Thoughts on officiating

SO I am nervous/excited for the game tomorrow, and while I hate to admit it, I think the officiating can go a long way in deciding the outcome in a game like this. At first, I have been nervous as to how much physical play and no calls have gone on over the last several weeks. Perhaps it is my blue-colored goggles, but it sure seems that teams have been allowed to be very physical with Jimmer that isn't consistent across the board. BYU shot 40+ free throws in the last game and I can see where the refs do not want a game like that. Is the 40+ free throws a result of the refs calling everything, or is it the result of something else. For example, in the first 9 minutes of the game, Colorado State had 4 fouls called. That seems like a fairly reasonable number, but I think they could have been called for quite a few more. Do they look at that and think that if they can play that physical, and only be called for 4 fouls, that they will continue to be physical because at that point it is worth the foul calls when you can get the turnovers and frustrate the other team? If they were called early for fouls, would they then be less hesistant to get as physical?



Another question I have is how will the game being on CBS effect the officiating? Will they miss obvious calls when a national TV audience is attending and the MWC can be seen Nationally for the BYU bias that we have felt as of late?



Just some thoughts as game time approaches.

I have thought the same thing. It will be interesting to see if conference officiating will allow the same kind of imbalance in the rough play when it is exposed on national TV. Certainly SDSU must be pondering this as well, and wondering if they can pull off the same style of play as the last five BYU opponents have done.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] [img]http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png[/im

If it's as bad as the CSU game it could really hurt us. I'm quickly reminded why basketball takes a back seat to other fav sports when playing road games. It's pathetically invalid and unreliable consistency.



But Jimmer hasnt been himself in a while, and I think he knows it's time to get it done.



Jimmer goes for 40, Davies goes for 15 and fouls out, Jax gets 20

Anderson gets 1 minute.



BYU WINS

Anderson gets 1 minute, and 3 fouls...

I expect them to call a reasonably fair game since it is on national tv and it really does matter that the best team win with minimal influence by the officials.



I do hope they call fouls early to make it clear that it's a basketball game and not a rugby match.

I hope it is called equitably with it being on national tv.



Last game against SDSU was a barnyard brawl. I'm surprised teams even had to dribble the ball.



If it is clearly slanted towards SDSU, the whole nation will be watching and - I hope - writing to that effect.

A tightly called game on both teams benefits BYU. We're the better FT shooting team. If it's a close game, I like our chances. We're a better FT shooting team. We've got the best player on the court.

I don't mind the rough play by opponents with no calls by the officials--as long as BYU can play defense the same way. It seems unfair for me when a hard foul is called on an opponent, and the reffs then call a ticky tack foul on us to try to even the foul count.



Some of our MWC opponents think we get favorable calls, but we are not playing the same kind of defense that they are. They are fouling to stop scores, and they hope that many of those fouls go uncalled. We on the other hand are playing normal defense.

Fortunately, Fisher, according to an interview of a sandiego press guy, has indicated that they want to keep Jimmer "off of the free throw" line. So, maybe rather than hammer him they will try to beat Jimmer, defend Jimmer with their length and not foul him as much, hoping that Jimmer continues to shoot cold.

But it would seem that if they try to not foul Jimmer, he will be able to get into a rhythm shooting and bury them that way.