Three on One
By TonyThe Hoyas did not lose to Davidson because of the officiating. The frustrating blown lead was not the referees’ fault. But it was the refs’ fault that Roy Hibbert was not allowed to participate. Hibbert was abused by the refs; there is no other way to put it. Roy’s teammates should have managed without him, as they had done a number of times during the season, but a fairly officiated game would have sent the Hoyas to their third straight Sweet Sixteen. It’s not an excuse. It’s a fact.
I am 5′8″ tall. Yesterday I could have single-handedly shut down Roy Hibbert. Here’s how: I would have stood near him playing post defense, and every time he extended his arm for the ball I would let his elbow make contact with me. Then I would fall down. Then Hibbert would be called for an offensive foul. That’s exactly what happened against Davidson. Smaller defenders, with no chance of stopping Hibbert, were rewarded by the astoundingly poor judgment of the officials.
The NCAA has some problems. Roy Hibbert could have entered the NBA draft after last season. But he decided that he wanted to come back to school for one more year in college. For the NCAA, that was a dream decision. College basketball maintained a top flight player to enhance their product for another season. So how does the NCAA reward Hibbert? They allow him to be brutally mistreated by the refs in the most important game of the season. Imagine if players in the NBA were able to consistently defend Shaquille O’Neal or Tim Duncan this way. The NBA would lose fans and credibility.
Hibbert (or any college superstar) should not get preferential treatment from the referees. But he deserves fair treatment. Even slightly unfair officiating wouldn’t impact a player of Hibbert’s ability. But totally one-sided decision-making from the referees is too much to overcome - no matter how strong, focused, or dominant a player is.
Hibbert was whistled for his first foul on the second possession of the game when the player he was defending took a jump shot. According to the ref, Hibbert hit the shooter on the arm. Is it even conceivable that the foul on that play was worse than what Roy receives when battling for position in the post? No. Is it possible that the contact on that play had more of an impact than when Roy is simultaneously surrounded and hacked by three players 6-10 inches shorter then him when receiving a pass? No, it is impossible.
One bad call is not the end of the world, but it was the beginning of the end for Roy. Fouls #2, #3, and #4 all occurred on the offensive end. All were absurd. Hibbert was called for his second foul while trying to post up, he was whistled for his third when driving to the basket, and he earned his fourth while trying to catch a pass in the block - almost identical to his second. His fifth foul in the final minutes occurred after the damage was irreparable.
Smaller players can’t defend Roy because of his superior size, strength, and work ethic. Any ref who understands the game and takes his trade seriously would recognize that fact. But the refs versus Davidson were totally oblivious to the situation, and they stayed oblivious for the entire game. It’s a shame that a player who has improved so much during his collegiate career, who has been so successful during his career, and who has been a perfect example of the type of scholar athlete that the NCAA longs for throughout his career would barely be allowed to participate in his final NCAA game. Games like this give superstar college players another reason to leave school early. An NBA rookie is at the bottom of the totem pole, unlike college seniors, and at least if Jeff Green gets cheated by the refs he has his multi-million dollar contract to console him. All Roy Hibbert has is an early exit from his final NCAA Tournament.
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March 24th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I agree with Tony’s analysis. If the referees felt that Hibbert’s actions provided him with a significant enough advantage to warrant foul calls then every post player fighting for position should foul out of every game. All good post players are involved in a constant phsical battle for inside position. The are pushed and held and generally harassed while trying to post up or move from block to block. Once they manage to receive a pass.they are swarmed by defenders who hold, hack, and bump in an effort to deny the postman the opportunity to score. If these actions are not called, so be it. It’s a tough position and these are big guy who must learn to deal with it. However, do not enforce a ridiculous double standard and call fouls against the likes of Hibbert, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, and Tyler Hansborough of UNC by calling them for phantom fouls when defenders flop to ground at the least amount of contact. If the offensive center is expected to hold his position against an onslaught to physical play hold the defender to the same standard.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I’d like to thank Roy Hibbert for his contributions to the Hoyas over the past four years and compliment him on the composure and dignity he demonstrated in the post game interviews. He took responsibility for his play and did not even slightly allude to the questionable refereeing while articulately expressing the disappointment he felt at ending his career in such a disappointing fashion.
For 4 years at GU Roy has been the epitome of hard work, sportmanship and class. His career has been a credit to himself, the University, and college athletics.
Thanks, big Roy
March 24th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I watched the whole game. It is ironic that the Georgetown people and the fans are weeping all over their keyboards about the officiating. Watching every Georgetown game played on TV this year , I noted that Georgetown was getting a lot of “sweet” calls which is why they came out on top in some very close games. How can you people whine when you look at the game stats . The refs do not control Georgetown’s shooting anymore than they did Davidson’s. Georgetown is , good , but they have ben VERY VERY
lucky . Put a fork in it , it’s DONE.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
RE: Tears…
3 bogus offensive fouls on the best player on the court. Did you read that in the box score? Keep getting all of your sports knowledge from Doug Gottleib, you’ll be a big hit at parties.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I suppose that Tears… believes that perhaps Georgetown should have shot better than 63% from the field, the second highest shooting percentage in a losing NCAA effort to make up for the officiating. I suppose the Hoyas could also have not out-rebounded Davidson. I suppose that Georgetown could have not committed so many turnovers on offensive fouls… wait… that’s not within their control. So I guess the point is that Tears has no point.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
RE: Tears…
1. Of course it’s done. Trust me. We know.
2. Who wants to watch referees blowing the whistle, stopping play every 15 seconds for some incident that doesn’t affect the outcome of the play in any way? All we are asking for, as we were in the wake of last year’s Ohio State game, is to let the players, not the refs, decide the game, especially when the fouls are imperceptible on the replays. Would we have beaten OSU had Hibbert and Oden been allowed to go head-to-head? Who knows? But it would have been nice to see. we deserved to see it. And I resent the refs for keeping us from seeing it.
3. You mention that you noticed Georgetown “getting a lot of ’sweet’ calls.” I assume you’re referring to the following. let me refresh your very poor memory
a. Georgetown v. West Virginia - The Hoyas had a 1 point lead. Was Ewing’s block a clear goal tend? I think the best a neutral could say is “maybe.” And “maybe” is not good enough for officials to overturn a play, especially with the result on the line.
b. Georgetown v. Villanova - Tie game, Hoyas in possession with the clock running to zero. Villanova does not win that game if that (admittedly poor) call is not made. The game goes to overtime. On Georgetown’s home floor. Where they were undefeated this season. That said, I was angry at that call. Let the players decide the games. I think we would have won in overtime, who knows? And that’s the point - we should be able to know.
4. The facts of the Davidson game are that the underdogs shot 30 foul shots. They shot half as many against UNC (in a game which they lost by four points), 12 against Duke, 4 against UCLA. How do *you* explain this discrepency? Did Davidson have a post presence that I missed?
5. In addition to the 3 offensive fouls called on Hibbert, there were 4 others, bringing the total to 7. That means that, discounting the offensive fouls, Georgetown’s “unreliable” offense was actually responsible for 13 turnovers, not 20 as the pundits have so often claimed.
6. Georgetown shot 63.4%. Davidson shot 38.6%. So what are you talking about?
March 25th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
The refs called the game tight the whole way. Personally, I hate when refs do this because it takes away from the game. However, I do not think we can gripe too much about the officiating. The fact is that Davidson made 80% of their free throws and the Hoyas made 47.1%. When a game is called as tight as this one was, it is imperative that a team make their free throws. The Hoyas did not.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Re: Tom Says,
I am talking about Georgetown letting an opponent score 25 points against them in the second half and blowing a 17 point lead. I am talking about
Davidson making their free throws and Georgetown not.
I have many many questionable calls by the refs that went against Georgetown opponents but no after game comments. Face it, the luck they usually have did not show up .
As for shooting 63 o/o , that may have played well if they were able to get off more shots and shot better from the foul line.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:14 am
I think some people are missing the point here. Tony isn’t whining about the refs or saying they cost Georgetown the game. He made that clear in the first sentences.
What I think he’s saying is that there needs to be better officiating and besides knowing the rules and being consistent, they also need to understand the context of the game.
So what Tom and Chris say is right about refs letting the kids play. But the point isn’t that the Hoyas didn’t make their free throws, or that there were bad calls in favor of Georgetown as well. It’s that the refs need to do their homework and come into a game knowing if they should call it tight or loose, if they should let players get away with pushing the big man or if they should whistle it.
I think Tony was just using this game as an example for showing how refs are not at the level of the players in NCAA basketball, and that needs to change.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I wouldn’t waste any more times responding to Tears. I’m beginning to think he is, in fact Doug Gottlieb (or perhaps Seth Davis). Hey Doug, don’t you have some community service you should be doing? To the rest of you, I would suggest investing in some Identity Theft insurance as long as Doug continues trolling the blog. And keep your hands on your wallets…
March 30th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Interesting that Tom O’Neil (head ref for the Georgetown-Curry game) has successfully gifted the underdog team all 7 NCAA tournament games for which he has been the head official. Less interesting, more criminal, actually.
March 30th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Jay A. - Can you elaborate on that?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I don’t get why we can shoot so high from FG and even three-points, but can’t make our free throws. I can shoot about the same as Macklin from free throws and I don’t have 5% of his skills. Can someone explain why this is? Georgetown doesn’t get to the line so much, so maybe JTIII doesn’t have them practise free throws? Or maybe there is some other explanation?
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Free throws ….
You make a good point. It always amazes me that by the time a guy gets to the college level he has been shooting foul shots for years. Truthfully , I averaged eighty four 0/0 when I played and it is my biggest gripe when I see a team lose by a couple points and they have players missing both ends of their attempts . It also is amazing that the Memphis coach says he doesn’t put much emphasis on foul shots. That may come back to haunt him.
April 8th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Well…. don’t mistake this for crowing , its not. But for the foul shots missed
by Memphis, They would be national champs tonight. Refer above. Damned shame.