

 

[fomalhaut]

What seems to be lost in all the discussion about Reese is that LSU played a great game and won a well-deserved title, and it's all being overshadowed by a self-centered star player and an out-of-control coach. If I were Alexis Morris or Jasmine Carson, I'd be pretty pissed right now at Reese and probably Clark and Mulkey too.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Excellent article.

For many years, I tracked where the (supposedly) elite officials worked each day (by conference, not specific school) and I still track who the officials are in the post-season tournaments. Hence, I typically "knew" something about an officials work and experience and, having seen innumerable games on TV and probably well north of 400 in person, I have made a number of conclusions -

• The best refs (who work an awful lot during the season at a variety of conferences) actually are nowhere near as "bad" as disappointed fans say - but are not immune from the following other issues
• An awful lot of referees have pre-conceived notions - about teams, about players, about what they perceive as fouls.
• I don't know if it is the rules or what exactly, but a lot of fouls appear to be called by the official who couldn't see what happened.
• Flopping - whether exaggerating contact or just from a breeze - often seems to get a call when no one is merited. When you get an official who seems to be doing a good job at not calling flops, all of a sudden half the fans start complaining that they're awful.
• No 2 refs seem to see things the same way, and, as I have often commented, no 2 conferences seem to expect their officials to referee a game in the same way.

All of that said, every once in a while there is an inexplicable "brain-fart" performance. A famous "trip" late in a tournament game years back, the "Clockwork Orange" game I was at with Rutgers, and most certainly yesterday's game. Just awful.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

What seems to be lost in all the discussion about Reese is that LSU played a great game and won a well-deserved title, and it's all being overshadowed by a self-centered star player and an out-of-control coach. If I were Alexis Morris or Jasmine Carson, I'd be pretty pissed right now at Reese and probably Clark and Mulkey too.

I think that's mostly fans and some media stirring the pot.

While I think Reese and Clark both have "attitude", and I don't especially like it, I also accept it. To the extent that I thought there should have been any complaint about Reese, and not both of them, it would only be for the post game taunting. Clark had quite nice things to say in her interview.

I want to dislike Mulkey, but in the end I only dislike her on-court behavior - the exaggerated emotions and constant referee complaining. The actual things she says are fine. Loved her criticism of the low scoring semi-game when interviewed on air "I'd turn it off".

LSU played great. I understood not being sure how good they were based on playing weak competition - but I never understood assuming that meant they weren't good.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I don't know if it is the rules or what exactly, but a lot of fouls appear to be called by the official who couldn't see what happened.

Yeah, this one really gets me. Play happens right in front of a ref who doesn't blow a whistle, and another ref who couldn't even see it clearly makes a call. Absolutely nonsensical.

 

[#12in21]

Couldn't read the article as I don't subscribe to theathletic.com but searched title and found a version linked below. Worked for me, hope it works for others who are interested.

Women’s basketball deserves better than lousy officiating and paternalistic discourse - Distinct Athlete

 

[Centerstream]

Excellent article.

For many years, I tracked where the (supposedly) elite officials worked each day (by conference, not specific school) and I still track who the officials are in the post-season tournaments. Hence, I typically "knew" something about an officials work and experience and, having seen innumerable games on TV and probably well north of 400 in person, I have made a number of conclusions -

• The best refs (who work an awful lot during the season at a variety of conferences) actually are nowhere near as "bad" as disappointed fans say - but are not immune from the following other issues
• An awful lot of referees have pre-conceived notions - about teams, about players, about what they perceive as fouls.
• I don't know if it is the rules or what exactly, but a lot of fouls appear to be called by the official who couldn't see what happened.
• Flopping - whether exaggerating contact or just from a breeze - often seems to get a call when no one is merited. When you get an official who seems to be doing a good job at not calling flops, all of a sudden half the fans start complaining that they're awful.
• No 2 refs seem to see things the same way, and, as I have often commented, no 2 conferences seem to expect their officials to referee a game in the same way.

All of that said, every once in a while there is an inexplicable "brain-fart" performance. A famous "trip" late in a tournament game years back, the "Clockwork Orange" game I was at with Rutgers, and most certainly yesterday's game. Just awful.

Something I think could be monitored is how a specific ref's calls change after halftime.
This weekend, one star player was called for 2 fouls early in the game and had to sit for quite a few minutes in the half. In the third quarter, within the first 2 minutes, the player guarding her was called for a phantom foul to even up their number of fouls. I don't think that the original player was called for another one.
BTW I believe that the refs review the stats and adjust accordingly. Just look at the marquee players that are rung up early in the game and then aren't called for another one for most of the rest of the game.

 

[and one]

I don't usually get too worked up about the referees in a game as bad calls are so common. For this game I did get frustrated as the refs kind of sucked the life out of the game. LSU deservedly won, but still.

Trash talking during the game is common and ok by me. After the game is over - not so much.

 

[Papa33]

Not sure I agree with all of the subtitle. "Fix..." yes. I don't care about the money. "...tough women..." I like the old-style finesse game better. If it becomes "tough women" who preen their superiority (or supposed superiority), won't watch. If that drifts in to the UConn environment, won't watch any more.

"Finesse" is the right word, and it's being replaced more and more with the men's game's reliance on power and muscle, becoming more and more a contact sport—more grabbing, holding, bodying up, and other forms of contact— less and less an exercise in finesse, timing, etc. It was particularly visible this season as I watched our team collect bruises, sprains, concussions, etc. It's not entirely new: ask Diana T how much she got held and bounced around and bruised trying to cut through opponents' defenses. Happened to Maya also when one of the Ogwumike sisters clamped her in a lock-down embrace for an entire first half that ended with a 20-12 score. Ugly, high-contact, and not much of what I consider real basketball.
As I watched the LSU-Iowa championship game this year, I saw some excellent team ball, but far too much collision ball in the paint, too much of what I call "maul ball" that refs were not able to control. If hard-contact and grabbing had been called properly, there wouldn't have been enough players to finish out the game five-on-five.
Is it also, then, only coincidental that some in-your-face behavior followed after the final whistle?

 

[caseyb7]

I think it a better condition for women's basketball to grow with good conduct & sportsmanship.

We've seen examples of stellar behavior and courtesy - which I think grows the sport - and the converse which I believe hurts the sport.

 

[Beemer]

Yeah, this one really gets me. Play happens right in front of a ref who doesn't blow a whistle, and another ref who couldn't even see it clearly makes a call. Absolutely nonsensical.

This happens in the NHL every single game. I wish the league would instruct the refs that if the ref closest to the play doesn't call a penalty then the ref farthest away can't call one. It would eliminate a lot of bad calls.

 

[Puppy Love]

There is a pretty simple place to start when cleaning up bad calls. Before the season starts, select one game at random for each team. Don’t tell anyone which games have been selected. After the games have been played, tell each coach they can submit up to five plays for review by an impartial third party. Tell the refs they will be scored based on the reviews and they will be penalized if the have too many bad or missed calls.

 

[Rowdy831]

Clark is the most prolific flopper in all of women's BB so when she has one go against her so be it. The T though was a totally different situation. It wasn't a situation that was that egregious and it certainly was going to impact the game in a negative way. I also though the fouls on the inside players were very one sided and hurt Iowa to a level that took them out of what they usually do.

With that said I think LSU deserved to win and played an almost flawless game on offense. The were a great offense all season but what they did was right up there with Louisville the year they upset Baylor.

 

[Linart]

What I hate most about the Reese-Clark kerfuffle is that it feeds into the stereotype that women are catty and can't get along.

 

[Zarathustra]

This happens in the NHL every single game. I wish the league would instruct the refs that if the ref closest to the play doesn't call a penalty then the ref farthest away can't call one. It would eliminate a lot of bad calls.

Speaking of hockey... I enjoy the finesse play of women's college hockey.. note the "Bean Pot" tournament
in Boston and the ECAC, etc, Frozen Four, etc. Sport can be strong, athletic, fast with good sportsmanship.

 

[Jim]

Another way to improve things is to adopt a "coaches' flag" type rule. Allow coaches to request the review of any play at the cost of one of their timeouts. The refs can go to the monitor, see what transpired (in slow motion if necessary), and either make or reverse a call as appropriate. With three refs reviewing things, individual bias gets minimized. If a reviewed play gets called in favor of the coach who threw the flag, he/she gets the timeout back. In addition, with the technology now available, you could have an arbitrating ref not physically located in the arena. There could be a team of arbitrating refs on call to decide whenever one of the special reviews take place. At the cost of a timeout, there should not be that much extra time to do the review and get the call right.

 

[JellyBean]

Pretty solid article. I just hate that a beautiful tournament with such amazing teams and number of fans watching at home or in attendance is being placed on the back burner, so that the narrative is now on officiating and other side issues. Just sad.

 

[Geew1992]

Another way to improve things is to adopt a "coaches' flag" type rule. Allow coaches to request the review of any play at the cost of one of their timeouts. The refs can go to the monitor, see what transpired (in slow motion if necessary), and either make or reverse a call as appropriate. With three refs reviewing things, individual bias gets minimized. If a reviewed play gets called in favor of the coach who threw the flag, he/she gets the timeout back. In addition, with the technology now available, you could have an arbitrating ref not physically located in the arena. There could be a team of arbitrating refs on call to decide whenever one of the special reviews take place. At the cost of a timeout, there should not be that much extra time to do the review and get the call right.

Doesn't WCBB already have this? I swear I've seen coaches ask for reviews.

 

[sun]

What I hate most about the Reese-Clark kerfuffle is that it feeds into the stereotype that women are catty and can't get along.

If you notice in this 32 second video when Angel explains why she gave Clark the hand, all of the female announcers are laughing right along with her, and at the end one says "To the victors goes the spoils" as if that was a justification.
If Angel behaved badly, then why did all of the announcers laugh along with her and humor her so much?

 

[Jim]

Doesn't WCBB already have this? I swear I've seen coaches ask for reviews.

Only certain things can be reviewed. I was referring to reviewing any play and if the refs see a foul which they missed, I would allow them to call it after the review. Or reverse a foul call if it were the wrong call.

 

[ShmiCO]

Another way to improve things is to adopt a "coaches' flag" type rule. Allow coaches to request the review of any play at the cost of one of their timeouts. The refs can go to the monitor, see what transpired (in slow motion if necessary), and either make or reverse a call as appropriate. With three refs reviewing things, individual bias gets minimized. If a reviewed play gets called in favor of the coach who threw the flag, he/she gets the timeout back. In addition, with the technology now available, you could have an arbitrating ref not physically located in the arena. There could be a team of arbitrating refs on call to decide whenever one of the special reviews take place. At the cost of a timeout, there should not be that much extra time to do the review and get the call right.

I've been thinking this for a couple years. To make it less disruptive to the flow of the game -- and more tactically interesting for fans -- I'd limit each coach to just one TO-for-review trade per game.

 

[BBallF]

Something I think could be monitored is how a specific ref's calls change after halftime.
This weekend, one star player was called for 2 fouls early in the game and had to sit for quite a few minutes in the half. In the third quarter, within the first 2 minutes, the player guarding her was called for a phantom foul to even up their number of fouls. I don't think that the original player was called for another one.
BTW I believe that the refs review the stats and adjust accordingly. Just look at the marquee players that are rung up early in the game and then aren't called for another one for most of the rest of the game.

It was a disgrace, an abomination, and the worst officiated championship game, men or women in NCAA history. It was a moment for women's basketball to become ingrained in the national consciousness and instead the NCAA decided to do what they did instead of going through a thorough process and look at what happened? I wish the media really does an investigation about the disparity between mens and womens officials in college basketball. They will find blatant sexism at play. At some point, someone will ask Congress to intervene when the injury levels continue and a Senator's or Congresswomen's daughter gets beat up in a game due to weak officials. Then the NCAA will actually do something.

 

[Centerstream]

Doesn't WCBB already have this? I swear I've seen coaches ask for reviews.

The only review that I have seen that is called by a coach is The Restricted Zone violation. There could be others but this is the only review that I have seen that a coach requested.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Volleyball has coaches' challenges. Calls are reversed fairly frequently. It can have a huge impact on a set and thus a match.