Final Four Officials

[refguy]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

The contact by #1 was completely incidental IMO. He and the ASU player collided because the ASU player changed his course after being intentionally fouled.

I think this incident is a great example showing that we need to take a player's body of work into evidence to address intent. He trash talked his opponent (#12) in pregame - not addressed by the officials; he trash talked #12 again after a travel. #12 trash talked back after he scored on him, and then after the intentional foul he purposely stood in Harden's way to see if he could instigate something with the player of the year. I thing Coach Romar clearly knows what type of player he is as he rushed out onto the court and ran straight to #1 to pull him out of there. Then after this play, there was another intentional foul on UW and #1 purposefully gave an elbow to #12 after the whistle - again not addressed by the officials - he should have been tossed with his 2nd T.

Arizona State vs. Washington - Recap - March 13, 2009 - ESPN
YouTube - Venoy Overton Trippin' the Cougs

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by refguy

I think this incident is a great example showing that we need to take a player's body of work into evidence to address intent. He trash talked his opponent (#12) in pregame - not addressed by the officials; he trash talked #12 again after a travel. #12 trash talked back after he scored on him, and then after the intentional foul he purposely stood in Harden's way to see if he could instigate something with the player of the year. I thing Coach Romar clearly knows what type of player he is as he rushed out onto the court and ran straight to #1 to pull him out of there. Then after this play, there was another intentional foul on UW and #1 purposefully gave an elbow to #12 after the whistle - again not addressed by the officials - he should have been tossed with his 2nd T.

The WSU/UW highlight shows 3 plays in which WSU #10 ends up on the ground. The first was called a foul on UW and the other 2 were no-called. It could be argued that WSU #10 was flopping after incidental contact on the last 2 plays.

In the UW/ASU game after ASU #12 got intentionally foul (great call) he accidentally collided with another UW player. The 2nd UW player did not throw an elbow. Looked more like UW player contact was with his right shoulder.

[RefAHallic]

The Other Three On The Floor

In addition to the 10 players on the floor and the head coaches, the other men under the microscope are in the striped shirts. College hoops officials are never under more scrutiny than they will be for the next three weeks.

It's not just the players and coaches who are striving for Detroit.
The Minutes caught up with NCAA coordinator of officials John Adams (48) last week to see how he will be viewing the tournament and his refs' role in it.

On Friday at 5 p.m., the NCAA e-mailed the 96 officials who will be working the tournament to tell them they're in. At 5:45 p.m. Sunday, Adams got an advance copy of the bracket and began slotting in crews for individual games -- he'd already decided which crews were going to which sites. The job of matching crews to specific games is largely an effort to ensure there is no potential conflict of interest -- putting two refs who do a preponderance of SEC games on an LSU game, for instance.

On Sunday night, the tournament site managers will get on the phone and call the officials coming to their subregion, informing them whether they're working just one day or two. Adams, who wants to get some new blood moved into the elite ranks of officiating, said at least 10 rookies will get the call.

On Tuesday at 6 p.m., Adams will have a conference call with his refs. He'll go over general issues and protocol -- when it's OK to look at a monitor, when it's not, etc. And he'll remind them of the points of emphasis that have been in place all season: traveling, illegal screens, block/charge calls, etc. He'll reiterate that they should keep conversations with coaches to a minimum.

"We've spent all year getting ready for this," said Adams, who has seen 67 games in person and countless more on TV.

Then the refs go do their thing, and Adams hunkers down in Indianapolis with NCAA staffers Greg Shaheen and Tom Jernstedt in front of a bank of televisions to watch them work. In concert with tournament administrators at every site, they'll determine which refs keep working and which go home.

The on-site administrators will fill out rating cards on every ref with one of three judgments: strongly recommend to advance; recommend to advance; do not recommend to advance. Those cards will be sent to Adams.

The group will be cut from 96 to 48 to 36, and ultimately to nine for the Final Four -- three for each game. Just like the teams, they're all striving to advance.

"It's very competitive," Adams said. "They're all trying to get to Detroit."

Adams will be watching to see who handles the pressure of close games and heavy scrutiny. He knows basketball officials are subject to more second-guessing than ever.

"It's hard to keep a secret anymore," he said. "If you make a mistake, everyone sees it replayed. The media and so many people can see these games, and so many are close.

"To some people it's rarely the kid who screws up, it's the referee. It works better that way."

In many ways it's a thankless task, but it has its rewards. For nine men, the reward is a trip to the Final Four. Adams is watching to determine which nine earn it.

(To The Minutes' eye, one ref who has had another in a string of good seasons is John Cahill (49). Don't be surprised to see him working one of the games at Ford Field. Maybe even the last one.)

[dahoopref]

Word from the college referee grapevine is that a lot of "veteran" officials got assigned only one game for the first round of the tournament; in the past they used to get a 1st and 2nd round assignment.

One of the referees who got only one game was Ed Hightower.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by dahoopref

Word from the college referee grapevine is that a lot of "veteran" officials got assigned only one game for the first round of the tournament; in the past they used to get a 1st and 2nd round assignment.

One of the referees who got only one game was Ed Hightower.

If true, that wouldn't surprise me. Reading all the bulletins and correspondence that Mr. Adams put out this season I felt like he wanted to shake up the status quoa.

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by dahoopref

Word from the college referee grapevine is that a lot of "veteran" officials got assigned only one game for the first round of the tournament; in the past they used to get a 1st and 2nd round assignment.

One of the referees who got only one game was Ed Hightower.

You don't suppose the assigner visited that photoshop site, do you?

[dahoopref]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

You don't suppose the assigner visited that photoshop site, do you?

LMAO!! Whenever I have a hard day and need a laugh, I go to that site and it cures me of all my unhappiness.

[Shades of Gray]

I'm pretty sure Rutledge will get at least a couple of games in the Final Four.

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by Shades of Gray

I'm pretty sure Rutledge will get at least a couple of games in the Final Four.

Rut yes, :-) but also an old standby - Dick Cartmell.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Shades of Gray

I'm pretty sure Rutledge will get at least a couple of games in the Final Four.

My favorite guy to watch when I lived in an SEC city was Rutledge. DON Rutledge.

[Nevadaref]

Anyone have any info on who those people are?

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by dahoopref

Word from the college referee grapevine is that a lot of "veteran" officials got assigned only one game for the first round of the tournament; in the past they used to get a 1st and 2nd round assignment.

One of the referees who got only one game was Ed Hightower.

Not sure if the men's tourney works this way, but for the women's last year, all 4 Rs from the first round games went on to work on a second round game, plus 2 Us who got selected, along with one alternate.

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Anyone have any info on who those people are?

Most likely the member of the Men's Basketball Committee assigned to the site.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by Mark Dexter

Most likely the member of the Men's Basketball Committee assigned to the site.

Maybe, but I certainly hope not. I don't see how those people are qualified to rate the officials?

Three Appointed to NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee - NCAA.org

"The 10-member committee consists of athletics directors and commissioners of Division I member institutions and conferences and oversees administration of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, including the selection, seeding and bracketing of teams for the tournament. The committee is the primary NCAA contact with CBS Sports, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and other key basketball organizations. Committee members oversee selected preliminary round sites, as well as the Final Four, and assign officiating crews for each game of the championship. The committee also serves as stewards for the good of the game, monitoring and taking action as appropriate regarding issues affecting college basketball



Current committee members include chair Mike Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference; Mike Bobinski, director of athletics at Xavier University; Dan Guerrero, director of athletics at UCLA; Jeff Hathaway, director of athletics at the University of Connecticut; Lynn Hickey, director of athletics at the University of Texas-San Antonio; Chris Hill, director of athletics at the University of Utah; Laing Kennedy, director of athletics at Kent State University; Stan Morrison, director of athletics at the University of California-Riverside; Tom O’Connor, director of athletics at George Mason University; and Gene Smith, director of athletics at Ohio State University."


Since I don't see John Adams listed, it must be the case that the task of assigning the officials is delegated to him. Perhaps he also gets to pick his observers.

[cloverdale]

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