Home Field (court) advantage and officiating

Remember Hanlon’s Razor: assume incompetence before malice.

(also, one of the authors grew up in Oakland County, so there is a state of MI connection there).

And yeah, basically, the thought is that refs are likely influenced by the crowd and make 50/50 or questionable calls more in favor of the home team. And that goes both ways, as in, not just bad calls going against the visitor (such as last night, when we saw multiple touch calls, especially Draymond’s last two personals, plus the tech), as well as NOT making the same calls against the home team – again, see last night’s first half, the guy getting in Trice’s face in the second, and the first half of the @ Wisc game.

The theory also says that officials will err on the side of caution in tight moments, as in, they won’t call that pitch right on the corner a 3rd strike very late in a close ballgame, though that exact same pitch vs. the same batter earlier in the game may have been called. Which can explain things like whistles getting swallowed in the final moments of games. And even though I hate to say it, in the long run, MSU benefits as much from those non-calls as it is hurt by them – see the last win in Crisler, for example, when it sure looked like Summers used the M player as a springboard to go up & get the lob he laid in for the game winner.

Last night’s game thread got a bit heated at a few times, and that’s OK – the reason us TOC regulars are TOC regulars is because we’re passionate Spartan sports fans. And when things aren’t going our teams way, we get upset. Eventually, the foul numbers evened out, but that still doesn’t mean it was an evenly well called game. The team attacking the basket and consistently getting it inside was getting no whistles early, while the team taking jumpers or just barreling into the lane with its head down was getting calls. There was a quick series early in the 2nd half, when Illinois got like four whistles against them in a quick period, that helped even things out. Also, I felt that there were at least two calls against the Illini in the 2nd half that were make-up calls, probably a result of Izzo getting in the officials ears.

I don’t really agree with the point of view that the calls (and lack of) last night were part of a grander conspiracy, though I won’t hold it against people who feel that way. There certainly were enough inconsistencies with whistles to support that point of view. IMO, we simply saw what the guys in Scorecasting set out to prove – that the home team will benefit.

Finally, the guys at Big Ten Powerhouse recently looked at how hard it is to win on the road in the B1G, and in a reply to an astute commenter, it turns out that there is a 4 whistle discrepancy for MSU when home/on the road, or around 25%. Though a lot of variables go into that final number (mainly, deliberate fouling at the end to extend the game), I still think some meaning can be taken from that stat.

And it would take a close look at the data, but I’d be curious to see whether highly “biased” games occur more often for bubble teams than for teams solidly in or out of the field

What infuriates me about college football and college bball refs is that they are all old and out of shape. Seriously, these guys are well into their 50s and even early 60s. They look like they just came to the games from the buffet lines and bowling alleys. And then they get out there with young, extremely healthy elite level athletes who are moving at the speed of sound.

There should be a strict physical standard to be a referee in these games. Get some younger men out there who are in shape and capable of keeping up with the flow of the game.

Also, refs need to be held accountable. I say they need to be held accountable MORE, but that implies that they are already held accountable, which they are not. The notion that they have a tough job and are “doing great out there” when they are consistently blowing and missing calls-is absurd. They should be reviewed and held to a standard of performance. This would probably cut down on influence from crowds and coaches and probably make the refs work harder in their jobs. Just because they have the whistles doesn’t make them exempt from performance standards. Not in my book anyway.

I’ll own up to being the one who got this whole debate started. I almost got shouted off the board for proposing the ‘greater conspiracy’ theory. I even called it a fix at one point in time.

I’m really not a complete lunatic (just during MSU basketball games). Do I really believe it’s a ‘fix’? No, but I do believe that the Big 10 is guilty of skewing calls towards the teams that need it the most. I have just watched too many basketball games over the past 15 years where a clearly superior team is beaten or played close by a lesser team who received the benefit of some, at best, questionable officiating. I’m sure I see it more during Michigan State games, but I’ve become so accustomed to it, that I now can pretty much tell which way it is going to go based on what would be better for the conference.

Take Wisconsin this year as an example. They have been a pretty consistent program over the last 10 years or so. They travel really well, and it would be hard for anyone to deny that they are one of the conferences top basketball programs. I know they are on a bit of a hot streak now, but this is the worst Wisconsin team I can remember, yet they are still near the top of the league. The game we played there was one of those games where the officiating was downright pathetic. Wisconsin has been a physical defensive program over this last decade, yet they manage to go 10 minutes of the second half without being whistled for a foul. That disparity is the only way they stay in that game. That foul difference has happened a number of other times for them as well. Again, if this is a soft team, I can live with less fouls being called, but this is Wisconsin, and Bo that this Wisconsin team is not a creation of the Big10, through blatantly biased officiating.
The first half against Illinois the other night is much the same. Everyone knows how badly Illinois needed that game, and the officials seemed to understand that as well. MSU didn’t help themselves at all by shooting poorly, but the tone of the game was set early when fouls were not called on the repeated fouls Illinois was giving near the basket. If a couple of those are called early, the tone of the game is different. It is still possible that they lose because of the poor shooting, but it’s also possible that the confidence gained from their early domination on the boards carries throughout the game.
I’m not making the point that refs can win or lose very many games on their own. The players are responsible for the outcome most of the time, but we’ve all seen too many instances where a game not being called evenly has affected it’s pace, and also the outcome as a result.

Again, all I ask of the officials is call the game evenly. If that is done, the team that played better wins, and that won’t always be the team that needs the win to make the tournament or secure a number 1 seed in it, but at least no one questions the game’s (and league’s) integrity.

Did he forget that, MSU had basically doubled up tOSU in terms of fouls called on them (17-9) and tOSU had shot nearly three times as many FTs as MSU did (22-8) before tOSU began deliberately fouling in the last two minutes?

tOSU LIVES on getting to the line, they have the best FTR% in the conference by a lot, while also being one of the worst 3pt shooting teams, both in percentage made, as well as number of shots per game.

MSU figured out how to minimized Sullinger on offense without bodying him up, and that was by throwing guards at him to slap at the ball when he brings it down. That’s why he had such bad turnover & assist numbers, and only a few buckets down low. Frankly, it’s how you stop most big men, it’s certainly a strategy that has worked to slow down both Payne & Nix on our squad. Sullinger got to the line 8 times that game, made six, also hit a three & a long range two, meaning that 11 of his 17 points were not in the paint. By not doubling him, there weren’t open shooters to kick it out to, which is why his assist numbers sucked.

Basically, MSU just showed the country how you slow down Sullinger. And when you slow him down, you slow down tOSU, bc they can’t shoot for shit unless they are wide open.