Awful Officiating - Not the Reason for the Loss, But Noticeable

[jellyman]

The officiating was nowhere near the reason for this awful loss, but it WAS awful. Sa's injury was an obvious foul - and a rough foul, not called. Omoruyi's injury came on a foul also - the Illinois layer who hit Omoruyi was moving (effectively a moving screen) - and also had his right forearm shoving hard against Sanders' face as he cut across the lane ... 2 fouls for the price of one.

Freeman and Sanders were both fouled multiple times in the 1st half, while shooting, with no calls - while 1 minute into the game Doucore gets called for a foul on essentially the same play that Illinois players were doing all the time without calls.

The refs really let Illinois "play" to RU's large disadvantage. That, in and of itself is not bad officiating, and not the reason for the loss. But I did find it noticeable.

 

[RUChoppin]

I was watching on a delay, and really didn't watch much after Omoruyi went down. The initial tone felt like a "generally not calling squat, but will at times call ticky tack BS" thing - which is usually better for us than a "calling every tiny infraction, but will at times miss obvious things" concept.

Still not so irritating that it becomes unwatchable, like women's basketball officiating - but I also didn't watch the whole game, so it may have gotten worse after Omoruyi left the court.

 

[soundcrib]

Aren’t they supposed to go to the monitors when there’s potential that face or head contact occurred? I was waiting for it on Sa’s play.

 

[RUsince52]

As bad as we played, we deserved to lose. But we would have been in the 1 and 1 at around the 11 minute mark and didn't draw a foul for 7 minutes. You would think on one of our trips up court, although we kept throwing the ball away, we would get a call. Didn't lose the game for us, but didn't help either.

 

[78CollegeAve]

A thread about the refs after a 31 point loss? Priceless!

How can anyone start a thread about the "notable" refs when your team was losing 82-41 to a 1-8 B1G opponent?

 

[RUChoppin]

A thread about the refs after a 31 point loss? Priceless!

How can anyone start a thread about the "notable" refs when your team was losing 82-41 to a 1-8 B1G opponent?

Well, it was a game in which there was a lot of physicality, and two of our guys went down with injury... usually it's the refs who control the level of physicality in a game.

Personally, I think the guy who stepped on Omoruyi's foot did so without intent, and it was a freak thing. The Sa injury was a foul that wasn't called. Took a long time for them to stop play after each player went down, too.

 

[RUJMM78]

Illinois plays aggressive defense with switching and hand checking part of their system.Some refs will call fouls which would put them in early foul trouble.The way the game was called clearly bothered Rutgers along with Illinois 3 point shooting.

 

[rufeelinit]

I did think it was anything goes in the first few minutes with the refs swallowing their whistle. I thought it benefitted the aggressive style of defense that Illinois was playing as well. We just did not react and adjust at any point and thus after an early lead we once again went through a period of wasted possessions and then the D broke down and the flood gates opened. Not a good night for anyone associated with the program.

 

[RUChoppin]

I also think that with our depth issues, we have eased up a bit on the aggressiveness of our defense. For one, we're trying to avoid the fatigue factor, but we also just can't afford refs hitting us with early fouls, because we'll end up playing walk ons in the second half. So, while a "let them play" whistle helps keep our starters (and even scholarship players) on the court - it doesn't really allow us to amp up defensive intensity.

 

[higgins3]

It's fine if you want to critique the refs, but what cost these games are far from anything the refs can correct. I know a lot of fans feel the same way.

Things like Baker bringing the ball up, Bullock getting some more play in the post, and keeping a strict leash on Freeman and Sanders hijacking the offense are important steps going forward. Pikiell does not have the players, and the remaining partof the season is going to be a very tough ride. We should not be surprised from here on out to see 30+ loses. The team has lost it's most reliable players.

I like Sanders, but if he cannot fit the mold, the coaches should stop trying to force it. He has improved here on the Banks. Defensively is what stands out most. His shooting skills have not improved. HIs passing has not improved. He can be a clutch player. Maybe it's just not going to work out as he planned it to.

 

[78CollegeAve]

If walkons have to play in the second half because of 2 injuries, that's on the staff for only having 9 usable players in Year 2 because it chose to use scholarships on a redshirt, a transfer, and two kids that shouldn't be on a B1G roster. So, of course, it's tough to lose 2 of the 9.

But I don't think Pikiell will complain about being down to a 9-man rotation (including Bullock and Mensah) as much as the RU fans might because his focus has to be locked in on the gradual building of a decent roster for 2020-21 instead of a blowout at Illinois and the likely Purdue rout. I accept that this year is the second of 4 (or 5) steps to Rutgers having a representative B1G program.

 

[FrankZ]

Numb to it during whoops like yesterday, but the problem is those 1-2 backbreaking calls that invariably come in a critical spot (i.e. at MSU).

 

[RUChoppin]

If walkons have to play in the second half because of 2 injuries, that's on the staff for only having 9 usable players in Year 2 because it chose to use scholarships on a redshirt, a transfer, and two kids that shouldn't be on a B1G roster. So, of course, it's tough to lose 2 of the 9.

This.

It's okay to have a miss. It's okay to have a sit out transfer. It's okay to have a freshman redshirt. It's the combination of all those things together that becomes a problem.... two misses, a sit out, and a freshman redshirt all at once is a huge roster management risk, and it has come to bite us.

EJ had similar roster management problems. He had two misses (Goode, Diallo), a sit out transfer (Johnson), and an empty scholarship (to me, worse than a sit out freshman). That was all on top of poor coaching and development, too - so it was a worse problem than what we face with Pike.

 

[jellyman]

Well, it was a game in which there was a lot of physicality, and two of our guys went down with injury... usually it's the refs who control the level of physicality in a game.

Personally, I think the guy who stepped on Omoruyi's foot did so without intent, and it was a freak thing. The Sa injury was a foul that wasn't called. Took a long time for them to stop play after each player went down, too.

Choppin's full response is what I was getting at ... 2 injuries, both due to contact, both likely should have been called fouls ... and the contact was happening ALL GAME by Illinois, with few calls.

As to the statement I bolded: I agree it was "without intent" and thus accidental. HOWEVER, even without intent, it is a moving screen. A moving offensive player is NOT allowed to make contact that impedes a defender, which is what caused the contact. Also, that offensive player, while cutting, as he made contact with Omoruyi, also raised his forearm high, and had it make contact with Sanders' face at the same time - also a foul.

Question for all ... I know, not that important. How did Illinois get a foul shot after that made 3-pointer? Omoruyi falls down like he was shot, Sanders immediately runs to Omoruyi to help him (good show by Sanders, by the way). The ball remains active with Omoruyi on the floor, and Sanders next to him,leaning over him to help - both RU players effectively screening the Illinois player who ended up receiving a pass and was wide open from 3 - with no RU player near him. He makes the 3 .... and after the injury time out, the Illinois player who made the 3 then makes a FT, for a 4-point play. How did that happen?

By the way, the game was not totally out of reach before that play ... RU WAS down 32-17 before that 4-point play ... but that 4-point play was the culmination of an Illinois stretch with 6 made 3-pointers in 7 attempts, in 8 or 9 possessions by Illinois.

The main cause of RU's demise in this game included:

1) 25 turnovers ... ridiculously poor ball protection by RU.

2) Awful play by Sanders in the 1st half ... poor shot selection, poor defense, giving up way too often on transition.

3) Continued poor shooting.

4) Poor rebounding.

I would say, that though Bullock scored 4 baskets, on some nice moves and shots. He also ONLY looks to shoot, and has little or no lateral defensive capability.

Losing Williams, and now Omoruyi is a killer - the 2 grittiest, toughest and highest energy players RU has. This really hurts the team in terms of its perseverance, toughness, and fight.

 

[78CollegeAve]

Choppin's full response is what I was getting at ... 2 injuries, both due to contact, both likely should have been called fouls ... and the contact was happening ALL GAME by Illinois, with few calls.

As to the statement I bolded: I agree it was "without intent" and thus accidental. HOWEVER, even without intent, it is a moving screen. A moving offensive player is NOT allowed to make contact that impedes a defender, which is what caused the contact. Also, that offensive player, while cutting, as he made contact with Omoruyi, also raised his forearm high, and had it make contact with Sanders' face at the same time - also a foul.

Question for all ... I know, not that important. How did Illinois get a foul shot after that made 3-pointer? Omoruyi falls down like he was shot, Sanders immediately runs to Omoruyi to help him (good show by Sanders, by the way). The ball remains active with Omoruyi on the floor, and Sanders next to him,leaning over him to help - both RU players effectively screening the Illinois player who ended up receiving a pass and was wide open from 3 - with no RU player near him. He makes the 3 .... and after the injury time out, the Illinois player who made the 3 then makes a FT, for a 4-point play. How did that happen?

By the way, the game was not totally out of reach before that play ... RU WAS down 32-17 before that 4-point play ... but that 4-point play was the culmination of an Illinois stretch with 6 made 3-pointers in 7 attempts, in 8 or 9 possessions by Illinois.

The main cause of RU's demise in this game included:

1) 25 turnovers ... ridiculously poor ball protection by RU.

2) Awful play by Sanders in the 1st half ... poor shot selection, poor defense, giving up way too often on transition.

3) Continued poor shooting.

4) Poor rebounding.

I would say, that though Bullock scored 4 baskets, on some nice moves and shots. He also ONLY looks to shoot, and has little or no lateral defensive capability.

Losing Williams, and now Omoruyi is a killer - the 2 grittiest, toughest and highest energy players RU has. This really hurts the team in terms of its perseverance, toughness, and fight.

Go find a room with one of the Penn State wrestling fans who's still complaining that it's the ref's fault that the kid got hurt and defaulted the other night.