Fouls and No Calls

[Aargh]

Part of the enforcement emphasis this year was to get rid of the physical play. WSU was known as one of the most physical teams in the nation. That has pretty well put WSU into the minds of officials that they are a team that has to be watched closely. Throw in the fact that the Valley supervisor of officials was in the house Saturday and you end up with a crew that wasn't going to let the Shox touch anybody. The change in rule enforcement has worked to the detriment of the Shox.

The way I'm seeing calls near the basket: The defensive player and offensive player are both allowed verticality. Neither is allowed to own space that is not vertical. Fred never goes to the basket with a vertical move. He's always on an angle into space he doesn't "control". Defense on him also goes non-vertical into space the defensive player does not control. Apparently when there is a collision in space neither player controls, that is a no call.

If that's the way it's called around the hoop, that would explain the no call muggings Fred is getting around the basket that gave him FT's last year.

[OregonShocker]

All well and good, but it's frustrating to see a "no call" and then a meaningless hand check which has no impact on the play. One gets you a seat on the bench while the other makes the rules look like a joke. And I'm not saying it's "WSU vs. zebras"; it seems that way in a lot of the games I watch.