Regarding David Libby

[Adam]

Good Lord, how long did he stand there, then? My count on free throws is so slow it's almost a joke.

[Berkut]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Good Lord, how long did he stand there, then? My count on free throws is so slow it's almost a joke.

The reason that the complaints about Libbey have some traction is in fact incidents like this.

Michael Wright was known for taking a long time to shoot free-throws. I think some other P10 coaches actually complained about it. He always was really slow.

The issue that people have with Libbey, and how he chose to deal with this, was that it seemed like it was done in the manner designed to make it as big a deal as possible, rather than just resolving the situation, if in fact it needed resolution at all.

Wright *always* took forever, so why wait until he is shooting free throws at the end of a close game to address the problem? Wright, at the time, was one of the best power forwards in the conference, and went to the free throw line a lot. Why not handle this at some other point? A warning early in the game, a quick comment to Olson - "Hey coach, Wright is taking too long and we are getting complaints, tell him to speed it up" and then bang him early if you must?

Same with the illegal screen call on Hill. Was it illegal by rule? Maybe...but it sure didn't look like anything that typically gets called at any point in the game, much less in THAT situation. At least in this case, Libbey seems to have realized it, and said afterward he punted the call.

Where is the line between having the balls to make the late call, and LOOKING for a late call to make? Libbey certainly is not afraid to call what he sees, no matter what point of the game it is in - and he should be (and is) commended for that.

But sometimes I wonder if maybe he is doing a bit more - beyond being unafraid to make the Big Call, he sometimes looks like he WANTS there to be a Big Call to be made.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Final score of the Washington State Univ. at Arizona State game: WSU: 65, and ASU: 55. And the best part, is that Dave Libbey was the R, .

MTD, Sr.

[ODJ]

Dave Libbey has been "Gutless" ever since he refused to T up Univ. of Portland coach Jack Avina in the 1983 Far West Classic. I mean, Hey-zoos! The Pilots were gettin' jobbed against Wazzou on their home floor!!
DL did get the assistant for going to the table to check on a possible scoring error during a live ball later.

How's THAT for a reference M.P.?

As the saying goes in D1 officiating, supplied by Richie Ballasteros, Pac-10 official God and owner of great hair, "You want the coaches to see you walk on the floor and say, 'Did you see the size of the wheelbarrow he was pushing?'"

DL's got a big one.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by ODJ

Dave Libbey has been "Gutless" ever since he refused to T up Univ. of Portland coach Jack Avina in the 1983 Far West Classic. I mean, Hey-zoos! The Pilots were gettin' jobbed against Wazzou on their home floor!!
DL did get the assistant for going to the table to check on a possible scoring error during a live ball later.

How's THAT for a reference M.P.?

As the saying goes in D1 officiating, supplied by Richie Ballasteros, Pac-10 official God and owner of great hair, "You want the coaches to see you walk on the floor and say, 'Did you see the size of the wheelbarrow he was pushing?'"

DL's got a big one.

Who in the world is M.P. and can anyone spell T R O L L?

MTD, Sr.

[JugglingReferee]

MP usually means Mike Pereira, one of the most fan-friendly directors of officiating in pro sports.

Yes, I can spell troll. It is O D J.

[amusedofficial]

This hero worship for an official makes me wanna 'fro up. Some guy doesn't like Libbey's style and writes about it and people start ripping him personally for it.