Lets talk about....fouls

[3rdbass]

I remember hearing or reading that Hurley would lightly call fouls in practice to prepare the team for Big East play.

Think the combination of that and our team being more shooters than rim attackers can lead to foul discrepancy.

Newton was the only guy in those back to back runs that really drove well enough to draw fouls and get to the line. Possibly Castle too but his useage wasn’t as high.

Cam was actually pretty good driving too and creating offense inside. That team had great options with Cam, Newton and Castle with the ability to drive and create havoc. We really have not had this past 2 years but Smith is definitely trying to do that to create offense for others.

 

[gsmooth]

We need to sell the grabbing more. Make the cut and throw your head and shoulders back. Flail your arms. Do whatever you can to draw attention to it.

Alex should try to backdoor on that cut -- going over the screener helps the defender conceal the grab, but if he cuts hard the other way it will be clear as day that he's being held.

If that doesn't work, hit their arms/hands when they grab you. If they keep grabbing your shirt their arms should be so sore by the end of the game that they can't raise them up to shoot.

Interesting you say. Ray Allen was very good with the hand fighting when moving without the ball. I remember Derek Fisher was trying to hold him and Ray just tossed Fisher to the floor 😅.

 

[auror]

How about doing it without blatantly throwing your knee out and setting them correctly so you don't pick up a cheap foul? I don't know just a thought.

If you want them to correctly set illegal screens, then I agree.

 

[homunculus]

It is because WE FOUL WAY MORE THAN OUR OPPONENTS.

The funny thing about that is WE DON’T.

 

[Austin316]

I think it’s mostly to do with our offensive style, movement, and screens. It’s often a battle tip in with 50:50 foul depending on how good their big is or it’s a play drawn up for a 3. I feel like we haven’t seen much dribble drives into traffic. Our guys are pretty smart about that. I figured Demary would do more of that like Newton or Castle but I think we’ll see it more as the season progresses and his confidence goes up.

 

[boog204]

Braylon Mullins has his shirt held in from of the entire MSG crowd and there is no call. It does make one wonder.

Sure did. And Silas blatantly pushed off on an and-1. We could go eye for eye all game. Bottom line: the officiating sucks, usually for both teams, and it's pointless to cry about it every game. The chat is painful this way. Every single play is some egregious foul against us or a terrible foul call on us.

 

[RashadRay11]

The funny thing about that is WE DON’T.

We objectively do.

 

[prankster]

We objectively do.

And right here is where the debate becomes irreconcilable.

The officials call the fouls and it is only that data that is ever recorded. So, from that perspective we "objectively" commit more fouls.

When the argument is that the fouls that should be called are not called, it renders the argument "subjective", since that is what the observer has seen, but is never quantified.

I apologize for stepping in.

By all means, please continue.

 

[uh-no]

We objectively do.

The stupid fouls going for low percentage plays like certain steals or blocks on fast breaks....

 

[RashadRay11]

The stupid fouls going for low percentage plays like certain steals or blocks on fast breaks....

Which are the easiest to call and the most obvious, and we do it so very much. I love our guys, but we just do foul a lot. And very clear obvious ones at that.

 

[housekeys]

Bottom line: the officiating sucks, usually for both teams,

If the bottom line is that "officiating sucks, usually for both teams", which is true since fans of all teams complain, then there should not be a FTA discrepancy as wide as it is for UConn. But there is.

 

[RashadRay11]

If the bottom line is that "officiating sucks, usually for both teams", which is true since fans of all teams complain, then there should not be a FTA discrepancy as wide as it is for UConn. But there is.

That’s factually untrue. We do not drive to the basket much at all, which is how most free throws happen. Nothing in the rules says teams need to have the same amount of free throw attempts. If we foul teams on shot attempts more than they foul us on shot attempts, they will shoot more free throws.

 

[DisabledVet]

A well played game is where you score more than the other team, out rebound them, cause more turovers than you commit and use all of your fouls and timeouts. The opposition should depart the court bathed in tears and you should clutch their cheerleaders to your bosom.

 

[alphasigko]

Just too much reaching in by all of our players.

 

[uconnfan68]

I agree. We don’t drive to the hoop enough. And, we don’t force TOs and get out and run enough either.

We're mostly not quick enough.

 

[housekeys]

That’s factually untrue. We do not drive to the basket much at all, which is how most free throws happen. Nothing in the rules says teams need to have the same amount of free throw attempts. If we foul teams on shot attempts more than they foul us on shot attempts, they will shoot more free throws.

Facts? Go look at the shot chart on ESPN for the Florida/UConn game. Count the number of shots from outside the 3-pt line for both Florida and UConn. I think you will find 15 v 16, Using the box score shows 15 v 18 for 3PT. In this game we are as much a "perimeter" oriented team as Florida. Either way, while I agree we play a different style and perhaps more conducive to fewer calls, it is not the reason. The refs simply "call" more possible fouls on UConn and simply do not "call" as many, possible fouls, on the other team. It is rather striking.

 

[RashadRay11]

Facts? Go look at the shot chart on ESPN for the Florida/UConn game. Count the number of shots from outside the 3-pt line for both Florida and UConn. I think you will find 15 v 16, Using the box score shows 15 v 18 for 3PT. In this game we are as much a "perimeter" oriented team as Florida. Either way, while I agree we play a different style and perhaps more conducive to fewer calls, it is not the reason. The refs simply "call" more possible fouls on UConn and simply do not "call" as many, possible fouls, on the other team. It is rather striking.

A shot chart shows nothing, show me all the shots UConn took that Florida fouled on that weren't called. Show me any of them.

The whole "the refs hate UConn" consipiracy is painfully lame.

 

[Scottobot]

Often a topic after every game. Many complain, many others say "stop complaining"
Whatever your side, one thing is clear:
This team, as well as the two natty teams under Dan Hurley, shoots less foul shots than their opponents quite often.

Why?

Our offensive style?
Defensive style?
Lack of discipline?
Anti-UConn bias?

To claim it's a combination of these doesnt come close to explaining such huge disparities between us and the other teams.

What's going on with the whistle?

The refs in the Big East conference love to call the following:
1. Offensive Moving screen fouls
2. Fouls on guards driving to rim

They almost never call fouls on
1: a defender grabbing a moving player on offense away from the ball

These 3 habits by Big East refs lead to the huge disparity because UConn runs a motion offense and refs will never call the defender grabbing the guy moving without the ball. On the flip side if the guy setting the screen so much as wiggles his nose they call a moving screen foul.

Finally if a player has a reputation of being a strong driver and finisher (important they have to be an established player like Newton who does this regularly), the ref will calla foul on drives to the hoop atleast half the time. They will not do this for a player that rarely drives to hoop.

The Florida game was different. we couldn’t get rebound and eventually fouled their big guys. Refs in Florida game in my opinion were fair but, made many mistakes that hurt both teams.

 

[Lafayette]

Seems like it's by design of our offensive philosophy:

While we run circles to get open looks, we also utilize Reed or Reibe inlet passes early in games. We rotate every player out for some minutes as Malachi / Reibe / Stewart / Ross can go in almost plug and play for starters to rest. Then late in games we drive more since we're not as winded as our opponents it helps us gain a step.

On defense, we do foul a lot and most are silly. We use our hands too much. We move on a screen once or twice a game. We unnecessarily foul when we are beaten to the hoop.

 

[housekeys]

A shot chart shows nothing, show me all the shots UConn took that Florida fouled on that weren't called. Show me any of them.

I can't because they are not called and therefore, by definition, they do not show up in a box score. If you are a ref, what a wonderful way to hide your incompetence.

The whole "the refs hate UConn" consipiracy is painfully lame.

Relax. You said the reason for the discrepancy is that we do not drive inside and therefore we are called for fewer fouls. Clearly the facts I pointed to dispute what you said.

 

[Jaydumo20]

The refs in the Big East conference love to call the following:
1. Offensive Moving screen fouls
2. Fouls on guards driving to rim

They almost never call fouls on
1: a defender grabbing a moving player on offense away from the ball

These 3 habits by Big East refs lead to the huge disparity because UConn runs a motion offense and refs will never call the defender grabbing the guy moving without the ball. On the flip side if the guy setting the screen so much as wiggles his nose they call a moving screen foul.

Finally if a player has a reputation of being a strong driver and finisher (important they have to be an established player like Newton who does this regularly), the ref will calla foul on drives to the hoop atleast half the time. They will not do this for a player that rarely drives to hoop.

The Florida game was different. we couldn’t get rebound and eventually fouled their big guys. Refs in Florida game in my opinion were fair but, made many mistakes that hurt both teams.

Good point. They were fair in that they let a lot of fouls go for both sides. I also dont really disagree with all the fouls called on us. Maybe one or two on BM.

I sometimes play a game with myself, when im watching non-uconn games, pretending to be a fan of an arbitary team to see if this phenomenon is true:
The other team gets all the whistles
The other team is more disciplined.
The other team has better players/scorers.

It never fails. Try it. Even when we win we seem to think the other team just looked better.

 

[UCan3]

Often a topic after every game. Many complain, many others say "stop complaining"
Whatever your side, one thing is clear:
This team, as well as the two natty teams under Dan Hurley, shoots less foul shots than their opponents quite often.

Why?

Our offensive style?
Defensive style?
Lack of discipline?
Anti-UConn bias?

To claim it's a combination of these doesnt come close to explaining such huge disparities between us and the other teams.

What's going on with the whistle?

I would love to see the foul discrepancy in the NCAA tournament.

Something seems to get better than - and I don’t think it’s just us.

I do see us this year taking unnecessary lunges at the ball when players are 15 ft from the basket. So some of this is on us but I think trying to be objective, like the other night, that was obviously biased officiating.

 

[Scottobot]

The thing that drives me most crazy about college bball refs are the moving screen fouls. I feel like it should be obvious and blatant to call an offensive foul and make a turnover.

 

[Derucky]

Often a topic after every game. Many complain, many others say "stop complaining"
Whatever your side, one thing is clear:
This team, as well as the two natty teams under Dan Hurley, shoots less foul shots than their opponents quite often.

Why?

Our offensive style?
Defensive style?
Lack of discipline?
Anti-UConn bias?

To claim it's a combination of these doesnt come close to explaining such huge disparities between us and the other teams.

What's going on with the whistle?

Refs gotta keep 'em close to the spread if they can help it.