The Duke Treatment

[GumbyDamnit!]

Being a hoops junkie I at times frequent the message boards of opposing teams before and after games just to get a general sense for what's going on with the team (prior) or the perception of the game from the opposing fan base (after). After each of the past 3 home games (PC, CU and SHU) all 3 opposing fan bases have (mostly) blamed officiating as one of the key reasons their team either lost, or lost handily. SHU fans cited a report that Willard felt Nova got the "DukeTreatment" in games now, that it was a widespread belief throughout the league and that games were basically 5 v. 8.

I am curious if this is truly a widespread belief among all BE fan bases. Do you guys think that there is an officiating bias that has slowly developed as a result of Nova's success in the league and nationally? Is this bias a result of overall program success or Jay W's consistent working of the refs (which I think could be a valid criticism), or respect for some of the players, or maybe even a converted effort by refs to blatantly assist Nova in games (for you tin foil hat wearers)? Or is this just short term sour grapes after a game, built out of frustration that if you are going to beat Nova (especially on the road) everything has to go right, and a missed call or two is magnified with that small margin for error.

For an FYI...in those 3 games Nova was called for 41 fouls and the other teams 48. But in terms of FTA, Nova has shot 46, while the opposing team 58. Avg. margin of victory in these games was 18.7.

[DudeAnon]

Nope. Nova is just the most fundamentally sound team I have seen in my lifetime. They don't make mistakes. Especially on defense.

[FriarJ]

Teams that attack on offense are always going to draw a lot of fouls. Perimeter teams not so much.

[xu2002]

Those damn refs are responsible for every Xavier 25 point loss at Nova

[NJRedman]

Well they made one of the worst calls i've ever seen when SJU was rallying against Nova when Bridges went over Ponds back and they called a foul on Ponds.

https://twitter.com/SportsMasterDan/sta ... 7645744131

[bmorex]

No.

[pki1998]

I don't believe officals are giving Villanova the "The Duke Treatment." My only problem with officals in the Big East is there seems to be a strong bias for the home team. I realize there is a little of this in any league, but it seems more prevelant in the Big East. I just think a foul should be a foul regardless of whether the home team or the road team commits it.

[Hall2012]

I wouldn't pay much attention to that. Go on any team's message board after any loss and you'll find people blaming the refs. It's just the way it is. I certainly noticed that midway through the second half on Sunday Villlanova's starting 5 amounted a grand total of 2 fouls while the Hall had Rodriguez, Carrington, and Powell in major foul trouble (final foul count against starting 5s were Seton Hall 17, Villanova 6) and it was frustrating as hell, but I can't say that's why the Hall lost. The Hall lost because trading Delgado's 2s for Spellman's 3s doesn't work, and then the shots stop falling late and they lost confidence. They were still in the game at that point and can't make free throws anyway. The only call that comes to mind that I thought was egregiously bad was Carrington's 4th, but bad calls happen - I can't say it was bias. Overall, I agree with the poster who said it's more of a home team thing than a Villanova thing. I think the home teams seem to get away with more contact that the visitors.

[DudeAnon]

I don't believe officals are giving Villanova the "The Duke Treatment." My only problem with officals in the Big East is there seems to be a strong bias for the home team. I realize there is a little of this in any league, but it seems more prevelant in the Big East. I just think a foul should be a foul regardless of whether the home team or the road team commits it.

I think this is a NCAA thing more than a Big East thing, but I really hate how post plays are called. Every game I see a guard who drives to the paint and just throws himself at the defender to get a foul call. I am not sure what the remedy is, but 9 times out of 10 the defender is literally just standing there with his hands up and when he does move his arms it is to make a play on the ball. Second, I really hate "the thing" where a shooter fakes, gets his defender vertical and then jumps into him. I thought this was supposed to be outlawed this year but I have never once seen it called against the offense. Fix these two things and the game is much more watchable to me.

[Savannah Jay]

Being a hoops junkie I at times frequent the message boards of opposing teams before and after games just to get a general sense for what's going on with the team (prior) or the perception of the game from the opposing fan base (after). After each of the past 3 home games (PC, CU and SHU) all 3 opposing fan bases have (mostly) blamed officiating as one of the key reasons their team either lost, or lost handily. SHU fans cited a report that Willard felt Nova got the "DukeTreatment" in games now, that it was a widespread belief throughout the league and that games were basically 5 v. 8.

I am curious if this is truly a widespread belief among all BE fan bases. Do you guys think that there is an officiating bias that has slowly developed as a result of Nova's success in the league and nationally? Is this bias a result of overall program success or Jay W's consistent working of the refs (which I think could be a valid criticism), or respect for some of the players, or maybe even a converted effort by refs to blatantly assist Nova in games (for you tin foil hat wearers)? Or is this just short term sour grapes after a game, built out of frustration that if you are going to beat Nova (especially on the road) everything has to go right, and a missed call or two is magnified with that small margin for error.

For an FYI...in those 3 games Nova was called for 41 fouls and the other teams 48. But in terms of FTA, Nova has shot 46, while the opposing team 58. Avg. margin of victory in these games was 18.7.

Can't speak for PC or SHU boards, but on the 12 page thread titled "Villanova game" on BJU, there were individuals who questioned specific calls and maybe one post about getting better treatment by the refs in Omaha, but to suggest that CU fans think the refs either caused the loss or the size of the loss is not accurate. There has to be 100+ posts related to the Villanova game and there are far more posts that compliment how good Villanova is than there are complaining that the refs cost us anything. There were more posts about the remarkable shooting by Villanova than complaints that the refs affected the outcome of the game in any way. Ditto for the complaints about our coaching, etc.

If a poster simply says, "Villanova was called for one foul in the first half," is that a factual observation (yes) and a complaint (maybe). But there was no additional commentary about specific instances where fouls should have been called. There was a foul called on Ballock that some may not have thought was a foul, but that's a stream of commentary during the game. Show me one college basketball game where fans do not think a few fouls called on their team are BS. It happens. To every team, and every fan base. Disagreeing with a few specific calls and thinking the refs changed the outcome in any meaningful way are not the same.

All that to say...I've never heard one of my CU friends suggest that Villanova is getting calls just because they are Villanova. I think we are generally in awe of how Villanova just keeps losing players (to graduation, NBA, or whatever) and they have the next man up mentality. I thought the world of Josh Hart's game and thought, incorrectly, that there is no way you lose a Josh Hart and don't take a little step back. I could not have been more wrong.