Thank you Big Ten Refs

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Does the Big Ten Conference have anyone that reviews the performance of referees? I'm guessing no or Hightower would have been out of a job years ago. I have watched Hightower favor home teams for years (for and against the Gophers) so tonight was no surprise to me at all. Very disappointing, but not a surprise
 

I'm sure they do, but I don't know how. I also don't think they have much room to dump experienced referees with the way college basketball refereeing is right now. There are refs that work nearly 100 games per season...they are very overworked.
 

tikited said:
I've said before and I'll say it again. All officials of any kind are the lowest form of human life.
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Care to elaborate on that statement?

As for Hightower, every basketball official that I know, to a man, agrees that he is an awful ref. They were pleased to see him go one-and-done in the tournament last year, with no regional final or Final Four games.
 

Lavin is no Gopher lover.....

I certainly don't think Steve Lavin has any bias for or against the Gophers....that being said, he must've questioned 1/2 dozen calls that went against the Gophers. You don't see announcers talking about "home cooking" very often.:mad:
 

I watched the first half of the game then had plans to see a move, so I caught the second half about an hour ago. I was really disappointed in the officiating tonight and after reading this thread, it seems like most fans were.

The stretch of the game that went from Minnesota up 4 to Purdue up 6-7 was one of most unbelievable sequences of officiating I have seen. I literally was not done yelling at one call before the whistle was blown for yet another poor call.

In the second half, I felt the Gophers went to the hole hard a number of times, but were not rewarded by the officials with corresponding trips to the line.

I really believe the Big Ten could take a huge step forward if it some how rid itself of the culture of certain teams getting such favorable officiating on their home court.
 


rcpratt said:
I wish they had shown a replay of that over-and-back. I'm pretty sure he landed with one foot on each side of the line, and I guess if his front foot came down first it technically should have been and over-and-back, but I've never seen that called.
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Not saying it was or wasn't (I didn't see it close enough), but they were up 17 or such, and he had gotten away with murder all game. Boo hoo, Kramer, cry your eyes out over a stupid play that you shouldn't have made. I can see why fans hate him.

The GOPHERS deserved to by crying all game, and you didn't see it once, out of the players or the coach (only the fans, like me!); the GOPHERS should have punched that little *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# baby right in the mouth. I don't know how they held their frustrations back; that had to feel like pure robbery all game long. I know for sure I'd have spit out a few YOU FU**ING SUCK!! to the refs, even knowing I'd be thrown out. More power to the Minnesota players, I guess, that they held back. (or not, seeing the outcome maybe they should have been bitching)
 

rcpratt said:
If you're implying that the refereeing caused a 14-19 point swing, I absolutely disagree.
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Uh, considering that it was 24-20 before the hoe down ref dance really kicked into full swing, where it seemed about 6-7 questionable calls in a row all went Purdue's way, and the next time the Gophers scored they were down almost double digits, then yes, the refereeing definitely caused a HUGE swing of about that magnitude.

The Gophers also had a few small runs in the second half that were killed with a thud by questionable calls as well. There was no way that crew was going to allow Minnesota to win that game; and they kept the game at arm's reach the whole second half (~10 points).
 

Hummel, Johnson, Kramer and Moore all played 34 minutes and had 2, 1, 2, and 2 fouls, respectively. Those four accounted for 33% of Purdue's personal fouls while playing 70% of the mins. It really seemed like the refs bent over backwards to not call anything on Purdue's major contributors. Besides Nolen, any Gopher who played significant minutes had 3+ fouls, including 4 apiece for Carter, Westy, and DJ, probably our best three players of the night (not to mention Hoff sitting the first on a bad call). I'm not suggesting that there was any sort of conspiracy, but such unbalanced foul distribution among major contributors can certainly affect a game.
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
No, I will let you off the hook on this one. I don't know much about Lewis Jackson's injury, but that guy sure impressed me last year. If he is able to come back, their guard play will be much better.
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I don't know anything about Jackson.

Thanks for letting me off of the hook this time. I didn't see your answer to my question re: the last time AP turned the corner.:)
 



GopherRock said:
Care to elaborate on that statement?

As for Hightower, every basketball official that I know, to a man, agrees that he is an awful ref. They were pleased to see him go one-and-done in the tournament last year, with no regional final or Final Four games.
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All officials in every sport are terrible. Most don't try to be, they just are.
 

Pewterschmidt said:
Momentum is the huge in basketball. The refs took it away from the Gophers late in the 1st half and during their spurt in the 2nd half.

Hightower is the worst ref ever and plays to the home crowd unlike any ref I've ever seen. That's an absolute truth that can't be disputed. Once I saw him reffing the game, I knew the Gophers would lose.

The Gophers could have shot themselves back into the game and missed. That's on the Gophers. You can win when it's 5 vs 8 on the road and the Gophers did their best by protecting the ball well but that alone won't win when Hightower is reffing the game. You have to shoot much better than the Gophers did.

With competent refs, this would have been a much closer game. I think all else held equal Purdue wins 6 or 7 times out of 10 against the Gophers but unfortunately, we didn't get to find out exactly how the teams compare tonight.
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I felt the same way, although my response was more like "great, one more huge obstacle to overcome tonight." Hightower loves to make calls many times just for the sake of making calls. He's the quintessential "look at me" ref. And yes, many times he favors one team over another. It's just the way he operates. Having said that, we missed so many shots tonight, it would have been hard to beat anybody. But yeah, watching Hightower do a game somtimes leaves me just shaking my head.
 

I think all Big Ten fans cringe when they see Hightower and crew come on the floor before tipoff. The inconsistency is so frustrating to watch no matter which side you're cheering for. Good players dictate how they're play the rest of the game based on the first 5-10 minutes of officiating. With these refs that's impossible.
 

I know, I should get lost, *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# you, Badgers suck, Wisconsin sucks, etc. I get it.

But here is another perspective on the 12-0 run that has caused so much consternation regarding the officiating. Examining the game recap, during that run the Gophers turned the ball over 6 times, missed 5 shots and missed two free throws.

Maybe it is possible the run occurred because they missed a lot of shots and turned the ball over too much? Just another possibility. Continue with the ref bitching.


6:36 Paul Carter made Free Throw. 24-20
6:36 Paul Carter missed Free Throw. 24-20
6:36 24-20 Keaton Grant Defensive Rebound.
6:16 24-20 D.J. Byrd Turnover.
6:13 Colton Iverson Steal. 24-20
6:12 Lawrence Westbrook Turnover. 24-20
6:03 24-20 D.J. Byrd missed Three Point Jumper.
6:03 Lawrence Westbrook Defensive Rebound. 24-20
5:51 Colton Iverson Turnover. 24-20
5:48 24-20 JaJuan Johnson Steal.
5:40 24-23 Ryne Smith made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Keaton Grant.
5:03 Lawrence Westbrook Turnover. 24-23
5:02 24-23 Ryne Smith Steal.
4:54 24-23 Keaton Grant Turnover.
4:54 Damian Johnson Steal. 24-23
4:45 Al Nolen missed Two Point Layup. 24-23
4:44 Foul on Paul Carter 24-23
4:43 24-24 E'Twaun Moore made Free Throw.
4:43 24-24 E'Twaun Moore missed Free Throw.
4:43 24-24 Robbie Hummel Offensive Rebound.
4:31 24-24 Robbie Hummel missed Three Point Jumper.
4:31 Justin Cobbs Defensive Rebound. 24-24
4:16 Damian Johnson missed Two Point Jumper. 24-24
4:16 Colton Iverson Offensive Rebound. 24-24
4:00 Lawrence Westbrook Turnover. 24-24
4:00 Foul on Lawrence Westbrook 24-24
3:34 24-26 JaJuan Johnson made Two Point Jumper.
3:06 Justin Cobbs missed Two Point Layup. 24-26
3:06 24-26 Robbie Hummel Block.
3:04 24-26 Chris Kramer Defensive Rebound.
2:56 24-29 Ryne Smith made Three Point Jumper.
2:51 Official TV Timeout. 24-29
2:35 Al Nolen missed Three Point Jumper. 24-29
2:35 24-29 Robbie Hummel Defensive Rebound.
2:20 Foul on Damian Johnson 24-29
2:20 24-30 E'Twaun Moore made Free Throw.
2:20 24-30 E'Twaun Moore missed Free Throw.
2:20 24-30 JaJuan Johnson Offensive Rebound.
2:17 24-30 JaJuan Johnson missed Two Point Layup.
2:17 Colton Iverson Defensive Rebound. 24-30
1:58 Devron Bostick Turnover. 24-30
1:58 24-30 E'Twaun Moore Steal.
1:54 24-30 E'Twaun Moore missed Two Point Layup.
1:54 Colton Iverson Defensive Rebound. 24-30
1:50 24-30 Foul on E'Twaun Moore
1:50 Colton Iverson missed Free Throw. 24-30
1:50 Devron Bostick Offensive Rebound. 24-30
1:47 Devron Bostick missed Two Point Layup. 24-30
1:47 Minnesota Offensive Rebound. 24-30
1:35 Al Nolen Turnover. 24-30
1:27 24-32 Chris Kramer made Two Point Layup.
1:08 24-32 Foul on E'Twaun Moore
1:08 Al Nolen made Free Throw. 25-32
1:08 Al Nolen missed Free Throw. 25-32
 



GVBadger said:
I know, I should get lost, *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# you, Badgers suck, Wisconsin sucks, etc. I get it.

But here is another perspective on the 12-0 run that has caused so much consternation regarding the officiating. Examining the game recap, during that run the Gophers turned the ball over 6 times, missed 5 shots and missed two free throws.

Maybe it is possible the run occurred because they missed a lot of shots and turned the ball over too much? Just another possibility. Continue with the ref bitching.


6:36 Paul Carter made Free Throw. 24-20
6:36 Paul Carter missed Free Throw. 24-20
6:36 24-20 Keaton Grant Defensive Rebound.
6:16 24-20 D.J. Byrd Turnover.
6:13 Colton Iverson Steal. 24-20
6:12 Lawrence Westbrook Turnover. 24-20
6:03 24-20 D.J. Byrd missed Three Point Jumper.
6:03 Lawrence Westbrook Defensive Rebound. 24-20
5:51 Colton Iverson Turnover. 24-20
5:48 24-20 JaJuan Johnson Steal.
5:40 24-23 Ryne Smith made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Keaton Grant.
5:03 Lawrence Westbrook Turnover. 24-23
5:02 24-23 Ryne Smith Steal.
4:54 24-23 Keaton Grant Turnover.
4:54 Damian Johnson Steal. 24-23
4:45 Al Nolen missed Two Point Layup. 24-23
4:44 Foul on Paul Carter 24-23
4:43 24-24 E'Twaun Moore made Free Throw.
4:43 24-24 E'Twaun Moore missed Free Throw.
4:43 24-24 Robbie Hummel Offensive Rebound.
4:31 24-24 Robbie Hummel missed Three Point Jumper.
4:31 Justin Cobbs Defensive Rebound. 24-24
4:16 Damian Johnson missed Two Point Jumper. 24-24
4:16 Colton Iverson Offensive Rebound. 24-24
4:00 Lawrence Westbrook Turnover. 24-24
4:00 Foul on Lawrence Westbrook 24-24
3:34 24-26 JaJuan Johnson made Two Point Jumper.
3:06 Justin Cobbs missed Two Point Layup. 24-26
3:06 24-26 Robbie Hummel Block.
3:04 24-26 Chris Kramer Defensive Rebound.
2:56 24-29 Ryne Smith made Three Point Jumper.
2:51 Official TV Timeout. 24-29
2:35 Al Nolen missed Three Point Jumper. 24-29
2:35 24-29 Robbie Hummel Defensive Rebound.
2:20 Foul on Damian Johnson 24-29
2:20 24-30 E'Twaun Moore made Free Throw.
2:20 24-30 E'Twaun Moore missed Free Throw.
2:20 24-30 JaJuan Johnson Offensive Rebound.
2:17 24-30 JaJuan Johnson missed Two Point Layup.
2:17 Colton Iverson Defensive Rebound. 24-30
1:58 Devron Bostick Turnover. 24-30
1:58 24-30 E'Twaun Moore Steal.
1:54 24-30 E'Twaun Moore missed Two Point Layup.
1:54 Colton Iverson Defensive Rebound. 24-30
1:50 24-30 Foul on E'Twaun Moore
1:50 Colton Iverson missed Free Throw. 24-30
1:50 Devron Bostick Offensive Rebound. 24-30
1:47 Devron Bostick missed Two Point Layup. 24-30
1:47 Minnesota Offensive Rebound. 24-30
1:35 Al Nolen Turnover. 24-30
1:27 24-32 Chris Kramer made Two Point Layup.
1:08 24-32 Foul on E'Twaun Moore
1:08 Al Nolen made Free Throw. 25-32
1:08 Al Nolen missed Free Throw. 25-32
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On the surface, I would agree. Missing five shots and then two free throws is completely unacceptable. And Purdue is DEFINITELY the better team, but I think most folks already thought so anyway. The real issue peopl are discussing in this case is how those turnovers were caused and how the constant fouls being called against the Gophers played into that run. In that regard, the only way to judge is based on watching game film. But you are correct about missing shots, especially free throws. Can't do those things and expect to stay in a game with a top-5 team.
 


GVBadger said:
I know, I should get lost, *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# you, Badgers suck, Wisconsin sucks, etc. I get it.

But here is another perspective on the 12-0 run that has caused so much consternation regarding the officiating. Examining the game recap, during that run the Gophers turned the ball over 6 times, missed 5 shots and missed two free throws.

Maybe it is possible the run occurred because they missed a lot of shots and turned the ball over too much? Just another possibility. Continue with the ref bitching.
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No one blamed the loss on the refs. Everyone was pretty much just complaining about the ref's being inept-which they were.
 

know, I should get lost, *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# you, Badgers suck, Wisconsin sucks, etc. I get it.
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Lol. No offense really but part of the solace I'm taking from last night's loss is looking forward to Wisconsin losing tonight.
 

SonOfTheVarsity said:
Hummel, Johnson, Kramer and Moore all played 34 minutes and had 2, 1, 2, and 2 fouls, respectively. Those four accounted for 33% of Purdue's personal fouls while playing 70% of the mins. It really seemed like the refs bent over backwards to not call anything on Purdue's major contributors. Besides Nolen, any Gopher who played significant minutes had 3+ fouls, including 4 apiece for Carter, Westy, and DJ, probably our best three players of the night (not to mention Hoff sitting the first on a bad call). I'm not suggesting that there was any sort of conspiracy, but such unbalanced foul distribution among major contributors can certainly affect a game.
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That's really nothing new for Purdue, except Johnson not being in foul trouble. The freshmen coming off the bench (mostly Byrd and Barlow) are having the toughest time with fouls this year. I felt bad for Kelsey when he picked up his 4th on a play where I'm pretty sure there was no contact.
 

rcpratt said:
That's really nothing new for Purdue, except Johnson not being in foul trouble. The freshmen coming off the bench (mostly Byrd and Barlow) are having the toughest time with fouls this year.
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That's the point. The clutching and grabbing defense is only called against the "no-names." Established names like Hummel and Kramer get the benefit from the refs, so they can grab and clutch and hand check all night with no repercussions. Meanwhile, the refs "even it up" with some meaningless fouls against a couple of freshmen.


rcpratt said:
I felt bad for Kelsey when he picked up his 4th on a play where I'm pretty sure there was no contact.
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Huh? That was one of the more obvious fouls all night. Kelsey was literally holding Nolen for five or six seconds prior to that being called. You may want to watch it a bit closer.
 

Maybe it was his 3rd or the replay was after the contact then. I'll go re-watch it later.

I'm still not buying the whole "call fouls on the Purdue bench so that the stars can stay on the court" thing. Do you get more calls going your way at home? Of course, everyone does. But all of the Purdue starters have been around for at least three years and they know what's called and what isn't...the freshmen don't. If everyone else wants to call that "clutching and grabbing and hand-checking all night" that's fine, but they would be stupid if they didn't do everything they could without getting whistled.
 

Very seldom do I blame the officiating for a loss.....but when the game started and I saw Hightower on the court I knew then that this game was over. GoGophers
 

GVBadger said:
I know, I should get lost, *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# you, Badgers suck, Wisconsin sucks, etc. I get it.

But here is another perspective on the 12-0 run that has caused so much consternation regarding the officiating. Examining the game recap, during that run the Gophers turned the ball over 6 times, missed 5 shots and missed two free throws.

Maybe it is possible the run occurred because they missed a lot of shots and turned the ball over too much? Just another possibility. Continue with the ref bitching.
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Of course the run occured because they missed a lot of shots and turned the ball over too much. Isn't is possible that they missed so many shots and turned the ball over because the refs didn't call anything in that time frame?

Purdue was 23-44 from the field
Minnesota was 20-65 from the field

That is inexcusable shooting from Minnesota, but even though they took 21 more shots Purdue still ended up shooting 9 more free throws. The refs aren't completely to blame, as the Gophs didn't make anything but the refs made this a no contest win for Purdue when it should have been close.

"We played solid tonight, not great." "I thought they played better than us. We just made a lot of shots." -Matt Painter
 

cheeseheadgophfan said:
I certainly don't think Steve Lavin has any bias for or against the Gophers....that being said, he must've questioned 1/2 dozen calls that went against the Gophers. You don't see announcers talking about "home cooking" very often.:mad:
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I thought this was pretty funny (and telling too). I heard two comments after questionable calls about how tough it is to win on the road etc. I agree with the thread, incredibly frustrating game to watch in terms of officiating.
 

GVBadger said:
during that run the Gophers turned the ball over 6 times, missed 5 shots and missed two free throws.

Maybe it is possible the run occurred because they missed a lot of shots and turned the ball over too much? Just another possibility. Continue with the ref bitching.
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Do you think it is possible that the missed shots and turnovers just may have been caused by Purdue's insistence on clutching, grabbing, holding, arm-barring, hand-checking, and general rough tactics? In other words is it possible that non-calls on obvious contact during that timeframe just may have played a role? Maybe? I mean it was beyond ridiculous at times last night. Any shot the Gophers shot in the paint was considered a good defensive play, although EVERY replay clearly showed contact. I realize they won't all get called, but hardly ANY got called. Meanwhile, Iverson and Carter were called for fouls for literally standing there on shot attempts by JuJuan Johnson.

Again, the refs didn't cause the Gophers to lose, but that was one poorly officiated game by three veteran referees. It was awful.
 

tjgopher said:
Do you think it is possible that the missed shots and turnovers just may have been caused by Purdue's insistence on clutching, grabbing, holding, arm-barring, hand-checking, and general rough tactics? In other words is it possible that non-calls on obvious contact during that timeframe just may have played a role? Maybe? I mean it was beyond ridiculous at times last night. Any shot the Gophers shot in the paint was considered a good defensive play, although EVERY replay clearly showed contact. I realize they won't all get called, but hardly ANY got called. Meanwhile, Iverson and Carter were called for fouls for literally standing there on shot attempts by JuJuan Johnson.

Again, the refs didn't cause the Gophers to lose, but that was one poorly officiated game by three veteran referees. It was awful.
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And weren't one of the turnovers the "palming" call on Westbrook....and the phantom travel on Nolen....? We couldn't get an "and 1" to save our azzes.
 

rcpratt said:
I'm still not buying the whole "call fouls on the Purdue bench so that the stars can stay on the court" thing. Do you get more calls going your way at home? Of course, everyone does. But all of the Purdue starters have been around for at least three years and they know what's called and what isn't...the freshmen don't. If everyone else wants to call that "clutching and grabbing and hand-checking all night" that's fine, but they would be stupid if they didn't do everything they could without getting whistled.
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The point is that it really looked like they were getting away with things that other players weren't. I didn't see any difference in physicality between what Purdue's stars were doing and what everyone else was doing, but the big names didn't get whistled. And such a high discrepency--70% of mins and 33% of fouls--just seems unlikely if the game had been consistently called.
 

Another infuriating quirk last night. On two occasions in the 2nd half there was a loose ball where a Gopher and Boilermaker battled for it. On the first occasion, the Gopher got the ball first and was tied up for about .03 secs before wrestling control again. Only the refs called the fastest held ball I've ever seen. On the 2nd occasion, the Purdue player had the ball and Iverson went for the tie up...Instead of getting the jump ball, Iverson got another foul.

Those situations led to 5 points for Purdue...Brutal things like that can really influence a game.

Having said that, the Gophers didnt do a good enough job of getting Hoffarber open looks...where the hell are the screens and picks???

Our shooting was atrocious in the 2nd half and we were never gonna win that game shooting so poorly..but it certainly should have been a game in the 6 to 10 point range.
 

You have to love a Badger fan getting into this discussion considering there coach is the biggest whiner in all of college basketball. Now run back to the Badger board and continue the worshiping of Saint Bo, which is actually very funny to read.
 

JohnnyGopher said:
You have to love a Badger fan getting into this discussion considering there coach is the biggest whiner in all of college basketball. Now run back to the Badger board and continue the worshiping of Saint Bo, which is actually very funny to read.
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So if the coach of the team you root for whines about the refs, then you can't comment on officiating? If that were the case, nobody would comment because every coach whines about the refs. If you want to give Ryan the title as biggest whiner, I am sure he is honored. I would suggest you watch Izzo, who is in a different league and Roy Williams, just to name two. They can hang with Bo in the whining game any day.

I don't get the worshipping of Ryan either. He is the winningest coach in the Big 10 since he joined the league, but he certainly has his faults. I don't think any coach is perfect. I wish he would do a better job in recruiting the 3 position, but you can't have it all.

Good luck against OSU.
 

Sorry, I've watched a lot of Big Ten basketball, and I have to agree, Bo Ryan is by far the biggest whiner in the league. And it's not just the whining, it's the faces, the body language, etc. He acts like every call that goes against Wisconsin, no matter how obvious, is the biggest injustice in the world.


Haven't seen a coach like that in the Big Ten since Jud Heathcote (and, of course, Bobby Knight, but that's a whole different kind of whining).
 

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