WVU 2 FTAs, KU 35 FTAs: Should the Referees Be Brought in for Questioning by the FBI that Is Reputedly Looking into other Bizarre Activities in D1, or Is KU's New Two Free Throw Defense Just that Great of an Innovation?



  • @jaybate-1.0

    So, if one team has a game plan that leads to commiting fouls and the other has one that lead to not fouling, the FTs should still be balanced?

    When even the sports writer from the KC Star…we are talking the KU hating KC Start… thinks Huggins has no case you have to conclude the referring was not out of the norm. Look at how many fouls WVU and KU were called until the last 8 second of the game and it is pretty much in line with the average for WVU games.



  • @JayHawkFanToo

    WVU

    2 FTAs

    Next



  • @JayHawkFanToo

    It occurs to me that you enjoy the folk art of fecal mass polishing.

    I am very tolerant of alias’ pursuing idiosyncratic interests.

    But could you engage in the fecal mass polishing without asking me to call it a precious metal ingot?



  • Buffer 1



  • @BShark well, your going to have to forgive me on the actual time line in years, in terms of how long its actually been for such a lopsided foul calling game. Needless to say, its been a while.



  • Lulufulu said:

    @BShark well, your going to have to forgive me on the actual time line in years, in terms of how long its actually been for such a lopsided foul calling game. Needless to say, its been a while.

    Duke had a +30 FTA game this year.



  • @jaybate-1.0 That’s exactly what I’m saying!!

    I’m mid way through the game right now and my count stands at 13 to 2 on FOR KU on drives to the rim in attempt to catch a foul or an And one. 13 - 2. Plus, in the first half, Bilas called, and correctly ID’d 4 other fouls that should have been called on WVU. 4.

    Huggy just brought out the bazookas and grenades in this one.

    Ive never been a player or a ref but if you wrap your arms around KU’s player and get no foul called, something else must have been going on to distract those refs from chirping that whistle.



  • @BShark Duke doesn’t count!!! 😆

    I’m kidding. I stand corrected



  • I don’t think anyone even blinks when it happens with Duke lol. They also have a +25 and +26.



  • @BShark

    …and they have not even played WVU. 😄



  • Did I see this right? TT plays 3 games over a 6 day period? WOW!



  • @hawkmoon2020 We have already done this a few times this year and play 3 games in 7 days.



  • Almost finished with the replay. And, again you guys, I’m just a fan. But, if you drive to the lane to get a basket in the paint and drive for a foul and there is negligible contact, the refs aren’t going to call that It has to be obvious contact, right?

    I am just not seeing the kind of defensive contact necessary to draw a whistle on KU’s end.

    I will fully admit to some bias here, because, duh. But I am just not seeing the kind of contact from KU on the defensive end necessary to draw fouls.



  • @BShark

    The red flag to me is not size of the asymmetry. I have seen games where one team gets a ton more FTAs than the other.

    I just don’t recall a game in 58 years of watching, nor in all the games I refereed over 5 years, where one team only got 2 FTAs.

    'Splain that one Lucy!!!



  • @Lulufulu

    The question remains: how did KU get soooooooo many other fouls called on it, if what you say is true.

    Again, KU was whistled for FOURTEEN personal fouls.

    WVU was whistled for 26.

    It was not that the refs were not whistling fouls on KU.

    It was that the refs were not whistling a certain kind of foul on KU.

    That’s where things get murky.



  • It was #BIFM Karma in The Phog.

    FWIW: Did you feel during the game that there was such a huge discrepancy? I remember looking and seeing that we were already in the bonus midway each half. Huggy plays catch and grab and slap, then almost dares the refs to call all the fouls his guys commit on a regular basis and this time the refs called all the catches, grabs and slaps, as if to say we aren’t putting up with it anymore. Higgins is lead on the crews these days and his ego may have been a factor. JMO



  • @Hawk8086

    I can understand why Huggins was so upset. The referring is inconsistent.

    Inconsistent to Huggy as in…why are they calling all these fouls on us? We usually get away with the hacking and it is not fair the start calling them now. I better get a “T” or two now so I have an excuse for blowing a double digit lead for the 3rd time in a row against KU. 😃



  • @JayHawkFanToo 2 T’s!



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    Thanks for the assist, corrected now. 😄



  • @jaybate-1.0 WVU really had 5 free throw opportunities if that makes you feel better.

    1 -Konate’s and one.

    2,3 -Carter Misses front end of one and one

    4,5 - West? misses front end of one and one, but also commits a lane violation so the throw doesn’t count as a miss.



  • @dylans

    That’s an interesting way of looking at it.

    I wonder how many FTAs KU would have had under your new accounting system?

    Still, your new accounting system does not change that in my 58 years of watching college basketball and five years of referee low level competition, I don’t recall any team ever having a box score of 2 FTAs regardless of how many one and one’s were missed and how many lane violations occurred.

    But its still an interesting angle to be considered.



  • JayHawkFanToo said:

    @Hawk8086

    I can understand why Huggins was so upset. The referring is inconsistent.

    Inconsistent to Huggy as in…why are they calling all these fouls on us? We usually get away with the hacking and it is not fair the start calling them now. I better get a “T” or two now so I have an excuse for blowing a double digit lead for the 3rd time in a row against KU. 😃

    Now you better be careful here.

    Even with the smiley face someone might be tempted to mischaracterize your remark as part of a “narrative.”

    Or maybe even a “Conspiracy theory.”

    No, not “conspiracy theory;” that has had its cover blown.

    But if anyone tries to smear you with spinning a “narrative”, I will rush to your defense on this!

    My hunch is that “narrative” will have its cover blown in a few years, after that you won’t have to worry. 🙂



  • @Hawk8086

    Dang, I can almost buy that.

    But then a little voice whispers the following in my ear.

    If WVU’s style of play was what triggered the 2 FTAs, why hasn’t their style of play triggered any other 2 FTAs games this season? Why didn’t it trigger a 2 FTA game against KU in Morgantown? Or alternatively, why hasn’t their style of play triggered any 2 FTA games against other opponents on the road this season?

    I agree WVU has a style of play.

    They appear to play much the same way every time I watch them play KU, or anyone else.

    What was it about playing KU, this one time in Allen Field House, that caused this style of play of WVU to be awarded only 2 FTAs this time, and not on other visits to Allen Field House? Or to any other basketball arena Huggins and WVU have ever played in?

    I don’t have any good answers for these questions.

    May be you can take a cut at them.

    Believe me, I want this to have been all on the up and up, so that KU honestly won the game fair and square.

    But I just don’t quite follow how WVU’s style of play would only trigger a 2 FTA game in this one situation this one time and not any other times.



  • Pull quote:

    Of course, the national media stirred up because of the free throw discrepancy. Which is interesting, considering few, if any, of those same media members seemed to care when West Virginia beat Kansas while shooting 26 more free throws just two years ago.

    https://kansas.247sports.com/Bolt/Devonte-Graham-has-explanation-for-free-throw-discrepancy-115300324



  • @KUSTEVE

    Nice. Devonté’s comments nicely sum it up what went on.



  • This game was just an anomaly. We need someone like @Jesse-Newell to run the stats on KU home games showing the calls, and then also comparing that to say… WVU home game calls.

    If you want to know the truth… If anyone should be mad, it would be Self! We have a team that just doesn’t want to rumble! Since WHEN does a Kansas team finish at the bottom of the Big 12 in FT attempts? That proves one thing; our guys just don’t want to play a physical game.

    So we get into a big game with the team that is easily the most-physical team in our league, but we refuse to get physical back with them. I am in awe that we won this game. I still can’t believe we won.

    But maybe we are crossing the defensive threshold now. Maybe this team can actually prove something RARELY or NEVER accomplished in basketball; playing tough defense without playing physical! I still have a hard time believing it… but this team has had this philosophy all year and is so talented athletically… This is what they believe and they work hard at their game, including defense… so who knows? It did work out on Saturday.

    Contrast this with the interview with Sherron Collins… who was asked how he would stop Trae tonight. Here is what Sherron said:

    ““I think you have to be physical with him. I’d hit him every time you get a chance to,” Collins said. “No easy layups. You have to hit the floor. Hard foul. I don’t want anybody to hurt anybody. You have to attack him. I’d attack him every time.”” ~ KUSports.com

    That is what I think exactly… but I am “old school.” It is what I said the first time we played him. Wear him down! Put him in hard ball screens, etc. Just keep putting body on Trae to wear him down and he will become too tired to be effective at the end of the game. Now… he’s been beat down all year and showing definite signs of being worn down. It works! It works in a single game, and it applies damage to Trae for the rest of the season.

    I don’t know… I am open-minded for whatever. I have the teachings of the game that are ingrained in my brain and soul. But times change, and I’ve already passed the threshold of just name-calling on millennials because they bring a different way on many things. I’ve seen many impressive changes once I opened my mind!



  • An “old school” strategy for tonight’s game would mean we can expect to see Cunliffe used for his 5 hard fouls on Trae…

    I don’t expect to see that happen because we rarely bring much of a specific strategy into our games against specific opponents.



  • @drgnslayr We want him to shoot it. He is like 37 out his last 38 from the free throw line. I think he’s shooting around 20% from the field the last 5 or so games.



  • On ESPN this morning on the Golic and whoever the other guy is now- -they had a piece about the free throw discrepancy they talked to Tom Creene - is that his last name - the former IU coach that broadcasts now? - - Anyways they was talking to him and he said part of West Virginia problem was they got KU into the bonus early and most of the fouls were shooting fouls and he too mentioned that a lot of WV shots were outside and not driving the middle. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY ONG BABY



  • Having just watched the whole game - I don’t see any reason to think the Refs miscalled that game. Sure there were some bad calls/no calls as always but the FTA disparity was due to philosophical differences in approach to the game.



  • Devonte was right. The discrepancy should have been even further apart because WVU got away with murder.

    Half of their players were holding our guys with both hands… even wrapping them up. The refs were giving warnings instead of blowing the whistle.

    Huggy Bear had a strategy to play physical. He knew his biggest chance of winning was to win by playing more physical. When it didn’t work, he played another card… to get thrown out to plant a seed for next year.

    I’ll tell you… Huggy doesn’t miss a thing. He belongs in the HOF and he’ll get there. He’s one big March run away from knocking down the door to get in.



  • I like this post @jaybate-1-0 because one of my legacies is introducing the term FT defense to our group here!



  • @wissox

    I apologize. I did not realize that. Thanks for tooting your horn. My hat is off to you! Consider yourself permanently foot noted. You should be enshrined in the basketball sports writers hall of fame for it. Free throw defense is one of the funniest ideas about basketball ever. It makes me laugh any time I see it, or use it.



  • @jaybate-1.0 No need to apologize, seeing it just stirred a memory!



  • @drgnslayr

    There is no doubt in my mind that the refs should have called more than the 35 fouls they called on WVU.

    What still flabbergasts me is how they called the game in such a way that KU wound up with only 2 FTAs; this I just cannot explain and ALL the explanations I have read are so easy to refute.

    I just don’t see how this game cannot be reviewed.



  • JayHawkFanToo said:

    @jaybate-1.0

    So, if one team has a game plan that leads to commiting fouls and the other has one that lead to not fouling, the FTs should still be balanced?

    When even the sports writer from the KC Star…we are talking the KU hating KC Start… thinks Huggins has no case you have to conclude the referring was not out of the norm. Look at how many fouls WVU and KU were called until the last 8 second of the game and it is pretty much in line with the average for WVU games.

    You seem to be having trouble understanding.

    How many visiting teams in Allen Field House, since it opened in 1957, have been awarded only 2 FTAs in a 40 minute game?



  • jaybate 1.0 said:

    @drgnslayr

    There is no doubt in my mind that the refs should have called more than the 35 fouls they called on WVU.

    What still flabbergasts me is how they called the game in such a way that KU wound up with only 2 FTAs; this I just cannot explain and ALL the explanations I have read are so easy to refute.

    I just don’t see how this game cannot be reviewed.

    WVU was called for 35 fouls? Wow, this is news to everyone and I am sure Coach Self and KU players would have liked it since they though not all fouls were called on WVU.

    KU wound up with only 2 FTAs? Wow, I am sure Huggy would have loved that.

    Apparently you believe that only things that have happened before can happen again but in real life, for everything that happens there is always a first time. With your logic, sInce neither KU nor any other program for that matter has won 14 conference tittles in a row, it is not possible for KU to do that this year, and if it does, there must be an investigation by the conference and the NCAA.

    Last season at Hilton, ISU was called for 12 fouls and KU was only 2-5 from the FT.

    Last season At AFH KU was called for 25 fouls and Stanford went 30-37 from the FT; it hit a lot of the 1 and 1 front ends so it got a lot more attempts.

    It happens.

    You keep forgetting that if a team is called for a foul in the act of shooting 2 FTA are granted regardless of bonus status. If the foul is not in the act of shooting no FTA are granted.

    KU’s outside shooting was off so it was penetrating and the majority of fouls were in the act of shooting while penetrating so they were granted 2 FT each time and KU reached the bonus fairly early.

    WVU, on the other hand, was shooting wide open, uncontested 3s and not drawing fouls; only 6 attempts out of 60+ were at the rim.

    The situation above was the perfect recipe for a large foul differential which is exactly what happened. If Huggy had not gotten nuts at the end and WVU not fouled on purpose, KU would have had less FTAs. Also, if WVU had not comitted line violations it would have had more attempts.

    I don’t know why I am wasting my time, again, you have made up your mind and no amount of logic or facts will change it. I am out.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I don’t know why Trae Young didn’t try driving to the basket every single time OU got the ball. I thought our WVU game provided a textbook example of how to get lots of points by constantly driving when outside shots are not working, as well as how to foul up our post players. Curiously passive.



  • @jaybate-1.0

    I’ve watched the game 3 times now. I just haven’t seen it where we received the help from refs. WVU relied on the long ball and didn’t push it to the rim enough. And when they did, Doke did a good job of not fouling. They shot 26 treys.

    In the OU game, OU shot 13 FTs… 2 more than us. Why wasn’t that game rigged?

    All of this says more about our current culture than the reality at hand. I agree the WVU was an anomaly… but to just point at something and call it “rigged” when there simply isn’t any supporting evidence says more about all of us than the refs that called the game.

    The politics we live in today is having an impact on the way we see things, the way we interpret things, the way we communicate things. Just wait until March. This year may easily see fans screaming more about “rigged games” than all years prior.

    We can expect to hear some of the same verbiage as used in politics… “fake refs” etc etc etc.

    I’m making this point because I noticed our political climate has impacted my own thoughts and how I express them.



  • @drgnslayr Excellent points. And the “how we express them” all too often results in all of us accusing each other of bad motives for having opinions that differ.





  • Even better:

    https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/play-index/tgl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=game&year_min=2011&year_max=2018&comp_schl_rk=eq&val_schl_rk=ANY&comp_opp_rk=eq&val_opp_rk=ANY&game_type=A&is_range=N&c1stat=fta&c1comp=lt&c1val=2&order_by=pts

    2 or fewer FTA has happened 169 times since 2010. So if one is willing to accept that KU’s 35 FTA are simply a result of WVU’s style of D, and are simply concerned with the low number of FTA for WVU, there is enormous evidence that such a stat is not out of the realm of possibility.



  • A quick review of that data shows it’s even happened at Allen before in 2011. Also, high 3pt attempts seems to be a fairly common factor (though not every time) between games like this.



  • For me, officiating is too often the ‘wild card’ in sports (especially basketball) and I have often wondered if referees could be entirely replaced with technology. However, until then, my preference is for referees to call plays as they see them, in the moment, real time…and not add yet another dimension of human error to the equation by forcing them to consider and adjust to foul (or any other) inequality throughout the game. Most fans have witnessed “the make up call” but I find those distracting because like players, I think referees should be thinking “next play”.



  • mayjay said:

    @drgnslayr Excellent points. And the “how we express them” all too often results in all of us accusing each other of bad motives for having opinions that differ.

    No and no.

    Next.



  • @drgnslayr

    Many if not most teams in D1 now shoot 20-30 treys per game routinely and are awarded waaaaaaay more than 2 FTAs in 40 minutes.

    When was the last time a visiting team was awarded only 2 FTAs in AFH?

    How many FTAs was WVU awarded in Morgantown.

    Huggins is an experienced, likely HOF coach with a top notch PG with solid driving ability and above average strength. He could almost drive at will on Devonte, since DG has no backup. And he could drive into Devonte and force short treys. So you say he didn’t. So why?

    One way or another the two FTAs suggest some thing rotten in Denmark.



  • @jaybate-1-0 Did you look at the info from the site I linked? Your 1st question has been answered. It was 2011 vs Iowa St. If my memory serves that would have been a Hoiberg team that shoots lots of 3s. In fact, they shot 32 threes that game.

    As for your second, WVU had 12 FTA in Morgantown, making 11 of them (you can infer they likely got the second shot after a 1 and 1 at least once or twice with that %). That would mean the difference between officiating at WVU and at KU was really about 3 shooting fouls. Is it really unreasonable to assume that 3 fouls would be within the normal limits of variation per game?

    And for your last question, Carter had to exit the game with 5 fouls. It’s pretty common for a guard to hesitate to drive in order to protect himself from charge calls.

    I agree that the numbers looked bad and were initially startling but after spending far too much time looking into it, I just don’t see anything rotten in any country. Is there a point you are trying to make by simply ignoring the facts people are placing in front of you? Perhaps reinforcing some of what @drgnslayr said. With the president of the US being a known and proud promoter of conspiracy theories, is it really that big of a leap to propose that kind of thinking would find its way into more discussions and areas other than politics?



  • For added reference, WVU has had 4 games in the last 8 seasons with 7 or less attempts including 3 against Notre Dame at home in 2012 and 5 against UT at a neutral site in 2014. Rare, yes. Unheard of, no. Are we into “next” territory yet?



  • @jaybate-1.0

    I always appreciate and respect your opinion. I will continue to keep an open mind about that game. I just haven’t seen anything fishy by watching the game several times.

    I know I can’t be unbiased… but I try and I often see things different than most Kansas fans.

    I saw several situations where we didn’t get the calls in that game. I totally agree the numbers were weird. Sometimes there just isn’t an answer to a game’s results.



  • jaybate 1.0 said:

    @drgnslayr

    When was the last time a visiting team was awarded only 2 FTAs in AFH?

    Not that long ago, February 12, 2011…

    0_1519246286177_upload-f61c1300-1bf3-438e-995a-c0f68eb2b405

    Game, set, match.


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