Further proof of officiating deterioriation

The precipitous decline in college basketball officials’ ability to call the most basic violation in basketball – the travelling violation – is a topic we have discussed here for years.

So, I couldn’t resist an entry this morning when I came across the video below that highlights both the utter incompetence of ACC (and college basketball officiating) AND the ‘coincidence’ that it features Coach K’s Duke Blue Devils playing in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

If anyone has watched CJ Leslie get whistled for deserving (and undeserving) travel calls in nanosecond speed this year…please tell me what you think of the double standard of this?

As it specifically relates to Austin Rivers and Duke – I think it is safe to say that Rivers gets away with AT LEAST two or three of these a game. Could you imagine the impact on a season of games if Duke had AT LEAST that many more turnovers (and therefore no points on those possessions) per game? What about the intangible and immeasurable impact on Rivers’ (and the rest of the Blue Devils’ psyche)

What is REALLY confusing is that John Clougherty and the ACC officials SUPPOSEDLY watch for tendencies in players, right? If you don’t remember this, then please click here. Why is it that I think the ACC’s ‘tendency watching’ is centered on confirming calls that are made by officials, thereby only serving to re-inforce the ineptitude on the court as opposed to discerningly watching the game tapes looking for MISSED calls. Just because a player isn’t getting called for fouls doesn’t mean the player isn’t fouling. It doesn’t take a genius to understand how quickly the cycle of incompetence self perpetuates.

#protecttheblues

…Next up?…

…I can’t wait for some Duke fans to pull together some videos of Tyler Hansbrough’s four years of traveling, charging, and bulldozing through the ACC. In the event you forgot about this classic from Bobby Knight:

Lastly…in case you think this is just an Austin Rivers issue…please allow me to share the following:

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30 Responses to Further proof of officiating deterioriation

  1. Wolf74 03/05/2012 at 7:29 PM #

    Personally I feel there are a lot of bad officials out there but the ACC has far more than its share and it is not by chance that the sorry ones in this league miss the calls on the blue team. This league (Swofford) wants Duke vs CHeats game to be for the championship every year. It’s not going to change until the “light blue homer” is gone and the league revamps it’s officials. I am hoping that adding two new teams will help promote this change. Or maybe the CHeats football investigation will spill over and they will finally catch them in basketball.

  2. gumby 03/05/2012 at 8:06 PM #

    “If you LOOK like you’re traveling (if you look awkward, if you’re taking long, slow steps), then it doesn’t really matter if you actually traveled or not, you’re gonna get called.”

    That is the definition of terrible officiating – calling what you think you see instead of calling what you see. How hard is it to look at feet?

  3. Wulfpack 03/05/2012 at 8:48 PM #

    ACC officials are also Big East officials and Big 10 officials etc. They are all completely over traveled. I most definitely think this is part of it.

  4. Gene 03/05/2012 at 10:39 PM #

    It wasn’t always this way. I bet officials traveled quit a bit in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

    Traveling used to be called. Even in the NBA, the “two steps” for a lay-up/dunk used to be called a travel, because it is.

    Watched a replay of the 1977 NBA championship game. Player went for a breakaway dunk. Took two steps from the FT line to dunk it without dribbling. Got called for a travel. You never see that call nowadays.

    Calvin Leslie, Jr. got a dunk from the elbow yesterday on what was effectively a travel. He took two steps without dribbling the ball. Everyone does it, so it’s no longer called, despite being on the rule books.

    I really wonder, when officiating changed from calling the rules to what it’s become and why things have changed so much.

    I don’t think this sort of thing is unique to the ACC. I do think the league office, by not reviewing officials to see what they go right or wrong, just makes it worse.

    I think it’s up to the school to point out official’s mistakes and even then there’s no guarantee the league office will even look at what a member school is griping about.

  5. BureauOfMines 03/05/2012 at 11:23 PM #

    Worse yet, walking is SELECTIVELY and INCONSISTENTLY enforced. Otherwise, we would not be discussing it.

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