Is it Jimmer's turn for favorable treatment from the Refs?

I wonder. There has been plenty of chatter over the last few years that BYU regularly gets jobbed by refs. Some of this is talk is just noise from disgruntled fans who can't accept losing. Some of it comes from guys who are convinced that powers that be won't accept an LDS school's advancing to the promised land. I have had my own observations that some referees seem just not to want to give us a break.



But now Jimmer Fredette is the face and pride of college basketball. He is friendly, courteous, humble, well-spoken. He doesn't have tatoos. He smiles. He appears not to have an ego. Will referees or the NCAA quietly want this guy to continue through the tourney, because the more college basketball gets of Jimmer, the better? Will they give him a break on some calls to accomplish this? Is that right if they do?



I've heard a statistic that Jimmer shot 31% more free throws last year than this. THis is advanced as evidence that MW officials were turning against Jimmer, perhaps because we're outa there.



Now among non-MW refs, will this trend reverse itself (assuming this stat is true), and will Jimmer be given the benefit of calls? I wonder.



:skeptic:

The stats have been detailed for us here on CC in another thread, I think by kitic. He did a great job of showing the differences in calls this year vs last, as well as comparing numbers and types of shots being taken by Jimmer. Someone wiser than me will have to resurrect that thread.



But to answer the question, Jimmer most definitely got hosed all year by the mwc refs and I think his fortunes will turn this next round. It won't be favoritism, just calling it correctly, unlike it has been called in the mwc against Jimmer.



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I think these first 2 games are evidence of fair reffing outside of the MWC (and conversely unfair reffing in the MWC). Multiple times when guys are riding Jimmer to the hole there have been calls...and they certainly weren't blowing the defender for those in January and Februrary. The games are being called straight for once, which is why teams can't keep up with us. As long as Fredette is going to the FT line it's going to be tough to stop us.

Great question. I was wondering the same last night while reading what some folks are saying around the country.

Its a tough call. I think so. I hope so. And I think the nation wants to see him. And most of the media want to see him (read the Rafferty article for a strong reference). And the further we get, the more teams will be familiar with Jimmer, the tougher they will play him, and probably the more byu will need him as competition gets better (which means Jimmer will force the action and take it to the hole)--AND then, hopefully there will at least not be negative bias. Call it fair!

Last year, in the big dance, he got a lot of favorable calls vs florida, then iirc, not near as many vs ksu. It will be interesting to see.



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jimmer is going to get the calls on thursday.

Jimmer looks for contact. You can see it when he drives or when he shoots in the lane. Technically, it's a foul. What I've noticed, though, in the last two games is refs tend to not call those. If it's Jimmer looking for contact, don't expect the refs to call it and keep in mind as Jimmer gets mauled that he went in looking to get mauled.



I have noticed refs in the last two games calling fouls when defenders initiate the contact. MWC refs got so bad that they wouldn't even call fouls initiated by the defender.



As for Jimmer's choir boy persona helping him, I'm not so sure. He's been whining A LOT lately, which unfortunately turns the choir boy image into a spoiled brat image. He needs to let Rose do the barking.



Agree that there are many fans out there that believe in some conspiracy against BYU/Mormons. It's an Us vs. Them attitude that permeates into sports. Statistically, yes, Jimmer hasn't been getting as many calls, but I think that has more to do with Jimmer than the LDS Church. Case in point, watch Noah Hartsock down low; he gets away with a lot of contact. There may be some bias towards BYU on the refs' part, but IMO it's negligible. Unfortunately, any perceived wrong doing by the refs will be served up as anti-BYU evidence by conspiracy theorists.



When at the MWC tournament I was sitting next to a guy that believed Jimmer could do no wrong. Jimmer got whistled for a foul (Jimmer clearly grabbed the guy on the arm) and the guy next to me went berserk. I actually had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

Was listening to The Herd earlier today and he had Mark Few on. Coach Few very complimentary of BYU, and Coach Rose in particular, but he did mention that Jimmer initiates a lot of contact and gets calls. He said that will put pressure on Florida. I agree with him, and what Gunk wrote above. Jimmer plays very physically on offense and uses his body. Refs call his game similar to the NBA game, where they allow more contact. If Jimmer initiates it, do not expect many calls, but if the defender does, it should be called.



Bottom line: We win this game by hitting shots, not by effort at the foul line. We are a perimeter team. Gotta knock shots down.

Has anybody else felt it so refreshing that Jimmer can now drive and get calls? The MWC season was an absolute joke. Refs would go out of their way to NOT call fouls when Jimmer had the ball. I don't even feel like the refs in the NCAA tourney are favoring Jimmer, I just feel like they are finally calling it how it is.



It's like a cold glass of water for me.

CannonCougar85 wrote:
Has anybody else felt it so refreshing that Jimmer can now drive and get calls? The MWC season was an absolute joke. Refs would go out of their way to NOT call fouls when Jimmer had the ball. I don't even feel like the refs in the NCAA tourney are favoring Jimmer, I just feel like they are finally calling it how it is.



It's like a cold glass of water for me.

What is interesting is that i get surprised when they call a foul on him. There is clearly a difference which cements in my mind that the mwc refs had an unwritten policy on how they were going to call jimmer.

Lawboy wrote:
Was listening to The Herd earlier today...

Ewww, why?

Because I can not take 1280 at all, and after a few minutes PK's schtick is a turn off, so I switch over to get a more national perspective on some issues. I typically agree with The Herd, other than his big school bias. Of course, the bias is there for a reason. The big boys usually win it and have for years. Once BYU does it again, the props will come. 27 years ago was too long ago, 30 years for a Sweet 16 too long ago. BYU often deserves the cynicism it gets. Gotta win and prove otherwise.

If you attack a school's schedule and you don't know their SOS, if you attack a conference and don't even know who belongs to it, basically if you don't do any homework at all about sports, you don't deserve to be on the radio talking about sports.

BYU, on BYU Cougars.com osted a study earlier this season that indicated referees were more likely to call fouls in favor a player of their own race. I have not paid attention to the ethnicity of officals in BYU games and the inconsistent patterns of getting or not getting calls. Hope for white refs.



I also believe that the eastern teams which dominate the basketball landscape and the NBA have moved to a model of calling games that negates pure shooters and buzzer beaters. They allow contact even though by the rules it is a foul and call it a good no call. They ignore foulds even more in hte last minute or two.



It biases towards the more athletic, but possibly less coordinated players who can leap and run but who might hack a little on a shot block or rebounmd or dunk. It sells tickets. They call it great defense.



But the short white guy who can shoot lights out gets partially negated. That is just the way it is. But hope for white refs and / or refs from out west somewhere or from a minor conference. The refs from the major conmferences have a hard time stomaching an underdog.



First you get a crappy seed at a foeign location and then you have to clearly beat your opponent.



Go Cougs