Refs and Announcers

[chrissaran]

The foul didn't disappear. It wasn't on her. It was on Littleton. The refs changed it right away.

Why didn't they call in on Littleton? Why did they have to change it? When did they have time to go to the monitor and review the play? In a game this important, you would think they would be more exact.

 

[kteach]

I'll give Dee Kantner a banner if she retires right now. I agree, the games are always as disjointed mess when she officiates.

 

[bballnut90]

Announcers werent great but they didn't irritate me too much. I will say I prefer when an announcer brings some energy since it does liven the game some. Back in the day Mike Patrick would announce Final Fours and I loved it since he brought great energy to the game and would basically react with how the crowd was feeling. His facts and knowledge weren't always great but I found his games a blast to watch. There is a fine line though between bringing energy and going overboard with it. A lot of announcers fall victim to trying too hard to hype up certain players or plays in general.

Refs last night were definitely inconsistent. I thought more calls went in SC's favor (and this is coming from someone rooting for SC) but it went both ways. Id like to say it hurt the flow of the game, but it really didn't since there just was never much flow at all.

In regards to the 4th foul on Boston that disappeared....watch the replay. Boston didn't foul Griffin. The refs correctly reassigned the foul to the player who did commit the foul. That's a good job by the reffing crew even if it is frustrating when it works against you sometimes.

 

[Buckaroobanzai]

This was a competitive, if poorly played, game. It reminded me of the very physical battles that raged between Rutgers and Uconn in the "old" Big East. I thought that Uconn, particularly Griffin, Muhl and Edwards, played hard-nosed and physically. It was a great win, reflective of how the Freshmen have started to "grow up." BUT, we must also confront the reality that, if Uconn faces South Carolina again, there is absolutely no way that Paige scores 30+ points. That leaves Coach with some work to do.

 

[cabbie191]

This was the first game this season that I was unhappy with the refereeing - don’t know if others feel the same way, but to me, looking at it in retrospect, I think the overall quality of officiating this year in an improvement over past years. And IMO, at least the calls were equally bad and inconsistent for both teams.

I so much prefer Culmo and Bestwick - they actually announce substitutions and who fouls are called against. And they acknowledge good plays and poor plays by both teams - Johnny Most biased they are not!

 

[MooseJaw]

I enjoyed them. OTOH, Culmo has me hitting mute more and more each game.

I thought they were terrible, little jokes that were total duds clucking at them on air. Was not announcing more like useless chit chat. Refs omg. I agree 100% on Culmo, can't keep quiet someone should tell her it's TV. Maybe she should go to radio. More but what's the point, she's not going anywhere.

 

[huskeynut]

The announcers left a lot to be desired. One was Lisa Byington. She has done other UConn games on FS1. The other I can't remember. Like too many announcers, they babble on and on. They miss giving the important information to the viewers, like who the foul was on. At least we didn't have to listen to Antonelli or "the coach" Carolyn Peck.

The officiating was inconsistent at best. Obvious fouls ignored. Ticky-tack fouls called. The feet apart rule was crazy.

Give me Bestwick and Culmo for any game.

 

[freekimchee]

I thought Mcnutt was such an unbelievably SCar homer! I almost forgot she went to Georgetown. I'd probably rank her 3rd after Antonelli and Peck as my least favorite to listen to.

 

[SVCBeercats]

The announcers apparently went to the Andy Landers pronunciation guide for Liv's name. The "color" person repeatedly shared an insightful "mmmmmm" in response to the action. I have not bothered to look her up but she was also WAY more familiar with SC than UConn. As usual, basic game-calling skills like identifying who the foul was on and how many they have was lost in the chat-fest most times. Makes me appreciate the Celtics' Mike Gorman all the more. A true pro who DOES do his homework, he did a few Sun games with Rebecca years ago and was great.

See at your second word "announcers" is where you went wrong. Today there are few announcers. Last night those two were "entertaining personalities." Not announcers. You can thank Rune Arlidge. The man who turned turned sports into pure entertainment.

 

[Zinethar]

I thought the refs did not do a good job last night. Fans in general will not like the refs no matter what but usually accept they did OK if there was an even amount of calls on both sides and that the calls are consistant and don't interfere with the game flow for the most part. None of that happened last night so therefore the did not do a good job at least in the minds of anyone subjected to watching them. As for the announcers or whatever you wish to label them as I didn't notice anything horrible other tha I could not understand why they seemed so biased against UConn. UConn is the Fox sports school not SC so one would think any bias would be the other way. I jut re-watched the game and listened this time and wow were they one sided. Weird. They had virtually no real knowledge of UConn players or style but were very informed on SC (and really loved Boston). Offended me way more on the second hearing. I would have expected that from a home team telecast but think SNY tries to be a bit more fair (sometimes frustrating me ).

 

[Alydar]

When Kantner shows up for a big UConn game, I feel a bit more nervous. I replayed the segments where illegal screens were called and they were bogus calls, in my opinion. From a coach`s perspective, how do you teach a player to set a screen now - what are the rules, exactly? Too wide??? That would have put an end to Wayne Embry`s career. Maybe Wes Unseld too.

The announcers last night were not good. The second announcer droned on and on in a monotone and did not say one thing that was at all interesting. At least I don`t think she did, after a while it was just background noise. She also didn`t do a very good job of hiding a pro South Carolina bias. (Why exactly would she be "worried" about a foul call on Boston?)

Here`s the rule, announcers - when a foul is called, at least interrupt your boring story long enough to tell us who the foul is on, how many fouls on that player, and how many team fouls for the quarter. In fact, if that is all you do, I would be very happy.

I've found that muting the sound, playing music and having the stats link on the monitor to my left makes for much less frustration. Since the game is delayed due to streaming I immediately know who the foul is on and how many they have. The only drawback is missing all those "marvelous" stories.

 

[Zinethar]

I think we get exactly what the networks want from the commentators on the women's games. Instead of a play-by-play and a color announcer we get two commentators who they think can interact well together to add "spice" and information to the game. The more I think about it the more offended I become. They do this because they assume the viewers are casual uninformed watchers that know little about the women's game. That is patently untrue. As much as we all would like the viewing audience to be newcomers the truth usually is that it is the followers of the two teams and their friends and relatives as well as hard core followers of women's basketball. These people do not want what they are giving and it is not helping the sport.

 

[Huskee11]

I've found that muting the sound, playing music and having the stats link on the monitor to my left makes for much less frustration. Since the game is delayed due to streaming I immediately know who the foul is on and how many they have. The only drawback is missing all those "marvelous" stories.

I may take your advice.

Would this be an appropriate selection? It seems appropriate. Goin' off the rails on a crazy train.....

 

[Alydar]

This was a competitive, if poorly played, game. It reminded me of the very physical battles that raged between Rutgers and Uconn in the "old" Big East. I thought that Uconn, particularly Griffin, Muhl and Edwards, played hard-nosed and physically. It was a great win, reflective of how the Freshmen have started to "grow up." BUT, we must also confront the reality that, if Uconn faces South Carolina again, there is absolutely no way that Paige scores 30+ points. That leaves Coach with some work to do.

First, not likely but still possible. And Bueckers' best skill is her passing. I thought S Car took away driving lanes from her early. Three times she drove part way and saw Boston waiting and wisely backed out. In the second half and in the late stages she adjusted to shooting 10-15' pullups, not giving Boston a chance at blocking.
I think UConn has a huge edge in scoring ability. They took SC's entire transition scoring away yesterday. Zero fast break pts for SCar. A lot of that was the freshmen getting back on defense.
My best takeaway is the way the freshmen didn't wilt in their first high-level game.

 

[BostonBay]

Announcers were noticeably poor, imo. I felt like I was listening to a play-by-play Gamer commentary on Twitch, as opposed to a #1 vs. #2 seed matchup.

 

[seeya27]

I thought the announcing was indicative of a network that doesn't cover women's basketball on a regular basis.

True enough. But Fox knows sports -- and they now have the most valuable property in the wen's game. With a weak slate of games in opposite timeslots, it's obvious the game is going to draw new eyeballs. So instead, bring your "A" game with A announcers and some hype.

This is one of the top games on the women's schedule this year. Do it right and it will yield larger audiences down the road. And put this commentary team on the Butler/Prov game.

 

[chrissaran]

You can crush them all you want, but the two best announcers of UConn games were Doris Burke and Dave O'Brien. They talked about the game, it's intricacies, and they made the game interesting!

 

[chrissaran]

Why didn't they call in on Littleton? Why did they have to change it? When did they have time to go to the monitor and review the play? In a game this important, you would think they would be more exact.

I didn't see where they changed it right away.

 

[EricLA]

I'll give Dee Kantner a banner if she retires right now. I agree, the games are always as disjointed mess when she officiates.

Ask Dawn to do it - SC is really good about dishing out rando banners.

 

[UcMiami]

Got to say that I turn off the sound on most sports telecasts these days, not just the WCBB games. I think it all started with the original MNF broadcasts and adding a third person in that booth - suddenly the idea of sports announcer as celebrity and entertainer became the 'new thing' and the actual sporting contest became a backdrop for the 'personality'. And it has been downhill ever since. A slow game like baseball where 80% of the airtime is spent watching the pitcher walk around the mound and the batter adjusting their batting gloves, helmet, jock strap, and then stepping out to do it all over again leaves plenty of dead action to fill with colorful stories. But basketball and other sports are constant action and it would be nice to actual get information about the game from the announcers.

One thing I did figure out and have succeeded in doing for a few Uconn games is syncing up the streaming radio with the streaming or dvr delayed broadcast (there is usually a delay between one or the other and if you pause one for 5 or 10 seconds you can get them synced.) The radio may have a bit too much info when watching the video, but they at least have to broadcast everything that is happening.

As for the refs - yeah, I thought they have been acceptable so far, but not in this game - I get that they are focused on the walk call this year, but ignoring Boston's numerous charges as she sent multiple players flying was pretty bad, and suddenly deciding to call all the feet too wide screens when they are usually only called when they are blatant - ugh. I thought they also missed a few submarines jobs on rebounders (Edward was taken out a few times that way.)

I think Geno needs to get back to riding the refs like he used to - seemed to me SC and Dawn were more effective at it!

 

[Matty722]

The officiating was inconsistent. I feel as though we see this more and more as the years go on. I get the screening rule, but apply it consistently throughout the game to both teams. They let it go for stretches and then decide to get foul happy at times. It is definitely frustrating and we are just the fans - imagine how the coaches feel (especially CD who I would imagine works on screening with the team). I always say call it the entire game if you’re going to make certain calls. It also aggravates me when they let overly physical play go and then call “ticky-tack fouls”. Boston shoving the hell out of Edwards multiple times is the overly physical play I’m talking about - Edwards is a very physical/strong player, so if she gets shoved down, it is 9/10 overly physical and needs to be called. In my opinion, you have to protect the players on both teams - don’t let it get overly physical because that is when players can get hurt. However, at the same time, you want to let the players use their physical attributes. It is honestly a lose-lose situation many times.

As for the announcers - definitely not great to listen to during a big game. When I saw Monica McNutt was going to commentate, I thought “ugh”. I did not like her at Georgetown, especially after UConn beat them in 2011 Sweet Sixteen. In the postgame press conference, I did not like her attitude. She did not really say anything bad, but I felt like she had a bratty attitude. I do get that her career had just ended and anyone who is a competitor would not be happy, but you can still handle yourself better than what I remember of her during that press conference. It just made me have a sour impression of her that still stands today (yes it is probably petty, I won’t deny that ?).

While I was not happy with her commentating, I also do not like to hear Caroline Peck. She is my least favorite on ESPN. She mispronounces names all the time and it just drives me insane. Mark Jones was another I couldn’t stand years ago (constantly using the same phrases over and over as well as wanting everyone to know how smart he is by using big vocabulary words that do not belong in a basketball game). I like Ryan Rucco and Rebecca Lobo, but that’s usually only WNBA time. I agree with an earlier post that we definitely need better commentators - it really does women’s basketball a disservice.

Ok that’s my rant. I’m done now ?.

 

[tower1]

I really enjoyed the color commentator. Monica Mcnutt ? Thought she was funny and her reactions spontaneous not cliche. Wasn’t it her that said “wha, WHAT????” In response to Paiges 3 pointer.

They all sucked. I turned the volume off so that I would not throw up !

 

[uconnfan68]

I'll give Dee Kantner a banner if she retires right now. I agree, the games are always as disjointed mess when she officiates.

A+. She’s horrible. Every game she does is one-sided against us. Didn’t recognize her with her mask, but I did mention to my wife that some refs just need to be the center of attention... and sure enough, there’s DK.

 

[tower1]

The announcers left a lot to be desired. One was Lisa Byington. She has done other UConn games on FS1. The other I can't remember. Like too many announcers, they babble on and on. They miss giving the important information to the viewers, like who the foul was on. At least we didn't have to listen to Antonelli or "the coach" Carolyn Peck.

The officiating was inconsistent at best. Obvious fouls ignored. Ticky-tack fouls called. The feet apart rule was crazy.

Give me Bestwick and Culmo for any game.

Culmo, No thanks !

 

[Big East Fa]

I thought the announcing was indicative of a network that doesn't cover women's basketball on a regular basis.

Lisa Byington does women's basketball on a regular basis.