Pike working the refs, got RU the call late

[NewJerseyHawk]

In a game where usually the whistle is not as much as a conversation in the last couple of years, RHJ and RU got a call to make up, for a butchered missed call earlier.

If there was a time I usually don't complain about refs, that ended at around the 3 to 4 minute mark.....RHJ, gets a nice play called by the staff, isolated on Keegan Murray (I think)......he takes off towards the basket for a layup, starts his motion to elevate and score a layup....."AND 1"......BUT, somehow what should have been a 3 point play, turned into "No Basket".

I rarely jump out of my seat at a game or at home off the chair/couch.....but that missed call, on RU and our star player, was truly a blown call, that could have been a 3 point play.

The next plays were I think the defensive stop, then the Cliff alley-oop dunk, the cramp injury by Cliff, which distracted RU and Iowa got a layup.

But before the exchange, Pike looked at the screen and was on the ref closest to our bench....he had to have told him something along the lines of "my star player just got robbed of a 3 point play, there's no way Iowa or Keegan Murray, doesn't get that call"....(I have no idea what was said, but that was my thought when RHJ didn't get that obvious call.

So when Murray slightly fouled or bumps RHJ with under 3 seconds to go, the whistle (somehow) was blown, I think by the same refs who was closest to our bench and closest to Pike, on the earlier missed call.

RHJ goes to line, calmly drains 1st and 2nd FTs, RU survives.

I know that was not a very good call against Murray in the final seconds, it was a bailout of a call....Fran McCaffrey was obviously ticked, but there have been SO many countless times where the RU whistle didn't work our way over many of the last 20 to 25 years, I can't even keep up with how many....

RU finally got one back, for once.....and got one back in a game that was very close.....

I am not apologizing for getting a call, we almost never get.....so for this game, take the win and move on.....but Pike and that refs had to have thought about how the crew missed the RHJ first missed/key call.......

Onto Minnesota (hopefully).......

 

[Unionst]

I don’t think it was the ref who Pike talked to who made the final call. The guy who made the final call generally drives me crazy because he will make calls from halfway across the court while two other refs are closer to the play. But this time the play was right in front of him and he bailed us out.

 

[RUsojo]

Nope

 

[S_Janowski]

Refs sucked last night on both sides, but they had more missed calls against us.

Agee took a free throw with his foot on clearly on the line and they didn’t call it lol.

 

[Big boy stan]

Agree with the OP that Pike did well here but it was two different refs. The ref that calls the foul at 2 sec was under the basket during Harpers free throws and away from Pike. I do think that refs occasionally do look at bad calls from their partners and try to make up for them later. If that is what he was doing...Thank you.

 

[robjknight]

Geo and Ron almost blew it at the end with running the clock down too far. There was no way Ron was getting a shot off before the clock ran out.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Geo and Ron almost blew it at the end with running the clock down too far. There was no way Ron was getting a shot off before the clock ran out.

not a good one anyway.

 

[DirtyRU]

Nope

Nope right back. How long have you been watching basketball? Even the announcers agreed. That's an "And 1". You can make a case that the Cliff one was also an "in the act of shooting". Two blown calls right there. OP is right.

 

[Mbash93]

Refs sucked last night on both sides, but they had more missed calls against us.

Agee took a free throw with his foot on clearly on the line and they didn’t call it lol.

Lol they are never going to call that

 

[Arizona Knight]

The Harper non-continuation call and the foul on Harper as the clock was expiring in regulation were both terrible calls.

 

[RUsojo]

Nope right back. How long have you been watching basketball? Even the announcers agreed. That's an "And 1". You can make a case that the Cliff one was also an "in the act of shooting". Two blown calls right there. OP is right.

Yeah that was a bad call. Just saying pike was very passive in his reaction and don’t think he went beyond his normal passiveness and wasn’t necessarily “working the ref” there.

 

[S_Janowski]

Lol they are never going to call that

They should have - it wasn’t just on the line, it was almost over the line.

There were a number of fans (including Iowa fans screaming about it).

 

[bitnez]

Low scoring, ugly rock fight tied late and staring at OT. I mentioned this earlier in the week — people forget these refs are human. Do I think that the ref invented a call? No. But, do I think he wanted the game over in regulation? Absolutely. He was looking to blow the whistle and Iowa did just enough to let him do it

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Geo and Ron almost blew it at the end with running the clock down too far. There was no way Ron was getting a shot off before the clock ran out.

Wrong. You don't give the other team ANY time at all. You saw what a good look Murray got with just 2 seconds left. You either make a shot to win it and the game ends or you go to overtime. You go too early the other team can get a rebound, call time out and set up a good look or steal the ball and get a shot off like nearly happened at halftime. Two seconds was still plenty of time for Ron to get a shot up or even pass for a game winner. He didn't get the chance because they called the foul but even if they didn't call a foul Ron still would've had an opportunity to win it for us in regulation. It's wrong to think that if they didn't call the foul we'd definitely be going to overtime.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The working the ref started right after Fran got upset and worked the ref and got calls. Pike needed to get his beak wet.

 

[Big boy stan]

Funny reaction is to look at RHJ after the whistle is blown. He looks right at the ref and seems to be wondering who and what the call is

 

[G- RUnit]

Although first half foul difference like the Maryland game was again weirdly in Iowa’s favor. We both were playing the same type of D.

 

[Scangg]

Our board would have melted down at that call. In a game like that the ref making that call is unexpected.

Murray was playing tight aggressive D outside the 3 point line. A little hesitation is all it took for Murray to put his hands on Harper and create some contact. That is the risk Murray took on playing that type of D that far out. Star player senior leader at home gets the call. For once it's an RU player

 

[RCBeta79]

It's a foul.

Ron was angling toward the basket and the defender had his hands lowered on Ron's midsection (preventing him from making his move).

Defender: Should have "hands up" or "hands to the side", not holding his midsection.

 

[Scangg]

It's a foul.

Ron was angling toward the basket and the defender had his hands lowered on Ron's midsection (preventing him from making his move).

Defender: Should have "hands up" or "hands to the side", not holding his midsection.

Refs love making those types of calls outside the 3 point line

 

[Upstream]

I know that was not a very good call against Murray in the final seconds, it was a bailout of a call.

You don't know that. Maybe it was a bad call. Maybe it was a great call. You don't know.

The ref is about 5 feet away from Harper and Murray looking straight at their hands and the ball (see yellow arrow in first picture below). You don't know what the ref saw, and you certainly can't tell from the television angle from the other side of the court. Maybe the ref saw a ticky-tack touch foul. Or maybe he saw Murray grab Harper's arm.

You don't know what the ref saw. Certainly if you are looking at the TV replay, you don't know what the ref saw because Harper and Murray are blocking your view. Even if you are one of the handful of people sitting in the first few rows on that side of the court, you are further away than the ref and watching from a different angle. So you still don't know what the ref saw.

But if the ref saw a foul, he should call it. You can't legitimately argue that refs should swallow their whistles at the end of a game. If that were the case, then Mulcahy should have just shoved Murray out of the way to prevent Iowa from catching the long pass and taking that last shot. (And would the swallowing the whistle at the end of games apply to football too? Should the ref have swallowed his whistle instead of calling Louisville offsides to allow Ito to re-kick the game winning field goal in 2006?)

Maybe it was a bad call. But maybe it was a great call. You have no way of knowing, especially if your only view of the play was from the TV camera.


Additionally, if the ref had not blown his whistle, Harper still had 2 seconds to make a shot, or dish the ball off to either Baker or Mulcahy. If you look at the second photo below, Baker is wide open, planted and ready to catch and shoot. No guarantee that he'd make the shot. But we all know that is a shot that Baker is very capable of hitting.

 

[toby83]

it was an absolutely TERRIBLE call

 

[GORU2014]

I don’t think it was the ref who Pike talked to who made the final call. The guy who made the final call generally drives me crazy because he will make calls from halfway across the court while two other refs are closer to the play. But this time the play was right in front of him and he bailed us out.

That would be @BigEastPhil ’s arch nemesis Courtney Green

 

[Scangg]

You don't know that. Maybe it was a bad call. Maybe it was a great call. You don't know.

The ref is about 5 feet away from Harper and Murray looking straight at their hands and the ball (see yellow arrow in first picture below). You don't know what the ref saw, and you certainly can't tell from the television angle from the other side of the court. Maybe the ref saw a ticky-tack touch foul. Or maybe he saw Murray grab Harper's arm.

You don't know what the ref saw. Certainly if you are looking at the TV replay, you don't know what the ref saw because Harper and Murray are blocking your view. Even if you are one of the handful of people sitting in the first few rows on that side of the court, you are further away than the ref and watching from a different angle. So you still don't know what the ref saw.

But if the ref saw a foul, he should call it. You can't legitimately argue that refs should swallow their whistles at the end of a game. If that were the case, then Mulcahy should have just shoved Murray out of the way to prevent Iowa from catching the long pass and taking that last shot. (And would the swallowing the whistle at the end of games apply to football too? Should the ref have swallowed his whistle instead of calling Louisville offsides to allow Ito to re-kick the game winning field goal in 2006?)

Maybe it was a bad call. But maybe it was a great call. You have no way of knowing, especially if your only view of the play was from the TV camera.


Additionally, if the ref had not blown his whistle, Harper still had 2 seconds to make a shot, or dish the ball off to either Baker or Mulcahy. If you look at the second photo below, Baker is wide open, planted and ready to catch and shoot. No guarantee that he'd make the shot. But we all know that is a shot that Baker is very capable of hitting.

Good screen shots. That's a lot of contact outside the 3 point line. Hand on his back pinning his arm. Knee to Harper's thigh.

Hands off our star player!

Still looked weak AF in real time but it's not a Fantom (intentional misspelling for my crypto bros) call there. There was contact

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Wrong. You don't give the other team ANY time at all. You saw what a good look Murray got with just 2 seconds left. You either make a shot to win it and the game ends or you go to overtime. You go too early the other team can get a rebound, call time out and set up a good look or steal the ball and get a shot off like nearly happened at halftime. Two seconds was still plenty of time for Ron to get a shot up or even pass for a game winner. He didn't get the chance because they called the foul but even if they didn't call a foul Ron still would've had an opportunity to win it for us in regulation. It's wrong to think that if they didn't call the foul we'd definitely be going to overtime.

Nobody is saying that. He was stuck with few if any options and a bad look. Well away from the basket unless you were expecting another Purdue miracle.
He was hardly in a position of any options other than jump off balance and hope.
Can he make those? Sure.
You plan for that with 25+ seconds to work with?

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Nobody is saying that. He was stuck with few if any options and a bad look. Well away from the basket unless you were expecting another Purdue miracle.
He was hardly in a position of any options other than jump off balance and hope.
Can he make those? Sure.
You plan for that with 25+ seconds to work with?

He had two seconds. That is a lot of time. Geo's man doubled Ron so Geo was standing open in 3 point range and Mulcahy was in the corner. And they still would've had to defend a shot by Ron if he didn't dish it. He could've made the shot or actually been fouled on the shot attempt too. But it never got to that because the refs made a ridiculous call with time on the clock.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

He had two seconds. That is a lot of time. Geo's man doubled Ron so Geo was standing open in 3 point range and Mulcahy was in the corner. And they still would've had to defend a shot by Ron if he didn't dish it. He could've made the shot or actually been fouled on the shot attempt too. But it never got to that because the refs made a ridiculous call with time on the clock.

He wasn't passing back to geo there or looking for Paul in the corner. You've seen plenty of Pike's end game sets to know better. Not too mention the defense all over him
It was his shot to take make it miss for win or OT.

 

[SirScarlet]

Yeah that was a bad call. Just saying pike was very passive in his reaction and don’t think he went beyond his normal passiveness and wasn’t necessarily “working the ref” there.

he was NOT passive after that call...he was as animated as Pike gets.

not saying that's why we got the call at the end...but he was not passive at all with the missed and-1...

he was livid

 

[SirScarlet]

like virtually all foul calls, it WAS a foul. rarely do I argue if it was actually a foul (see holding in Football...you can almost always rationalize how it WAS a hold). The call on Murray was no different. Per the rules, it WAS a foul. the pictures above clearly show that...and it was clear in real time

the question is...was that being called a foul in this game and have they been calling that on both teams. That should be the only argument/debate.

normally, we get shafted in those situations. the refs rarely call the same thing they're calling on us, on the other team.

and this is why refereeing is such a subjective "science"...and why I continue to believe we normally get jobbed in games...not because we don't foul (see above...you can almost always argue it was a foul)

but because they dont call the same fkng thing on the other team when they do it.

last night was one time we didnt get screwed.

and if it happens 43, 769 more times, we'll start to see things even out.

 

[RUsojo]

he was NOT passive after that call...he was as animated as Pike gets.

not saying that's why we got the call at the end...but he was not passive at all with the missed and-1...

he was livid

True maybe by pikes standards. I thought his weird faces and limited to no yelling was passive by most coaches standards of working the ref. I see what you’re saying

 

[SirScarlet]

True maybe by pikes standards. I thought his weird faces and limited to no yelling was passive by most coaches standards of working the ref. I see what you’re saying

he was definitely yelling...he was pointing up at the video board and screaming

you wanna say Pike doesnt work the refs enough...I am right there with you, and have said that for several years.

but in this case, he was absolutely yelling at the refs

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Anyone who says Pikiell doesn’t work the refs or isn’t fiery around his team during games simply does not know what they’re talking about.

 

[SirScarlet]

Anyone who says Pikiell doesn’t work the refs or isn’t fiery around his team during games simply does not know what they’re talking about.

Colonel - he definitely works the refs. I can't speak for others, but IMHO, I think that there are times where he lets them off the hook. I am not saying he needs to be like Fran, but never having gotten a Tech in his career as a HC (I believe I read that), is not good either.

This is hardly on my last of biggest gripes, but just wanted to clarify my pov.

 

[Yeah Baby]

Looking at the pics above that is clearly a foul. They let both teams play but in the first half Iowa got more calls and in the second half we got more calls. Iowa got a gimme call a few minutes earlier that led to 2 Made FT’s. If it was us we would be pissed but a foul is a foul. No need to make contact there. Just stay close and use your length to challenge the shot.

 

[rubaseball78]

I found it interesting putting an arm around the ref.

 

[BigEastPhil]

That would be @BigEastPhil ’s arch nemesis Courtney Green

lol....you know it...lol...I can't believe Courtney bailed us out. After the foul call, I told my section I'll never yell at Courtney again - until next time he screws us...:)

I sit courtside and the refs hear me.....I got my whole section to yell at Courtney all the time...every game...:)

I owe him one now...:)

 

[RU848789]

The Harper non-continuation call and the foul on Harper as the clock was expiring in regulation were both terrible calls.

Agreed. I also thought neither the end of half basket nor the OOB play with 1 minute left should've been reversed, as they were too close to call, IMO, meaning the call on the court should've remained. Other than that I thought it was called pretty well overall.