He makes very good points and despite what some of us may or may not feel about his blowhard status (I'm a Big East guy
) much of what he said has been written right here in this very forum in one way or another.
Just look at some of the posts we've had recently and in the past about things such as travels to the effect of "well, it was
technically a travel but..." What the heck does "technically a travel" mean? If the foot movement violates the rule as its written, it's a travel. There's stuff we don't want to call because we'll be seen as the bad guy, either by coaches, fans, assignors or our fellow officials. Heck, in one of my NCAAW games I called an obvious travel (the hop-step to gather for a three pointer) on a girl on the losing team who was right in front of me with 0:06 remaining in what was an eight-point game. One of my partners looked at me like I had two heads and in the dressing room said he would've let it go because "it would've made (that team) feel good to get a final shot off."
As far as fouls go, Bilas is right. Some coaches teach their kids to foul because they know at some point we'll get sick of blowing the whistle and/or hearing the groans of the coaches and players to "let them play." I think Bilas was speaking out of both sides of his mouth, though, when it comes to the officials' role and the role of an overall supervisor. On one hand during the Charlie Rose interview he says one person is needed to set the standard as with pro sports, which is true. On the other hand in one of the print interviews that I posted earlier in this thread he said he didn't want "absolutes." Unless he's changed his views on that you can't have it both ways. The NBA cleaned up a lot of what goes on both in and away from the post by establishing absolutes and holding officials accountable.
One person keeping control of the officiating standards is key, though it would be borderline impossible with so many college officials. For my fellow NCAAW officials you'll remember the absolute that was established on the "hot-stove" touch a few years ago. Since coaches are the ones who make changes to NCAA rules I figured there wouldn't be much of a problem with this one. So what happens? The first time I call it in a scrimmage, the defensive coach is complaining about "ticky-tack" fouls (though I did say to him, "Coach, we were told this is what you want called.") but the telling reaction was from my partners that night. They didn't follow suit. Unless we're all getting the exact same message from on high to call those freedom of movement plays or our schedules will truly be affected, we won't do it. That's a fact and I know I'm guilty of it as much as the next guy/girl.