College Basketball 2022-2023

[Rex Buckingham]

Both Big 10 games I watched this weekend - Illinois/Rutgers, NW/Purdue - featured the refs swallowing the whistle and allowing hand-to-hand combat. There seemed to be contact on every single shot attempt. Illinois/Rutgers stayed aesthetically pleasing, but that second half of NW/Purdue was as hard to watch as a rock fight.

 

One of the speculated reasons for the Big 10 not living up to expectations in the Tournament has been that the rest of college basketball does not officiate games the way the Big 10 does. Every year the Big 10 says it’s going to clean the game up, and every year by the end of the season, it’s right back to caveman basketball.

 

And it's especially crazy, because a week ago they were calling EVERYTHING in the Illinois-Iowa game

[gflore34]

Last season Big Ten officiating basically allowed a pounding of Kofi and by extension the whole of the Illini, it's no coincidence they were the walking wounded come tournament time. This year, like Kofi, the officiating is permitting some of the same treatment of Edey and probably the rest of the Boilermakers. What I do not understand is why the officiating swallows their whistles for these big guys?

[gflore34]

Both Big 10 games I watched this weekend - Illinois/Rutgers, NW/Purdue - featured the refs swallowing the whistle and allowing hand-to-hand combat. There seemed to be contact on every single shot attempt. Illinois/Rutgers stayed aesthetically pleasing, but that second half of NW/Purdue was as hard to watch as a rock fight.

 

One of the speculated reasons for the Big 10 not living up to expectations in the Tournament has been that the rest of college basketball does not officiate games the way the Big 10 does. Every year the Big 10 says it’s going to clean the game up, and every year by the end of the season, it’s right back to caveman basketball.

 

And it's especially crazy, because a week ago they were calling EVERYTHING in the Illinois-Iowa game

 

Or the earlier game vs. Northwestern, Wildcats shot an absurd number of free throws in that game, 40 to the Illini' 10. I'm not saying the Illini didn't commit any fouls but come on, that one-sided, against a team playing a fairly physical brand of defensive basketball?

[fromthestretch]

Last season Big Ten officiating basically allowed a pounding of Kofi and by extension the whole of the Illini, it's no coincidence they were the walking wounded come tournament time. This year, like Kofi, the officiating is permitting some of the same treatment of Edey and probably the rest of the Boilermakers. What I do not understand is why the officiating swallows their whistles for these big guys?

 

It's almost like they're penalizing those guys for simply being big, like they think "he's big, he can handle getting hit more than smaller players." The whistle should be blown when there is a foul, regardless of who fouled or who was fouled. If Edey turns and elbows someone in the head, call a foul. If guys are hanging off his arms while he's trying to rebound, call a foul.

[Cubswin11]

Last season Big Ten officiating basically allowed a pounding of Kofi and by extension the whole of the Illini, it's no coincidence they were the walking wounded come tournament time. This year, like Kofi, the officiating is permitting some of the same treatment of Edey and probably the rest of the Boilermakers. What I do not understand is why the officiating swallows their whistles for these big guys?

I think with the big guys there’s just always some sort of contact (whether it’s done by the big guy or a guy fouling the big guy), yes a foul is a foul, but if everything is called the game would basically come to a standstill. They can’t call everything, it’s like holding in football, they probably could call it on 80-90% of plays if they really wanted to. Is it right that not every foul is called, no, but get it somewhat.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Cubswin11

[Ding Dong Johnson]

There were 21 total fouls called in the Iowa/Purdue game. Edey and Rebraca each had about 27.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Last season Big Ten officiating basically allowed a pounding of Kofi and by extension the whole of the Illini, it's no coincidence they were the walking wounded come tournament time. This year, like Kofi, the officiating is permitting some of the same treatment of Edey and probably the rest of the Boilermakers. What I do not understand is why the officiating swallows their whistles for these big guys?

I think with the big guys there’s just always some sort of contact (whether it’s on the big guy or a guy fouling the big guy), yes a foul is a foul, but if everything is called the game would basically come to a standstill. They can’t call everything, it’s like holding in football, they probably could call it on 80-90% of plays if they really wanted to. Is it right that not every foul is called, no, but get it somewhat.

 

Building on this, I think guys like Edey and Kofi kinda break a ref's normal points of comparison. As you say, basketball has contact all the time, and the difference between good defense and a flagrant shove is often about how severe the contact is. I'm not a ref, but I imagine refs use the physical *reaction* to the contact as a big guide in understanding that severity. With Kofi and Edey, their size means they give out contact with significant reactions more often, and react to contact from others less than a smaller player would, which can create a dynamic where they're whistled more harshly and simultaneously not protected enough by whistles with the ball in their hand. You even saw this at the NBA level with certain freaks of nature, early career LeBron being one that sticks out in my mind.

[SouthSideRyan]

The thing is refs aren't conference exclusive, so this theory never really made sense to me.

 

The refs for NW/PU were Roger Ayers (8 Big Ten games out of 40 in-conference games ) Ron Groover (2 Big Ten games out of 44 in-conference games), and Clarence Armstrong (4 Big Ten games out of 41 in-conference games.

 

The 3 of them primarily ref ACC games, and there are guys that work majority of Big Ten games, but the crews just aren't consistent enough for there to be a set style IMO.

 

There's also the fact that the Big Ten hasn't really underperformed, just more of a statistical anomaly of not winning the title.

 

 

Big Ten has 2nd most final four appearances since MSU's title (14 or 16 depending on how Maryland's ACC appearances are counted, ACC has most with 16 or 19 depending on same idea of counting current teams or teams conference at the time.) They also have the most runner up finishes with 7 (no other conference with more than 3)

[champaignchris]

I don’t know how this Illinois-Indiana game is going to turn out, but if Illinois game out with this intensity every game, they’d be ranked in the top 5 and looking at a 1 or 2 seed in the Tourney.

[Derwood]

Does Chris Holtman survive this season?

[CubColtPacer]

I was able to catch the last 8 minutes of Indiana-Illinois. The refs called every single little thing the entire way down the stretch. It's been a long time since I've seen a game called that tightly. In that stretch, it hurt IU more than it did Illinois, but I think the calls themselves were pretty consistent.

[raw]

I was able to catch the last 8 minutes of Indiana-Illinois. The refs called every single little thing the entire way down the stretch. It's been a long time since I've seen a game called that tightly. In that stretch, it hurt IU more than it did Illinois, but I think the calls themselves were pretty consistent.

 

That was the only portion of the game where they were whistle happy.

 

It was a must win for IU. Being at home, and the difference between a win or loss being 3rd place in the conference vs like 9th place. Next 2 are at Michigan St and Purdue so also a potential 4 game losing streak if they lost today.

 

Sounds like Xavier Johnson is coming back before the month is over. And Race looks like he's close to 100% for the first time since his knee injury. Hopefully they can make a run in March. Amazing that they've been able to stay afloat with no true PG.

[mul21]

I was able to catch the last 8 minutes of Indiana-Illinois. The refs called every single little thing the entire way down the stretch. It's been a long time since I've seen a game called that tightly. In that stretch, it hurt IU more than it did Illinois, but I think the calls themselves were pretty consistent.

 

That was the only portion of the game where they were whistle happy.

 

It was a must win for IU. Being at home, and the difference between a win or loss being 3rd place in the conference vs like 9th place. Next 2 are at Michigan St and Purdue so also a potential 4 game losing streak if they lost today.

 

Sounds like Xavier Johnson is coming back before the month is over. And Race looks like he's close to 100% for the first time since his knee injury. Hopefully they can make a run in March. Amazing that they've been able to stay afloat with no true PG.

 

Yeah, that game was called entirely differently the last 7-8 minutes than it was the rest of the way. Just wildly inconsistent and frustrating to watch. Can't ask for a better look to tie the game in the final seconds for Illinois but Melendez has been ice cold since December unfortunately.

[Derwood]

With their lost to Penn State earlier this week, Ohio State has now lost to every school in the conference. They've also lost 9 straight and 13 of 14.

 

That's some delicious fail

[scarey]

I give up.

 

Everybody was right about Purdue. They're pretenders. They can't get it done when the pressure's on. They got lucky early season.

 

I horsefeathering hate rooting for Purdue.

[mul21]

I give up.

 

Everybody was right about Purdue. They're pretenders. They can't get it done when the pressure's on. They got lucky early season.

 

I horsefeathering hate rooting for Purdue.

 

Freshman guards man. Same problem Illinois is having. Tired legs, bad decisions, amped up pressure are all having a huge effect on those guys. The biggest thing I've notice in particular is Epps from Illinois can't get a 3 to drop to save his life at this point and he shot very well early in the season.

[scarey]

I give up.

 

Everybody was right about Purdue. They're pretenders. They can't get it done when the pressure's on. They got lucky early season.

 

I horsefeathering hate rooting for Purdue.

 

Freshman guards man. Same problem Illinois is having. Tired legs, bad decisions, amped up pressure are all having a huge effect on those guys. The biggest thing I've notice in particular is Epps from Illinois can't get a 3 to drop to save his life at this point and he shot very well early in the season.

 

Loyer falls in the same category. He was deadly from behind the line through the fist two weeks of January. I don't think yesterday had a lot to do with the Freshmen guards (Furst, Morton, Jenkins, and Gillis were a combined 1-10 from 3, the team missed 11 of 33 FTs), but you're not wrong with regard to this 6 game stretch.

 

Loyer actually had some good shot selection in the lane yesterday. He had at least 4 shots that went inside the cylinder and came back out. He seems really reluctant to shoot from 3.

 

Smith is still doing some very good things, but he had unbelievable poise for the first 24 games. He falls apart 2 or 3 times a game now.

 

The biggest problem that I'm seeing is teams are constantly fouling Purdue. It has obviously become the playbook against Purdue. Most get called, some don't. The team is losing it's composure as this happens. They need to take on the attitude that they are NOT going to get the calls and just accept it.

[fromthestretch]

I give up.

 

Everybody was right about Purdue. They're pretenders. They can't get it done when the pressure's on. They got lucky early season.

 

I horsefeathering hate rooting for Purdue.

 

Freshman guards man. Same problem Illinois is having. Tired legs, bad decisions, amped up pressure are all having a huge effect on those guys. The biggest thing I've notice in particular is Epps from Illinois can't get a 3 to drop to save his life at this point and he shot very well early in the season.

 

Loyer falls in the same category. He was deadly from behind the line through the fist two weeks of January. I don't think yesterday had a lot to do with the Freshmen guards (Furst, Morton, Jenkins, and Gillis were a combined 1-10 from 3, the team missed 11 of 33 FTs), but you're not wrong with regard to this 6 game stretch.

 

Loyer actually had some good shot selection in the lane yesterday. He had at least 4 shots that went inside the cylinder and came back out. He seems really reluctant to shoot from 3.

 

Smith is still doing some very good things, but he had unbelievable poise for the first 24 games. He falls apart 2 or 3 times a game now.

 

The biggest problem that I'm seeing is teams are constantly fouling Purdue. It has obviously become the playbook against Purdue. Most get called, some don't. The team is losing it's composure as this happens. They need to take on the attitude that they are NOT going to get the calls and just accept it.

 

The thing is, Purdue got plenty of open looks so it's not like the offense is completely failing. They just could not hit a damn shot. There are enough shooters on this team that I would have hoped they wouldn't all go cold at the same time, but that was obviously wishful thinking. The one good takeaway is Loyer getting back into double figures in scoring, even though he was cold from outside. He had been pretty much shut down the previous three games.

 

Smith seems a little hesitant to pull the trigger on open threes lately, and I wish he'd get some confidence back with respect to that. Percentage wise, he's the best three-point shooter on the roster.

 

Painter has to make some adjustments and get things back on track before the conference tournament.

[UMFan83]

I give up.

 

Everybody was right about Purdue. They're pretenders. They can't get it done when the pressure's on. They got lucky early season.

 

I horsefeathering hate rooting for Purdue.

 

Purdue reminds me of 2012-2013 Michigan. They brought back some returning players like Burke and Hardaway and had a great incoming freshman class. Ranked 5th going into the season, they started 20-1 and at one point were ranked number 1. Their defense then fell apart and they went 6-7 the rest of the season including getting knocked out early in the Big Ten tournament. They even lost to a Penn State team that went 2-16 in the conference. Over the last 2 weeks they dropped from a 1 seed to a 4 seed and their expectations were much lower (I remember everyone picking 5 seed VCU to upset them in the 2nd round), but they found another gear and went all the way to the championship game.

 

Not saying its a perfect comparison by any means and admittedly just drawing parallels without much actual analysis (though I know Purdue's defense has really dropped off lately similar to Michigan's) but just saying don't completely dismiss the early season performance or take too much stock in the late season lag. Expected to be a top team heading into the season, they played like it initially and then slipped before putting it back together. Sounds like Purdue so far.

[champaignchris]

This Illinois team is going to put Brad Underwood into the loony bin. (Us fans were already nuts.)

[mul21]

This Illinois team is going to put Brad Underwood into the loony bin. (Us fans were already nuts.)

 

The inconsistency is infuriating. See my comment above about freshman guards.

[champaignchris]

This Illinois team is going to put Brad Underwood into the loony bin. (Us fans were already nuts.)

 

The inconsistency is infuriating. See my comment above about freshman guards.

 

It’s been the inconsistency with the upperclassmen that’s been so maddening. The freshmen you expect, but you just don’t know what you’re going to get from game to game from Hawkins, Shannon and Mayer.

 

Those are supposed to be three future NBA guys, but they just disappear from time to time, or worse go through stretches of a complete loss of basketball I.Q.

[Rex Buckingham]

The biggest frustrations I have with Illinois this year are that 1. They keep taking like 25 3s a game, despite shooting under 30% in conference play, and 2. Their effort seems to come and go with no rhyme or reason. I'm convinced that the Michigan game will again have Illinois fans pulling out their hair, and that they'll turn around and beat Purdue in Mackey - giving them 3 great wins on the year in the middle of an otherwise meh tournament resume

[squally1313]

Illinois seems extraordinarily poorly coached

[bukie]

Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis finishes his college career with 3664 total points, 3 shy of Pete Maravich's NCAA record, as Detroit loses in their conference tournament. Davis finished the game with 22 points, missing a 3 at the buzzer.