A Conscious Design by the NCAA to Allow More Physical Play and Therefore Call Less Fouls in the Final Four? | Page 4 | The Boneyard

A Conscious Design by the NCAA to Allow More Physical Play and Therefore Call Less Fouls in the Final Four?

cancontent said:
This thread is about the lack of calls for the infractions you noted in your first sentence. It's not happening and regardless of the emphasis on "freedom of movement", it's unclear to fans what these referees are seeing.
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I didn't preface my response thoroughly. I should have started my post with "IF the NCAA were to call fouls tighter..."

I would like to see games called tighter and let offense flow more freely. On the defensive side, I dislike the way offensive players can dislodge a post defender by ramming them with their butt. That said, I agree with your concerns regarding foul hunters ruining the game, ala Trae Young and James Harden.

And then I went off into a tangent acknowledging that the rules will likely not change so the team should adapt to win. Not gaming the system as you said, but being willing to attack the rim with contact.

Sorry too much afternoon coffee.
 
husky98 said:
I didn't preface my response thoroughly. I should have started my post with "IF the NCAA were to call fouls tighter..."

I would like to see games called tighter and let offense flow more freely. On the defensive side, I dislike the way offensive players can dislodge a post defender by ramming them with their butt. That said, I agree with your concerns regarding foul hunters ruining the game, ala Trae Young and James Harden.

And then I went off into a tangent acknowledging that the rules will likely not change so the team should adapt to win. Not gaming the system as you said, but being willing to attack the rim with contact.

Sorry too much afternoon coffee.
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All depends on what's in it at this hour. 😉
 
husky98 said:
I didn't preface my response thoroughly. I should have started my post with "IF the NCAA were to call fouls tighter..."

I would like to see games called tighter and let offense flow more freely. On the defensive side, I dislike the way offensive players can dislodge a post defender by ramming them with their butt. That said, I agree with your concerns regarding foul hunters ruining the game, ala Trae Young and James Harden.

And then I went off into a tangent acknowledging that the rules will likely not change so the team should adapt to win. Not gaming the system as you said, but being willing to attack the rim with contact.

Sorry too much afternoon coffee.
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I know what you're getting at about driving into the paint and taking contact but have to question whether the type of basketball that has been prevalent at UConn should adapt to the kind of game played for example by SoCar in the Final Four and permitted by the officials.

I for one am not anxious to watch that style of play again although there will be plenty, especially SoCar fans, who feel that the game was played just right. If deliberate holding, blatant moving screens and more will be allowed and therefore condoned if not taught it will be the end of what I am fairly sure Geno and CD have succeeded in doing for over 40 years. If anything, that may prompt Geno to rethink whether he wants to continue doing what he's been doing better than anyone else.
 
Total Final 4 scoring by year

2021 - 351
‘22- 365
‘23 - 488
‘24 - 439
‘25 - 408
This year - 335 Ugly games Low viewership

The Caitlin years and last year were great for the game

This year, teams averaged 55 points per game or 14 points per quarter Yikes!!
 
1000002682.jpg
You can't coach for this any more than they already do. You have to literally be 15 points better than the next best team to have a sufficient "ref buffer". Frankly, the NCAA has trashed the women's game by not policing their own refs. There is zero integrity left in the game. You want a pre-season top 25 poll for next year? Poll the refs because they basically control the outcome.

P.S. Gina Cross rocks!!!
 
Jalan2121 said:
I watched all the semi finals and the final. Completely agree that the whistles were swallowed in all the games. After first quarter in SC -UCLA game coach Staley told Holly Rose that she told her team to be more physical and disruptive. Boy were they. It didn’t work. But for every foul called against SC there were 3 others committed. Blatant knockdowns, shoving hacking and grabbing. Not the type of game we’ve watched all season. Not in SEC, ACC, Big Ten nor Big East. In all three games the wildly inconsistent referees impacted the games. WNBA is sometimes a pushing and shoving match. The men’s game is closer to hockey. They were not enjoyable to watch.
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I actually thought both men's semifinals were refereed more closely than the women's games. The refs began early to call it tight and that set the tone. The players in the game adjusted as they always will.
 
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oldude said:
You point to something I have been thinking about since the SC game, that probably bothered Geno more than anything. In a sense, he views himself and his team as the purest form of basketball and how it should be played. Playing that game the way SC wanted it played was undoubtedly painful. In the end I suspect Geno felt a little helpless, and that, more than anything else, animated his actions after the game.
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It is a lucid thought. I think it is actually even more basic. Geno has always been about protecting his players and he wasn't able to in that game. I think he felt more than a little helpless because of it.
 
I think we all have really identified the problem, examined it historically, analyzed its effect on the growth of the game and suggested improvements and how to implement them. Perhaps the premise of the original question is itself flawed because it is incomplete. Is it the NCAA or some other entity interfering for its own purposes that causes it or is it the effect of the moment on the refs or is it the quality of the refs themselves? I think you need the answer to that question first for it to be fixed.
 
HuskyNan said:
she is a Georgia Tech assistant coach and Brenda’s sister

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At a time when women's basketball's popularity is finially growing, watching the physical play that is being allowed in the playoffs is discouraging. Many of us that enjoy basketball appreciate the sport since its normally skilled based. Not sure if this is purposeful but its not adding any value.
 
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And this.



From the Hartford Courant:

Michigan defeated UConn 69-63 in the 2026 NCAA Men’s National Championship, largely due to a dominant performance at the free-throw line. The Wolverines shot 25-of-28 (\(89.3\%\)) from the foul line, including a stretch of 20 consecutive made free throws, while UConn made 12-of-16. This 28-16 advantage in attempts helped seal the win.
 
BBallF said:
I was watching the UCLA v. Texas game and I could not believe what I was seeing. At one point a guard from UCLA with the ball deliberately knocked over a player on Texas with a stiff arm right in front of the referee and there was no call. It looks like they passed the word to "let them play" but to what extent can that be fairly implemented? That was certainly true in our game. Unfortunately, it does not help the elegance and optics of the game and also leads to low scoring, sloppy games and a different product than the regular season. Halftime score UCLA 20 - Texas 17. Final 51-44. Texas shot 30% from the field. UCLA only had 44 shots but made 20, thanks to Betts underneath. We shot 31%, SC 37%. Two very low scoring games. When you hold, grab, muscle, and foul, the scoring will drop as it did. It would be a very high level of coincidence that both games were randomly called exactly the same way. It actually appears plausible that word was passed to the referees in both games either by the NCAA or otherwise to call the games a certain way and the question is whether the result of that did anything to promote the game. I don't think it showcased anything except physicality and the poor quality of the referees. I very much doubt if the mens games will be called that way tonight. In fact, we all know they would never tolerate that.
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How on Earth they imagine ANYONE wants to see that, I have no idea.
 
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BBallF said:
I think we all have really identified the problem, examined it historically, analyzed its effect on the growth of the game and suggested improvements and how to implement them. Perhaps the premise of the original question is itself flawed because it is incomplete. Is it the NCAA or some other entity interfering for its own purposes that causes it or is it the effect of the moment on the refs or is it the quality of the refs themselves? I think you need the answer to that question first for it to be fixed.
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What other hypotheses work to explain what we saw? The consistency of visual, consistency of scoring results... can that be explained as random and NOT influenced by someone(s)?
Side question: what kind of training, evaluations, input from other sources do refs get to improve their performance?
I had a chance once to join an FAA official in a 737 simulator. I "landed the plane in a night scenario" and crashed twice before I managed a safe landing. Anything like this for refs? Or do they have to crash a few planes to learn their craft?
 
HuskyNan said:
Breeding was five feet away

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The refs last night clearly missed some calls, many of which benefited UM.

Was it intentional? I'm sure not. (I'm not a psychologist so I won't get into whether implicit, subconscious bias played a role.)

Was it outcome-determinative? Probably not.

But if you were giving a grade to the officials for last night's game, it would be closer to a "C" than an "A."

The NCAA can keep telling the world that they are the "best of the best," but they didn't have a very good game, as the above clips show.

One person's opinion.
 
BTW, after seeing the videos and stills posted in this thread, I guess we all know what Geno meant by "they're beating the ish out of us"
 
Anyway, the Big10 came out on top in both the women's and the men's this year. Coincidence? Probably. But maybe some of the more astute historians on the Boneyard can fill in when that has happened.
 
DRBackup said:
BTW, after seeing the videos and stills posted in this thread, I guess we all know what Geno meant by "they're beating the ish out of us"
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Geno's right. Unfortunately you're not allowed to ask any questions because it supposedly hurts the integrity of the game which is laughable given how college sports has unfolded in the last several years.
 
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hoopsfan22 said:
Geno's right. Unfortunately you're not allowed to ask any questions because it supposedly hurts the integrity of the game which is laughable given how college sports has unfolded in the last several years.
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TV announcers and commentators are expected to avoid pointing out too many referee mistakes 😖

Rebecca Lobo drives me nuts with her "love" for physicality. She has been "promoting" it for years. Doubt that Lobo would enjoy playing in this era.
 
GetReal2day said:
It seems the games are called more like the WNBA games are now. So much crap not called makes these games terrible to watch. The benefit goes to the aggressor not the timid player. We need to adjust.
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Timid is not the correct word: disciplined or under control would be more accurate. Connecticut has played the best defense in D1 for decades without excessively physical play. If they have to adjust I will stop watching.
 
Boreifs said:
Proper English is not meaningless, especially on a web site concerning higher education. Fewer and less is certainly in the Top five of common grammatical errors; normally I don’t react, but this time I did.
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The "official" US language of the 2020s is Gen Alpha Slang. 😬

Influenced by memes, TikTok, and African American Vernacular English. ESPN occasionally incorporates it on air and in print.


"A Conscious Design by the NCAA to Allow More Physical Play and Therefore Call Less Fouls in the Final Four?"

Not a fan of referees officiating the second half differently from the first half. 😠

UConn would be leading by 20+ at halftime during ESPN games. Gabby and/or Collier would get called for 2 touch fouls within the first 2 minutes of the 2nd half.
 
Boreifs said:
Proper English is not meaningless, especially on a web site concerning higher education. Fewer and less is certainly in the Top five of common grammatical errors
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It's an arbitrary rule made up by an idiot named Robert Baker in 1770:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-matters-podcast/episode-35-fewer-vs-less

I say it's a meaningless distinction because virtually no other languages use it (nor does English in the positive: more vs. more), not does it have any logical or mathematical basis: numbers are numbers, whether real or integer.

What is the difference between fewer clothes or less clothing? Furniture is countable: should it be fewer furniture?
 
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