Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Referee Ed Hightower drew lots of cheers and a few laughs from the Missouri crowd Saturday night after exaggerating hand symbols for several foul calls he made. It’s unlikely the Jayhawk players were laughing, though; referees have caused them trouble all season.
If Kansas loses tonight against Iowa State at 7 p.m. or anytime this season, the Jayhawks might look to the referees as the biggest reason for the loss and not the opponent. Kansas has struggled in tightly officiated games this year. The team’s four closest victories, against Southern California, Georgia Tech, Arizona and Missouri, have been foul-filled, grind-it-out battles.
Referees whistled 45 total fouls on Arizona and Kansas players in November, 40 at USC, 44 at Georgia Tech and a whopping 52 on Saturday in the Missouri game. In blowouts against Oklahoma, Boston College and Nebraska, referees called 35 fouls or less. Against Ohio in December, a physical game according to Kansas coach Bill Self, only 23 fouls were called.
The Kansas basketball team has been receiving questionable calls from referees in tight games, such as the November game against Arizona, shown here. Referees have given the Jayhawks trouble all season.
A large number of fouls slows the pace of the game, and senior forward Darnell Jackson said it was particularly costly for the Jayhawks.
“We like to get out and run, try to get easy layups in transition and get lobs,” Jackson said.
Fouls, by Kansas or by its opponents, prevent that from happening. In the four close victories, the Jayhawks have averaged just 67 points per game in regulation. The team is averaging 87 points per game in all its other victories.
A quick whistle can cause players to become less aggressive on the defensive end, which means fewer steals and fewer points in transition. More foul calls also lead to more players getting into foul trouble. Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush all picked up two fouls in the first half against Missouri and had to sit on the bench for significant time. Russell Robinson stayed out of foul trouble first half, but he had to lead a depleted team that didn’t have some of its top scorers on the floor.
“Guys start thinking a lot more, which takes away from our offense and defense,” Robinson said. “And when you start thinking foul, you get out of your rhythm. But part of this game is adjusting to the referees, so we have to look to do that in the future.”
Self isn’t as concerned about the number of fouls called during a game as he is with the number of free throw attempts for his team. He said as long as the Jayhawks shot more foul shots than their opponent, especially on the road, his team should hold the advantage. And that’s been the case in three of the four close victories. Kansas went to the charity stripe more often than Missouri, Georgia Tech and Arizona. Kansas tied USC in free throw attempts.
“If you shoot more free throws than your opponent on the road,” Self said, “then you probably haven’t fouled near as much as one would lead you to believe you had.”
Still, the Jayhawks appear to be vulnerable in games where the officials have a quick whistle. It’s impossible to tell how the referees will officiate tonight’s game, but Iowa State has an imposing starting lineup with four players taller than 6-foot-6. They’ll likely play a physical style, and if the referees don’t want to allow that kind of rough play, they could whistle plenty of fouls.
“If they call it a close game and both teams are fouling.” Jackson said. “We just have to be ready for whatever they throw at us.”
—Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
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Comments
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
I'm a Jayhawk fan and I've seen their games. Specifically, which calls were questionable? Based on the headline, I expected an expose that mentioned particular bad calls by referees.
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
Stop whining. You are undeafeated. if you are a far superior team, the foul situation shouldn't come into play. Learn what the referees call, don't complain, use it to your advantage!
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Bad calls AGAINST KU? I almost choked on my coffee. Watch KU's guards bump, slap and shove opposing guards on the perimeter with no calls, and thank your lucky stars you're KU. What they're doing is actually CALLING THE FOULS YOU COMMIT on rare occasions. Deal with a level playing field, even if it only pops up a few times a game.
Calls against KU. Oooooh, man. That was shameless.
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
This from the school paper of a school where between a two shot free throw situation the Kansas player rebounds the first shot and goes to the other end and shoots (makes it) and the freakin' score is counted?
Gimme a break and whine about something that might be true. Like the fact ISU (Not Iowa like the articale states) has more wins in fog alin field house than any other big XXII team. (The mispelling is intentional).
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
free throws in the MU game were:
KU 45 MU 22
MU was outscored at the line by 17 points in a 6 point loss. I understand your frustration in only beating MU by 6. But you've got the ref thing exactly backwards
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
Someone please tell me why fans of other schools are reading the UDK? Don't these other schools have papers of their own for these fans to read? Perhaps it is because these fans are obsessed with KU, which usually happens with superior teams.
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
I agree SoonerHawk. What are all these non-KU people doing posting here?
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
Really? I mean, seriously? Kansas is undefeated and having a great season thus far, and you are complaining about the referees--proposing that in the event Kansas does lose one it will most likely be because of the officiating? As a long time sports fan and recreational writer myself, this may be one of the most ridiculous articles I have ever read. I mean, it's embarrassing enough to a program when someone associated with it blames the officials after a LOSS, let alone making prophetic predictions about a future, hypothetical loss. Why would you start making excuses for a team that thus far needs none? The most common knock I hear on Kasnas fans is they are a bunch of whiney babies, and this takes it to a new level: "PREEMPTIVE whiney babies". I'm not saying basketball officials are perfect, they are not. It is arguably the single most difficult sport to officiate as many calls could go either way, and regardless of which split-second decision they make half of the arena is going to be upset. Bill Self is "not as worried" about the calls as he is his team's free-throw shooting because he understands the former is pointless and the latter is what actually determines outcomes in games. I'm pretty sure there is no anti-KU conspiracy going on, so how about you just enjoy the perfect season and start crying about a loss when and if you actually incur one?
PS - In the event Kansas at some point does end up on the short end of some absolutely inexplicable decision making, you can rock chalk it up to karma for allowing Kansas into the Orange Bowl.
Questionable referee calls hinder Kansas’ chance for a fair game
Let's glance at the personal foul numbers:
KU 20, Zona 25 KU 20, USC 20 KU 22, GTech 22 KU 22, MU 30 KU 17, ISU 17
Mark and Matt, do you watch basketball? Can either of you interpret a stat sheet, or have you even bothered trying?
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