Mike DiMauro: The women's game, officially, has a problem

[Mattydog]

Good points, OC. I think the six fouls would make for better games. I also liked Baggerbob's idea of additional refs at the end line. But the bottom line is, nothing is going to change until the NCCA and Barb Jacobs recognize that there even IS a problem...I don't think they see it, and if they do, they won't admit it. And as long as they have shills like Burke and ESPN, they'll continue on their merry way.

Bring back Sally Bell.

 

[cardfan]

Bring back Sally Bell.

OMG. No.

did you know she is head of SEC officiating?

 

[cohenzone]

The Big East was among a few leagues that experimented with a six foul rule for the men in the late 1980-s for a year. Here are brief articles on the initiation and then the demise of the rule.

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-10/sports/sp-312_1_big-east

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1003331.html

 

[wire chief]

Ambiguousness?

Also there has been much written that the NBA refs "protect" stars. Shaq as one example.

 

[ScarlettB]

It is the inconsistency that gets to me. What is called one time, is not called the next. In some games the officiating changes so drastically from the first half to the second, I swear somebody give the refs a pep-talk at half time "You aren't blowing the whistles enough. You have those things around your neck for a reason. Use them!"

I think most teams can deal with a game called tightly or called in the "play on" mode as long as it is done consistently from the start of the game to the end, and the standard is applied equally to both teams. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to go out for the second half and all of sudden what wasn't called in the first half is being called in the second.

Just like everyone else, there may be personality issues with coaches or performance competition among officials. It cannot be much different than any other working environment. In the case of Dennis DeMayo, his friendship with Geno may, on an subconcious level, lead him to give the other team more benefit of the doubt and UConn no such courtesy as a way to prove his friendship with Geno doesn't impact his officiating. In fact, that is exactly what is happening. I have seen Dennis do other games, and think, on the whole he is a very good ref. Just not when he does UConn games. He should move to another conference, or recuse himself from doing UConn games because he and Geno have such a long, friendly history.

Dennis would never be asked to recuse himself and I'm sure Barbara Jacobs has no problem with his relationship with Geno. The RU / Marquette game in the 2011 season was ref'd by Kathy Ridella who was a college teammate of Terri Mitchell (Marquette head coach). I contacted Barbara Jacobs to ask if the Big East was aware of this and if it didn't pose a conflict of interest. She responded that they were aware of it and it wasn't a problem as Kathy and Terri were no longer in contact. Personally, I would think she has either positive or negative feelings about a former teammate and although she might be able to put personal feelings aside when doing her job, letting her ref a game in which Terri is the head coach at least gives the perception that the officiating could be biased.

 

[phil sampieri]

Ambiguousness?

Also there has been much written that the NBA refs "protect" stars. Shaq as one example.

 

[phil sampieri]

The Big East was among a few leagues that experimented with a six foul rule for the men in the late 1980-s for a year. Here are brief articles on the initiation and then the demise of the rule.

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-10/sports/sp-312_1_big-east

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1003331.html

watching Griner get absolutely mugged in the post with very few calls last night really showed how there is a bias by refs. I'm a &UC fan but right is right

 

[boontonbomber]

the game has simply gotten too physical. first it was the men, now the women. if all contact was called, the games would probably end with one team running out of players. as they've let the game evolve this way, it's become just about impossible for the officials to keep up, and call games in a consistent manner. i don't really see the men's game called much more consistently than the women's. it's a mystery why some things are called, and others are let go. and coaches at all levels, from junior high school thru the pros, spend a great deal of time yelling at the officials( along with the parents, fans, etc.). i like Deb Antonelli's suggestion to protect the shooter, and let them play.

 

[magic]

Jenkins: "Let's face it: In the women's Final Four, you don't know what's legal from one possession to another."

Jenkins: "You see missed calls and mistakes by men's NCAA refs. What you don't see is rugby on one end and badminton on the other. That's the women."

Jenkins: "Doris Burke and ESPN need to quit bailing out the atrocious officials."

LINK

Two things bother me in the women's game:
1) Allowing teams to grab, push and hold cutters in the lane . That's not the way defense is supposed to be played. But, it allows less talented teams to stay in the game.
2) Watching players having to rebound with one arm , because the other arm is being held. I see this way too often, and usually an official is standing right there.

 

[Kibitzer]

I'm sorry, but I have to make a Dennis comment (in general). At one time Dennis may have been one of the best refs - like everyone else, I don't see enough games to know for sure. But I do see enough - over the past 16 years - to feel that Dennis' work has deteriorated.

Incidently, I am working on a spreadsheet of the assignments (quantity, conferences, etc.) done by the referees that worked over 75 games. Most are familiar names, and include Dennis. Will be a while for the results, will post when done.

I like what you are doing. I am concerned about the composition of the "officiating crews" that show up for each game.

For better or worse (I think better) the officiating crews in major league baseball and the NFL are permanent teams that not only work games together but also travel, confer, etc., as a team. I believe the NHL and NBA do the same but I am not certain.

The officiating crews in wcbb are ad hoc, changing from game to game, night after night. To make it worse, there seems to be a very conscious effort to apply a 2-1 rule. By that I mean, two officials of one type (male or female) and one of the other. I even sense that race comes into play, as it seems that there is always at least one black or white official and the other(s) of the other race. If my observations are accurate, it's crazy. Who really cares if all three refs are male or female, black or white, so long as they are competent and consistent. Again, if my observations are accurate, the people doing the scheduling are jumping through hoops (pun intended) to get this 2-1 ratio, game after game.

Add the travel, then the lack of familiarity of refs with one another, and you have what we have: chaos.

I won't even touch upon what happens in OOC games, when visiting teams meet refs who traditionally work in one conference or one geographical area.

What a mess!