James Breeding

[DRBackup]

Well, I'm glad it wasn't only me that saw how the game was called differently at one end than the other. Shameful

 

[Edward Sargent]

Unbelievable

I wondered if maybe they didn't have clear views of the fouls but Breeding had a birdseye view of Cadeau hacking Tarris and Johnson bowling over Jaylin

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I have been an amateur official most all of my adult life and you are 1000% correct. You're not going to see a Big Ten or SEC crew working a Michigan/Alabama football final. You're not going to see Hockey East or ECAC officials work a BU/Quinnipiac hockey final. No referee from the Big Ten or the Big East should have been working tonight's game.

Honest question: when you attend games as a fan and the refs make bad calls, do you yell amateur!!! ?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I've been posting on the BY in its various iterations since around 2006/2007ish. Not sure I've posted much about the refs over the years but it's going to be a hard pill to swallow rewatching a lot of the questionable (at best) calls from this game.

Michigan was the better team, we didn't hit nearly enough of our looks, but that ridiculous Karaban flagrant was the total momentum swing.

Tremendous effort by the staff and players and there's nothing to take away from that. Just feel like there were endless no calls on Michigan that really changed the outcome.

 

[Mr. French]

I’ve never hated a sports figure more. And he’s a stupid ref, not even a player or coach.

What an embarrassment to hold this big a grudge and be unable to be fair on the biggest stage.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I can't believe how many people still don't realize the impact of non-calls. First, it directly causes a lot of those "inexplicably missed shots". Second, it impacts how a team plays. They tend to avoid contact since it never gets called. That means fewer inside shots and rushed jump shots. Third, grabbing and hip checks make it difficult to get open jump shots. Everything is highly contested and rushed. Fourth, players get frustrated and rattled.

The problem isn't even the FT differential. It is ENTIRELY about the non-calls. If Michigan is called for a few more of the fouls they committed, how does it change the game?

The crew went on and on about Michigan's defense. I have seen this phenomenon over and over and over again. A team suddenly shoots better when the opposing team is called for even a reasonable number of fouls.

for one Cadeau would have fouled out of the game

 

[JMick]

I hope the staff submits clips to the ncaa. Won’t change or mean anything but just out of principle.

And then I hope Val separately does the same on behalf of the conference.

Val is a do nothing commissioner. She won't lift a finger.

 

[gtcam]

I am still in shock over the way they allowed Johnson and that Dook like guard push, pull and bulldoze on nearly every play and yet the whistle blew every time that UConn even touched aMichigan player. Michigan was allowed to play their usual hooligan B10 game while UConn was held to a middle school standard. I also complain little about the refs but my God, every time they showed a replay of any sort, one could clearly see there were uncalled fouls against UM players.
Yes, UConn fouls a lot, way too much, but to watch this game and to think UConn fouled more than UM last night is just laughable. Dan Hurley is his own enemy at times but he and his team deserved better from the NCAA.
Someone needs to print that picture of Breeding in the Michigan shirt on a T-shirt and if enough people wear one the message about that incompetent and biased Breeding will be loud and clear.
If Ackerman doesn’t publicly address this issue, she needs to be replaced, the same goes for AD David Benedict who needs to find a pair for a change.
Even though a pure pipe dream- I would love to hear an honest opinion from Dusty May (who I feel is a Calipari with a yellow sweater and a insincere smile), on how he saw the game being called.
UConn missed bunnies, did commit some silly fouls and had their usual WTF moments but did not deserve the treatment they received by the game officials.
Finally, I am proud with the way that this team fought through the obstacles last night and represented themselves in a very bright light.
The NCAA could not afford another non power conference victory, especially a UConn victory, so they made sure the B10 won last night after taking care of the women last Friday. Sorry to field something I hate, conspiracy theories, but it’s almost too obvious to ignore anymore.

 

[HailUConn]

stop complaining here, someone starts a petition to Val the useless, let's sign them.

 

[BugsyCT]

I don't usually get on the refs either but there's no question the fouls we had piling up against us 1st half changed the complexion of the game. Michigan already had multiple trees blocking our inside shots & layups consistently and disrupting Tarris' inside game and that was the biggest factor, but the foul discrepancy reached a point where our guys looked to be playing so tentative at times in fear of drawing more fouls. It handcuffed us. Yes, we committed several unnecessary fouls & mistakes and missed a ton of shots 2nd half and that's on us, but what Michigan was able to get away with compared to what we weren't able to get away with was demoralizing to watch and became a near insurmountable hurdle to overcome.

When even neutral observers are noticing the favoritism in the calls, you know it's not just our bias. Breeding hijacked the game for Michigan when they already had the physical advantage.

 

[Umami Zen]

Our starting guards play 38 combined minutes out of a possible 80 in the NC game. Ball-Silas. Cadeau was "selling " fouls/contact all game long. The Refs were "buyers".

Someone mentioned the Louisville commonality between Pitino and Breeding. Was not aware of that. Makes you wonder why Silas appeared to have TO problems in those games with uncalled fouls.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I’m not sure it would be possible to have fully neutral conference refs because the assignments are set at the beginning of the F4 and a lot of guys work multiple conferences. That said, it is crazy that with Breeding’s history with Hurley that they didn’t assign him to the UM/UA F4 game. It seems like the most obvious answer to avoid any potential controversy.

The easiest way is for Breeding to not be calling any of the FF.

 

[mauconnfan]

Let’s be honest if they called the first half

This one happened right in front of Breeding he was right there the POS.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

I think when you make the Championship game, each coach should get a list of refs and are permitted a ‘strike’ (is that the correct term for kicking people out during jury selection @businesslawyer?) of one ref to guarantee they don’t get to influence the game. 😂

I can’t stand complaining about refs and I don’t know what the answer is but some games have been incredibly painful to watch with some of the calls/non-calls. I think the ABS system in baseball is hopefully eye opening to the fact that when you leave judgement calls in the hands of human beings, some of them just really suck at it (looking at you CB Buckner) so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that some refs/umps are simply just not good at their jobs despite years of training/experience. I don’t know what the solution is bc AI can’t really officiate games (yet) although I have seen videos of robots that run eerily similar to High Knees on the interweb, but it’s a bit irritating especially when we know the names of the main culprits.

 

[temery]

I think when you make the Championship game, each coach should get a list of refs and are permitted a ‘strike’ (is that the correct term for kicking people out during jury selection @businesslawyer?) of one ref to guarantee they don’t get to influence the game. 😂

I can’t stand complaining about refs and I don’t know what the answer is but some games have been incredibly painful to watch with some of the calls/non-calls. I think the ABS system in baseball is hopefully eye opening to the fact that when you leave judgement calls in the hands of human beings, some of them just really suck at it (looking at you CB Buckner) so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that some refs/umps are simply just not good at their jobs despite years of training/experience. I don’t know what the solution is bc AI can’t really officiate games (yet) although I have seen videos of robots that run eerily similar to High Knees on the interweb, but it’s a bit irritating especially when we know the names of the main culprits.

And the refs with the most strikes should have to ref Duke games.

 

[Tenspro2002]

They are accurate. St John's twice in the Garden, at Marquette and this game. He called this game just like both St. John's games in my opinion.

Yup, it was exactly what we were afraid of.

We hoped the Tournament would get us out of the BE officiating hell. We had 5 games of that before being thrown back into it.

 

[Stinger92860]

Our starting guards play 38 combined minutes out of a possible 80 in the NC game. Ball-Silas. Cadeau was "selling " fouls/contact all game long. The Refs were "buyers".

Someone mentioned the Louisville commonality between Pitino and Breeding. Was not aware of that. Makes you wonder why Silas appeared to have TO problems in those games with uncalled fouls.

Solo was his own worst enemy last night. I’m not complaining about fouls on us it’s the non calls against us which were obvious

 

[Spaceman213J]

Make the refs do a post game interview just like the players and coaches and have a video screen next to them. It may not change a game, but a guy like Breeding should not get a good night's sleep after that horrible performance. There was another play when Mara gets a rebound and just pushes Malachi in the face to get him from reaching in. It was violent, and Smith is tough and doesn't try to sell fouls.

I'm sick of these points of emphasis we get every year. The hook & hold rule is meant for when players leverage the arm to try to cause in injury whether it's by dropping their weight or yanking it back. Alex knew he had no chance at the long rebound and just rotated to get into defensive position.
What happened to getting rid of hand checking. For a while, it was extension of the arm outward from the body with palm of forearm contact to push the handler was a foul. Now guys put both hands and shove guys so they can't drive by them.
Finally, the illegal screen needs to be back to the screener being vertical with his shoes/feet/base being no wider than their shoulders, while standing still.

Back to Breeding, I'm not a 'refs jobbed us every game' guy like by brother and dad, but he should not have been in the building as a spectator, let a lone as an official and especially as the head of the crew.

 

[superjohn]

I’ve never hated a sports figure more. And he’s a stupid ref, not even a player or coach.

What an embarrassment to hold this big a grudge and be unable to be fair on the biggest stage.

I'm going to be even more upset about this as time goes on.

What we saw last night was ridiculous and wildly unprofessional.

We've had a fair shake over the years in the NCAA tournament, last night was not that.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I rarely complain about the refs. This game felt pre-determined.

It wasn't 14 of 15, but there were a good 7-9 calls in this game, many involving Cadeau, that were either no calls on Michigan (Cadeau push in back on Silas & rake across the arm on Tarris), or should have been no calls on Uconn (Silas fighting through a pick at top of key, Cadeau slipping and selling and it being called a foul on Silas). There was a Johnson trip and push in the back on the same play they didn't call.

Most of these you can find on Twitter. One of the worst officiated games I've watched in an NCAA tournament.

It really was, and the good thing for UConn and Hurley, is that it seems like everyone but Michigan fans saw it the same way. I got texts during the game from non UConn fans who could not believe how bad our whistle was. Twitter seems to concur. Hurley is taking the high road and saying it's a great crew. I think that's him trying to keep these guys from screwing us going forward.

 

[Mr. French]

I think when you make the Championship game, each coach should get a list of refs and are permitted a ‘strike’ (is that the correct term for kicking people out during jury selection @businesslawyer?) of one ref to guarantee they don’t get to influence the game. 😂

I can’t stand complaining about refs and I don’t know what the answer is but some games have been incredibly painful to watch with some of the calls/non-calls. I think the ABS system in baseball is hopefully eye opening to the fact that when you leave judgement calls in the hands of human beings, some of them just really suck at it (looking at you CB Buckner) so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that some refs/umps are simply just not good at their jobs despite years of training/experience. I don’t know what the solution is bc AI can’t really officiate games (yet) although I have seen videos of robots that run eerily similar to High Knees on the interweb, but it’s a bit irritating especially when we know the names of the main culprits.

Our HS league did that. Coaches could x out a specific couple refs.

 

[Inyatkin]

Acting like Cadeau was shooting in the first minute of the game on a through from 40 feet is egregious. Calling the foul is whatever but giving him 3 FTs was a joke.

The absolute worst. He’s not shooting. He’s flailing. And instead of getting the ball out of bounds he gets three points

 

[homunculus]

This is literally what happened to us all season, when everyone was saying “we just foul too much.”

 

[Mr. French]

Meanwhile McKenney and others body check our ball handlers at half court and it literally was called once on Morez when it was so obvious it had to be called.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Meanwhile McKenney and others body check our ball handlers at half court and it literally was called once on Morez when it was so obvious it had to be called.

The hand and body checking in the backcourt off of their press, or even while we were getting into transition off of a rebound, was insane. They can't defend as aggressively all over the court if they rightly get 3-4 of those fouls called.

 

[giddyup]

Im ok with a missed called here and there because they tend to wash themselves out when you have unbiased refs. If the game was called fairly Michigan should have been in equally bad foul trouble early. The ones the get me were our guards getting obviously mugged at half court, Michigan going over the back or pushing out guys with position and then getting called, and some blatant offensive fouls. Them, the early pile on fouls to hobble players was just tipping the scales. Final thought - disappointed and proud of Dan. He waived the white flag on the refs like a class guy but boy oh boy they should have been blasted and he should have taken the fine.

 

[Kembacity]

Solo was his own worst enemy last night. I’m not complaining about fouls on us it’s the non calls against us which were obvious

100% this, I don’t think any UConn fans think the fouls need to be perfectly even, nor that we weren’t playing very physical, I feel we all understand we were fouling a lot. There were a few calls that shouldn’t have been fouls on us, like Demary around the screen, the solo charge in the first half, moving picks called on us but never on them.

But mostly it’s just allowing Michigan to play bruiser ball and not pick up fouls. The refs in the first half established that Michigan could get away with clear slaps on arms and wrists, shoving dudes to the ground and not get calls. We got ALL those calls, and on picks to make sure we don’t set picks as hard as we want to.

Yes the second half was called more evenly, and yes we had chances to come back or tie the game but didn’t shoot well. We could’ve found a path to a win, but if we did I’m sure the refs would’ve found a way to keep us under them.

Cadeau shouldn’t have been in the game at the end, he should’ve been in consistent foul trouble as bad or worse than Silas. Love this team, proud of the achievement of lasting to the title game, but man… I feel so bad for our guys and need them to know those of us with eyes saw how poorly that game was called. Biggest game of the sport

 

[YukonDolt6]

He needs to be more vocal going forward.

Client Challenge

 

[JohnFSilver]

27-2 without Breeding.

7-4 with Breeding.

How on earth did we get 11 games with this dude? Also, I stole the numbers from John Silver so they might be wrong.

Anyway.

I did the math!!!!! Calculator took awhile.

 

[Donyell 360]

I’ve already seen some of the clips on X and several of the calls are a disgrace. I hope someone puts together a series of every call on us and the non-calls for Michigan. I know we foul a lot but the calls appeared to be inconsistent.

Yes, that would be helpful because frankly I have a hard time believing biased fans who are clearly motivated to see it a certain way. It is interesting that he refereed 4 of our 6 losses this year, but that could be just a function of his foul calling style being a bad matchup for our fouling style. Seeing the plays linked in series and compared would be helpful. I would be very interested in that. Is there a way to tell which official called each foul? Is there a way to tell whether Breading was in position to see a non-called foul? It seems very difficult and easy to cherry pick the plays that fit your narrative either way. But again, would love to see someone try.

I think the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Breading probably did cost us a few calls that with another ref might have gone the other way and in a close game, that might have made the difference. But after watching UConn steal two championships in 2011 & 2014, it is hard to complain too much about getting a bad draw, but I get it. It would have been sweet to win that 7th.