Dolson's fouls

[vtcwbuff]

I watched the fouls in slo mo. Here's what I saw -

#1 14:04 McBride drives to the basket and Dolson goes for a block. She made light contact with McBride's arm and really smacked her in the face as her arm was coming down. Good call.

#2 8:21 Dolson gets hit (actually more of a push) in the neck and reacts strongly by grabbing and twisting the opponent's arm. The ND player should have been called for a foul. Dolson's reaction was so obvious the ref called the foul on her. Bad call prompted by Dolson?

#3 15:53 Dolson runs over ND player. As commented by Lobo it really wasn't Dolson's fault. It was a poor decision by Hartley to pass to Dolson. Good call.

#4 4:38 Dolson impede's a Diggens drive to the basket. With 3 fouls it would have been smarter to let her score. Good call.

#5 :32 Dolson called for a moving screen. I watched this 4-5 times and still couldn't decide. Dolson seems to plant her feet but her body kinda', maybe leans into the ND player. It was IMO probably a foul but what a time to call something so minor when it had such an impact. Especially since there was so much crap that the refs allowed.

 

[sparky]

26 turnovers and crappy foul shooting, not losing Dolson lost that game

 

[Vowelguy]

#1 and #4 were bad decisions by Dolson
#3 was a bad decision by Hartley

If we play a little smarter, we probably win. That's what's maddening and depressing.

 

[Tenspro2002]

#5 :32 Dolson called for a moving screen. I watched this 4-5 times and still couldn't decide. Dolson seems to plant her feet but her body kinda', maybe leans into the ND player. It was IMO probably a foul but what a time to call something so minor when it had such an impact. Especially since there was so much crap that the refs allowed.

By the letter of the law, it was questionable. When you account for time, location, circumstance, and the way screens had been called the rest of the game, it's an unconscionable call deliberately meant to favor the home team. There's just no other interpretation.

Notre Dame needed that call in order to avoid having to run something frantic under 10 seconds and down by 1.

 

[UConnCat]

Kara Lawson weighs in:

Kara Lawson ‏@karalawson20
2 fouls on Dolson were just horrible calls. We judge players/coaches on how they perform in clutch situations. Refs should've been better!

 

[UConnCat]

Okay, I'm going to say one more thing about the fouls on Dolson. I think Foul #3 -- aka the bad Hartley pass -- was not a foul on Dolson. The ND player had not established position. She had no intention of defending Dolson or making a play on the ball, she ran up just to draw the charge and did not beat Dolson to the spot. Dennis DeMayo -- who had trouble keeping up with the pace of the game all night -- made the call. The referee on the other side who was also in good position seemed inclined to let it go as she never raised her hand. At best it should have been a no-call; if a foul were to be called it should have been on ND for impeding Dolson's progress to the basket.

That was a critical point in the 2nd half. UConn had the momentum and a basket there would have put them up by 10 points.

A second opinion is always welcome. The issue is not to punish UConn for a dopey pass, but did Dolson gain an advantage by charging in to a defender who had established position. I say it should have been incidental contact.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I agree with Kara most of the time, including now.

The throat call was as egregious as I've seen in a while.

 

[CCinCT]

As posted in the game thread last nite - "I envision an all star ref line up of Kantner, DeMayo, and Spence for our last game in the NCAA's this year.

UCONN won't have to worry about making FT's because we won't get any !"

 

[Bestiarius]

#2 8:21 Dolson gets hit (actually more of a push) in the neck and reacts strongly by grabbing and twisting the opponent's arm. The ND player should have been called for a foul. Dolson's reaction was so obvious the ref called the foul on her. Bad call prompted by Dolson?

Dolson couldn't get a good enough grip on Braker with her neck so she used her hands.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Dolson couldn't get a good enough grip on Braker with her neck so she used her hands.

She got her name from "I'll Brake your neck."

 

[Vowelguy]

Okay, I'm going to say one more thing about the fouls on Dolson.

But to look selectively you ignore the fouls that went UConn's way.

Midway through the first half. ND gains some momentum and after a made basket one of the players gets up on Doty. Doty *clearly* reaches out and pushes the ND player away so the inbounder can get her the ball. Had a foul been called it would've only increased ND's mo.

McBride's 4th? foul - a charge on Stewart. They showed the replay and Stew is clearly jumping off the ground -- ie, not set. This, like Dolson's 3rd and 5th are debateable calls. I dont think you can analylze them in isolation.

And I maintain that Dolson put herself in that position by making dumb plays on the 1st and 4th fouls.

 

[CCinCT]

As long as we're talking about fouls, if it comes down to Baylor vs. ND in the NCAA's, who gets the "star" treatment -
Griner or Diggins ?

I think we already know the answer where UCONN is concerned

 

[vtcwbuff]

Okay, I'm going to say one more thing about the fouls on Dolson. I think Foul #3 -- aka the bad Hartley pass -- was not a foul on Dolson. The ND player had not established position. She had no intention of defending Dolson or making a play on the ball, she ran up just to draw the charge and did not beat Dolson to the spot. Dennis DeMayo -- who had trouble keeping up with the pace of the game all night -- made the call. The referee on the other side who was also in good position seemed inclined to let it go as she never raised her hand. At best it should have been a no-call; if a foul were to be called it should have been on ND for impeding Dolson's progress to the basket.

That was a critical point in the 2nd half. UConn had the momentum and a basket there would have put them up by 10 points.

A second opinion is always welcome. The issue is not to punish UConn for a dopey pass, but did Dolson gain an advantage by charging in to a defender who had established position. I say it should have been incidental contact.

UCC - I think you're wrong. I just watched the replay again (twice) and I came to the same conclusion. The ND player did not move in front of Dolson until she got the ball. Dolson made a full step with the ball and by then the defender had established posiiton to take the charge.

However see my thread regarding Hartley's "dumb" pass. I edited this to add quotes around dumb because I don't think it was dumb at all.

 

[UConnCat]

But to look selectively you ignore the fouls that went UConn's way.

Midway through the first half. ND gains some momentum and after a made basket one of the players gets up on Doty. Doty *clearly* reaches out and pushes the ND player away so the inbounder can get her the ball. Had a foul been called it would've only increased ND's mo.

McBride's 4th? foul - a charge on Stewart. They showed the replay and Stew is clearly jumping off the ground -- ie, not set. This, like Dolson's 3rd and 5th are debateable calls. I dont think you can analylze them in isolation.

And I maintain that Dolson put herself in that position by making dumb plays on the 1st and 4th fouls.

The topic of the thread is "Dolson's fouls" no? And you weighed in above on the fouls on Dolson without changing the topic. I'm merely offering my views on the topic of the thread. To me, worst and most obvious bad calls of the night were 3 calls on Dolson. There were of course several missed/bad calls, but they were not as obviously bad nor as impactful, in my opinion.

 

[Wally East]

26 turnovers and crappy foul shooting, not losing Dolson lost that game

This is totally pedantic but 35 turnovers. They could've survived 26.

 

[UConnCat]

UCC - I think you're wrong. I just watched the replay again (twice) and I came to the same conclusion. The ND player did not move in front of Dolson until she got the ball. Dolson made a full step with the ball and by then the defender had established posiiton to take the charge.

However see my thread regarding Hartley's dumb pass.

I just watched it again in slow-mo. I stand by my original interpretation. No way the defender had position. And it's not like Dolson was running the court all out of control or leading with her shoulder. Dolson had already made the pass and the ND defender's sole movement was to draw a charge. That's precisely the type of play that should be ignored as incidental contact and not rewarded. The charge calls in college basketball (men's and women's) are ridiculous and, to quote Jay Bilas, are handed out like Halloween candy on Oct 31. Let them play.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I just watched it again in slow-mo. I stand by my original interpretation. No way the defender had position. And it's not like Dolson was running the court all out of control or leading with her shoulder. Dolson had already made the pass and the ND defender's sole movement was to draw a charge. That's precisely the type of play that should be ignored as incidental contact and not rewarded. The charge calls in college basketball (men's and women's) are ridiculous and, to quote Jay Bilas, are handed out like Halloween candy on Oct 31. Let them play.

I don't think there was any way a ref could let them play in that case. The contact was so hard that they had to call something. Like most block/charge calls people will see it different. I think the moving screen called on Dolson was an instance where let them play should have been applied.

On Edit - I just watched it again . . . and again. Braker is moving to her left to intercept Dolson. She has her left foot planted while Dolson is still a step or more away. Her body is in position as Dolson releases the ball her right foot is in position just before contact.