[BoomerSooner]

Wolves Coach,
As you are interested in getting a different perspective, here is my point by point analysis of your post.

Originally Posted by Wolves Coach

I have been coaching basketball for more years that I wish to mention. I thought I have seen everything until last week.

There are probably quite a few of us that have been officiating just as long. Even those of us with less experience know every coach is biased toward his/her team. That is not a criticism of you, just a statement accepting the reality that we are all biased, and I would be disappointed if you weren't biased toward your team. You should be invested in the success of your players and team. That said, we can't ignore that bias when reading your post.

Originally Posted by Wolves Coach

We were involved in a semi-final playoff game at the higher-seed's gym. They were responsible for acquiring officials.

It sounds like you feel the corruption started here. This could be analyzed several ways, but I won't deny that allowing the home team to select the officials feels suspect. The issue isn't that there was some degree of collusion between the school and the officials. I am comfortable believing that given the opportunity, most schools will pick officials that they've had favorable experiences with in the past. I suspect this issue is the root of your frustration, and if so, you should consider addressing the procedure for assigning officials, especially for playoff games, with the body that oversees athletic activities in your state. I would also recommend that you try to filter this out of your assessment of the officiating. Would you feel as strongly as you do about the officiating if you had hand picked these officials?

Originally Posted by Wolves Coach

Both teams played an aggressive man-to-man defense the entire game. I point this out because what I am about to explain has occurred before when one team plays a simple zone and another team plays an aggressive man.

Ruling out one explanation (defensive style) for the differential in fouls doesn't give us any better understanding of how the game was played. Even if both teams are of equal skill, there are plenty of other game flow considerations that could explain the differential (one team is more perimeter shooting oriented vs. a driving or post-play oriented team).

Originally Posted by Wolves Coach

In the 4th quarter, of what was a continual1-3 point difference, I had 3 of my starters foul out of the game. And let me point out that they weren't in foul trouble the first half! The home team, during the second half, committed a total of 3 team fouls.

This statement doesn't suggest there were any bad calls against your team. Did the opposing coach make a concerted effort to target those players once they committed their 4th fouls? Also, mentioning that the opposing team only had 3 team fouls in the 2nd half doesn't tell us much about overall game flow. Assuming each of the 3 starters you mentioned only had 2 fouls at half, then all we can determine a foul differential of 6 fouls (9 against your team, 3 against the other), which is not an absurd difference by any means. It is noticeable, but in no way evidence of corruption.

Originally Posted by Wolves Coach

One official had control of the entire game, where the other one just ran up and down the floor.

Occasionally the flow of the game results in one official making more of the calls. I wouldn't say it is common, but it does happen. It is also possible that you were dealing with a less experienced official that took a back seat to the veteran official. It is possible that they simply have different styles of calling games (tight vs. loose), which could also explain the foul differential if the opposing coach instructed his players to be aware of the differences. He could have coached his players to try to initiate drives from the tighter officials primary zone or dump it into the post on his side if he was the lead. He could have also instructed them to be more cautious defensively on plays in said official's primary. If the opposing team adjusted as I suggested, it may have led to more offensive opportunities for your team than if they had played aggressive defense, and ultimately this may have contributed to the score remaining as close as it did.

Originally Posted by Wolves Coach

I am not the type of coach that takes credit for wins and blames officials for losses. Please, someone let me see this 'travesty' from a different perspective. Right now all I can think is we were hosed...

Your request is to see the "travesty" from a different perspective. This sounds like you've already determined it was just that, so what difference does our perspective make...in your mind it was still a travesty. I could provide the perspective that your team was out-coached and out-played, but as others have said, we weren't there, we don't know what happened and it wouldn't be any more fair of us to make such suggestions than it is for you to come here hoping to find support for your criticism of the officiating.