02-17-2018, 03:26 PM
Two things further on officiating, beyond that, for the most part, they do a hard job well.
Two random opinions:
The first, that officials want to call a "balanced" game, even if the two teams are playing at completely different levels of physicality. Given Stanford under Tara and their style of play, that has generally worked in our disfavor. I cannot count the number of times I've looked up at the scoreboard, seen that our opponent has been called for 6 or 7 fouls (this especially happens the first time we enter the bonus, whether with halves or quarters), while the Cardinal has only been called for 3. I would turn to my fellow fans, and we both would know what was coming - a series of fouls against Stanford that, while possibly legitimate, were out of balance with the way the game had been officiated beforehand. This may be one way in which the quarter system helps us - the foul imbalance will generally be smaller when you hit the bonus, so it's not as obvious a prompt to call the game differently.
Happened against ODU in the semifinal that shall not be mentioned. Machanguana, Pinichero et al got more and more physical as the game went on, and yet it was Stanford that lost a key player to fouls, when Gator decided that Kristen Folkl really couldn't be doing the kind of things she could do, in blocking a ball from behind. Or against Colorado, both in the Sweet Sixteen game, and last week. Looking at the stats, Colorado, even with all of their fouling late to try to get back in the game, was only called for 28 team fouls, against 18 for Stanford. That was not reflective of the disparity in the style of play.
And it matters when and on whom those fouls are called. All of a sudden, Stanford's best defenders are being called for fouls that weren't called earlier in the period, and end up sitting on the bench late in the first half.
I've heard "the fouls even out" too often, when that shouldn't be the case.
And 81A, more specifically on Missy, as with Richie Ballesteros, the old Pac-10 men's ref - I always thought they were the kind of officials who would occasionally make a call because it offered them the opportunity to demonstrate their "ability to make the tough decision," by making a judgment call favoring the wrong side - a charge/block call that was 80% charge, and they call a block, or vice versa. That they WANT to be that person who is "strong enough" to go against the flow, make the unpopular call, etc. That, and they want to be at the center of things. Which I don't regard as a valuable trait in an official.
Just some ruminations, while waiting for the tip.
VG
Two random opinions:
The first, that officials want to call a "balanced" game, even if the two teams are playing at completely different levels of physicality. Given Stanford under Tara and their style of play, that has generally worked in our disfavor. I cannot count the number of times I've looked up at the scoreboard, seen that our opponent has been called for 6 or 7 fouls (this especially happens the first time we enter the bonus, whether with halves or quarters), while the Cardinal has only been called for 3. I would turn to my fellow fans, and we both would know what was coming - a series of fouls against Stanford that, while possibly legitimate, were out of balance with the way the game had been officiated beforehand. This may be one way in which the quarter system helps us - the foul imbalance will generally be smaller when you hit the bonus, so it's not as obvious a prompt to call the game differently.
Happened against ODU in the semifinal that shall not be mentioned. Machanguana, Pinichero et al got more and more physical as the game went on, and yet it was Stanford that lost a key player to fouls, when Gator decided that Kristen Folkl really couldn't be doing the kind of things she could do, in blocking a ball from behind. Or against Colorado, both in the Sweet Sixteen game, and last week. Looking at the stats, Colorado, even with all of their fouling late to try to get back in the game, was only called for 28 team fouls, against 18 for Stanford. That was not reflective of the disparity in the style of play.
And it matters when and on whom those fouls are called. All of a sudden, Stanford's best defenders are being called for fouls that weren't called earlier in the period, and end up sitting on the bench late in the first half.
I've heard "the fouls even out" too often, when that shouldn't be the case.
And 81A, more specifically on Missy, as with Richie Ballesteros, the old Pac-10 men's ref - I always thought they were the kind of officials who would occasionally make a call because it offered them the opportunity to demonstrate their "ability to make the tough decision," by making a judgment call favoring the wrong side - a charge/block call that was 80% charge, and they call a block, or vice versa. That they WANT to be that person who is "strong enough" to go against the flow, make the unpopular call, etc. That, and they want to be at the center of things. Which I don't regard as a valuable trait in an official.
Just some ruminations, while waiting for the tip.
VG