Yea I mean that's part of the game and always has been. I complain about the lack of 3 second calls but until they make freedom of movement a point of emphasis, the refs just aren't going to call the off ball holds and hand fighting. We have to be stronger and fight through that stuff if we want to run this intricate offense.
Jordan Hawkins wasn't physically strong but he knew how to sprint into screens at the right angle to get maximum separation in a way that Solo just isn't able to do right now. And not to mention, Donovan was one of the best screeners we've ever had, right up there with Jake Voskuhl. Adama was also up there given that he's an absolute tank of a human.
Those details matter, and it's partly a personnel issue and partly an execution issue. But to blame the refs is to turn a blind eye on how the game has always been called, especially in the rough and tumble Big East.
Here are the screwups I see every game by Big East officials .. and it’s just the Big East. outside of Big East there is the normal home cooking advantage which is usually just giving some 50/50 calls to home team .. I’m ok with that. What happens in Big East is something completely different it’s so bad it has to be intentional.
1. UConn players are getting wrapped up with two hands and held and no foul.
2. UConn players are grabbed by the wrist and held and no foul.
3. Samson Johnson is ever so slightly moving on a screen and called for offensive foul atleast once a game sometimes twice. How many moving screens have been called against UConn Big East opponents all year, maybe 1 or two?
4. Opponents just drive out of control they create contact and throw up the ball and don’t even get it to the rim and refs call a foul every time. When Diarra does the exact same thing … drive initiate the contact and throw ball up, it’s a no call every time any we say what’s wrong with Diarra, why can’t he do what other teams PG does at end of shot clock.
5. Opponents on iso moves clear space with forearm to get room for shot repeatedly and nothing called. Telefort did this obviously and repeatedly in last game.
6. On offensive rebound putback attempts of UConn opponent misses 3 times in a row an automatic foul is called on UConn an opponent gets FTs. Never called the same way when UConn does same thing on offensive rebounds. When there are multiple offensive rebounds in a row in a crowd there is always a lot of contact. Refs need to call that same way on both ends of court.
7. When center gets rebound and opposing team tries to grab at ball the get rebound they missed .. if it’s UConn grabbing it’s a foul if it’s the other team … they let it go and becomes jump ball. Whenever someone grabs at the ball like that they always get some ball and some arm. Please call that consistently a foul or allow it.
