ESPN: Coaches Behaving Badly

[dahoopref]

Interesting piece done by ESPN:

[bballref3966]

My favorite part is when the coach says "I'm not a dog" when talking about officials telling him to stay in the box. Sure, let's just allow coaches to roam freely up and down the sideline. Plus, we didn't make this rule that makes you feel like a "dog." Basically it sounds like that coach thinks he's entitled to act however he pleases, which is a big problem in the college game.

I wouldn't be completely against a "seatbelt rule" in the college game similar to NFHS if it gets the behavior we see out of the game. Or officials can start putting their foot down and clamping down on awful behavior more than they are now. It's bad for the game and it sends a bad message to young people.

[Raymond]

Honestly, these coaches sounded like a bunch of hypocrites and idiots in this piece.

[just another ref]

It's ironic that we're reading about coaches complaining about added scrutiny due to increased presence of media and amateur technology.

Tell us something we don't know.

[Rich]

A bunch of well-placed technical fouls would fix this kind of thing.

I mean, look at Shashevsky this afternoon -- he doesn't like a conversation he has with Luckie, turns and throws his marker, and seems genuinely shocked that he got whacked. He was still shocked much later.

Perhaps if the conferences got a bit tougher and told officials to hold coaches accountable maybe the behavior would iimprove.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Honestly, these coaches sounded like a bunch of hypocrites and idiots in this piece.

Absolutely.

And when a coach does not want to be treated like a dog, but then they talk to us like we are a dog.

Funny on so many levels how these coaches sound so stupid. Yes, I said stupid.

Peace

[dahoopref]

Originally Posted by Rich

A bunch of well-placed technical fouls would fix this kind of thing.

Perhaps if the conferences got a bit tougher and told officials to hold coaches accountable maybe the behavior would iimprove.

As long as there are conferences where coaches have a say in rating an official (which in turn affects their pay tier) or constantly have influence on the assignor, you'd be hard pressed to have referees issue more T's on the coaches.

[tmagan]

Originally Posted by dahoopref

As long as there are conferences where coaches have a say in rating an official (which in turn affects their pay tier) or constantly have influence on the assignor, you'd be hard pressed to have referees issue more T's on the coaches.

I agree. Wasn't Barakat, when he was head of ACC officials friends with Coach K and Dean Smith?

A bit ironic these days, because coaches ejections are rare in the NBA these days. I remember the days where Larry Brown and Jerry Sloan were good for a few ejections each year and in the super old days, Red Auerbach was thrown out of an All-Star game.

[JRutledge]

BTW, I do not know if anyone saw the overall "Outside the Lines" show where Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg and Mike Wood (Supervisor of officials now) spoke about this issue further.

Bilas was amazing in his critique of coaches and their behavior. I thought his comments were the best out of all the panelist in taking on how it makes little sense in how officials should be treated.

Peace

[LRZ]

Interesting that no officials--even retired ones--were interviewed in that segment. Someone like Hank Nichols would have an interesting perspective.

As for the old days in the NBA, I always think about a quote from Sid Borgia (I think): "I don't call fouls, I dispense justice."

[APG]

Let's ask a bunch of coaches how they think about the conduct of their breathen and themselves...

What we basically heard was a bunch of platitudes and all the basic justifications for why some of these coaches act a fool: emotional game, job on the line, caught up in the emotions of the game, etc.

You know why you don't see all this kind of conduct in the NBA? Because the NBA has taken a stand on these kind of issues, and officials don't have to worry about negative repercussions with one's schedule if a warranted technical foul or ejection was handed out. This goes for veterans such as Joe Crawford and Scott Foster to the less experienced officials.. Coach K's act of ranting and raving on the sidelines wouldn't last long in the NBA.

If college really wants this behavior out of the game, it'll be up to the conference assignors. NCAA-M can come out with directives and POE's, but it doesn't matter if the conference assignors aren't 100 percent behind it, and officials (except for the big dogs) are worried about how a T/ejection might effect his coaches' rating or future schedule.

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by APG

If college really wants this behavior out of the game, it'll be up to the conference assignors. NCAA-M can come out with directives and POE's, but it doesn't matter if the conference assignors aren't 100 percent behind it, and officials (except for the bid dogs) are worried about how a T/ejection might effect his coaches' rating or future schedule.

College administrators/presidents/trustee boards will also help. Coaches represent the schools. They all have to ask themselves the question: Is this how you want the person who is probably the most visible representative of your school to act in public, especially when they're on TV? They're not going to like what we do. I get that. It's part of the relationship. But it makes no sense when you act worse than one of your kids ever would.

We'll get the help when we know conference coordinators are full behind us. We're told the coaches want certain rules enforced, such as the coaches' box, but if we enforce them and hand out Ts there's the chance we're seen as too "thin-skinned." It can't work both ways. Another thing regarding the box: It's 28 feet long. The court is 94 feet long. That's 7+ yards to roam all they want and they can go behind the chairs as well. That should be more than enough room. There's no need to go up to the division line to make yourself heard. If you have something to ask an official in most cases they'll be back your way within less than a minute.

We also have to change the way we act/react. Realistically, if we all enforced those rules better - I'm not saying to the exact letter of the law - and took less "stuff," it would change. It's not as though they can fire all of us.

ESPN and others like it don't help, either. Vitale complaining how "you can't end a game like that" when Boeheim went bananas and got tossed at the end of the Duke game enhances the perception that we're the bad guys when we handle our business. Vitale, again, complaining when Kevin Ollie went flying down the sideline does the same thing. They go nuts like that, we T them and we're the bad guys? The fact it was even a debate among some people in the non-officiating world is a huge problem.

[JRutledge]

I really do not see the issue as what officials are scared to do. I think we have just bought into this crap that "A good officials does not need to....." crap that you see when we turn the other way often.

Then we say things like, "A technical foul is just like any other foul." But the reality that is not true. It is not close to true. I know if I T anyone during the season, I have to give information as to why. I am sure that is looked at the D1 level with a higher level of scrutinty.

We have to get support from the higher ups. And one thing Bilas said in the interview portion of this show was, "The NBA owns the officials and are protected by any mandate the NBA makes." He went on to say that is not the case in the NCAA and if there is going to be a change he feels it will have to come form administrators. Because ratings should never come into a factor when coaches are acting like fools.

Peace

[deecee]

Funny how the article asks the same knuckleheads who act like kids on their opinion about their behavior. It's like asking an inmate if they are innocent or guilty.

The simple fact is that coaches, for the most part, have been enabled by all involved to act this way. It's not really their fault. Dogs act how you train them to .

[APG]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I really do not see the issue as what officials are scared to do. I think we have just bought into this crap that "A good officials does not need to....." crap that you see when we turn the other way often.

Then we say things like, "A technical foul is just like any other foul." But the reality that is not true. It is not close to true. I know if I T anyone during the season, I have to give information as to why. I am sure that is looked at the D1 level with a higher level of scrutinty.

We have to get support from the higher ups. And one thing Bilas said in the interview portion of this show was, "The NBA owns the officials and are protected by any mandate the NBA makes." He went on to say that is not the case in the NCAA and if there is going to be a change he feels it will have to come form administrators. Because ratings should never come into a factor when coaches are acting like fools.

Peace

I don't think it's a matter of being "scared" per se. It's a matter of self-preservation IMO. Call a T and have possible fallback (i.e. losing high dollar/high profile games because of coaches' ratings and/or complaints) or let the coaches do whatever (and keep your schedule and pay).

Bilias is right...NBA officials are protected by any mandate they put out. Amongst those are its respect for the game guidelines which largely means coaches are lot more under control than their college counterparts. Until officials have the backing from those in power of giving them games, this problem will get lip service at best.