Blame The Officials All You Want BUUUUT

[redout22]

Even with the officials doing their best Tim Donaghy impression we could have easily won the game and here is a few snippets as to why we didn't win:

 

1. Walter Pitchford- He was basically inexistent on the offensive side of the ball and didn't score a single point the whole game. Really needed him to make shots to open up the zone.

 

2. 4-21- We shot 19% from three's which was absolutely terrible with TP being 0-7.

 

3. Assist-to-Turnover ratio- You always want to have more assists than turnovers but we had only 7 assists compared to 11 turnovers with TP leading the way with 4 turnovers.

 

Feel free to add on or comment if you agree/disagree

[Foppa]

I agree. And the refs still were awful.

[hskrfan4life]

I agree, but as I learned from listening to 1620 the zone we technically have a right to blame the officials same with coaches too. They get paid to do their job, the officials I felt could have done better. Regardless Baylor still needed to score which they did.

[AngryHusker88]

Nebraska did not play well...I feel we played hard for the most part (gave up a few points that were just pathetic)...but overall I think the team played hard. Sloppy & undisciplined come to mind...the players had never played in a NCAA tournament game before so probably got too psyched out & that may have contributed to playing bad in the first half. If Nebraska plays like they did against Wisconsin, we should win anyway...no arguments there. We brought our C- or our D game...I watched us beat Wisconsin, I know the team is capable of playing better than that. Baylor also didn't play great but still won.

 

However, it doesn't change the fact that officiating egregiously altered the outcome of the game. For crying out loud, our head coach got EJECTED for pointing out the officials failed to start the shot clock. Argue that he shouldn't have left the coaches box all you want...it doesn't change the fact that (per the rules) the ball should not even be in play if the shot clock has not started...so given the ball is not legally in play Tim Miles has every right to do what is necessary to correct this error. You cannot argue this unless you want to argue that Baylor should have all day to shoot while Nebraska has to abide by the :35 shot clock rule. And to top this off, Baylor was awarded 3 free throws for this. What should have happened is it should have been corrected & the missed time should have been put back on the game clock & Baylor should have had to re-inbound the ball.

 

Here are the official foul stats. These are accurate - I went to espn.com, clicked the play-by-play on the Nebraska game & counted the fouls committed by each team. In the first half, Nebraska was called for 13 fouls, Baylor 10. In the second half, Nebraska was called for 18 fouls & Baylor was called for 6. If you count Tim Miles 2 technical fouls, that 2nd half stat becomes 20-6. Baylor won 74-60. Baylor was awarded 48 free throws throughout the course of the game, while Nebraska was awarded 16.

 

Yes, Nebraska lost. I am not a person who likes blaming a loss on officiating. I also understand there is no such thing as a perfectly officiated basketball game. Mistakes will be made. Having watched the entirely of the game (all 40 minutes) & having just looked up the official stats on the fouls (per the espn website)...It is my opinion that the officiating altered the outcome of this game in an egregious manner.

 

EDIT - My solution to this (which will never happen). Fire the head official, make it so he will never be allowed to officiate a basketball game for the remainder of his life. And make it clear to all other NCAA officials that the same will happen to you (the head official presiding over any NCAA game), if it is determined by a committee (in charge of such) that the same has occurred in any future game.

[zoogs]

Yeah, and overall just kinda sloppy. There was a point late in the game where we were making a few baskets and pulling the lead down to single digits...then all five guys aren't paying attention and Baylor immediately has a dunk on the other end. I don't think any of our players were even close to making it past half court.

 

These guys were too tight. Seemed like it was all a little overwhelming. They did fight admirably through the end, but particularly in the first half taking all of those outside shots was frustrating to see. I mean we had 3 points. Establish something first. I've read that this team plays really different away from PBA and that's what it has seemed so far. But they've made tremendous, really unbelievable strides this year. For one, I actually watched a few basketball games. What!

 

Good job, team. Looking forward to next year!

[AngryHusker88]

Yeah, and overall just kinda sloppy. There was a point late in the game where we were making a few baskets and pulling the lead down to single digits...then all five guys aren't paying attention and Baylor immediately has a dunk on the other end. I don't think any of our players were even close to making it past half court.

 

These guys were too tight. Seemed like it was all a little overwhelming. They did fight admirably through the end, but particularly in the first half taking all of those outside shots was frustrating to see. I mean we had 3 points. Establish something first. I've read that this team plays really different away from PBA and that's what it has seemed so far. But they've made tremendous, really unbelievable strides this year. For one, I actually watched a few basketball games. What!

 

Good job, team. Looking forward to next year!

 

I also found this very frustrating. Based on the 3 games I watched this year (Wisconsin, Ohio State B1G Tourney game, & Baylor) our teams strong point is getting the ball near the basket & attacking from there. Playing tough on defense is our other strong point. We are not a 3 point shooting team. Attempting all those 3s in the 1st half was a bad game plan (considering they just weren't going in). Tim Miles should've called timeout at some point in the 1st half & corrected this.

[ShawnWatson]

I think we can all agree Nebraska didn't play worth sh#t, but Karl Hess is a huge douche.

[NUance]

All you can ask for is to get a fair shake from the officials. We didn't get that.

[Hooked on Huskers]

I agree. And the refs still were awful.

I concur. Completely different subject.

 

Ice cold Huskers shooters in the first half - Absolutely

 

Awful and crooked referees - YES. Final free throw count: Baylor 48, Nebraska 16. Fouls: Baylor 16, Nebraska 31 plus technical fouls.

[True2tRA]

I think we can all agree Nebraska didn't play worth sh#t, but Karl Hess is a huge douche.

 

This sounds about right.

[Mrp542]

Nebraska did not play well...I feel we played hard for the most part (gave up a few points that were just pathetic)...but overall I think the team played hard. Sloppy & undisciplined come to mind...the players had never played in a NCAA tournament game before so probably got too psyched out & that may have contributed to playing bad in the first half. If Nebraska plays like they did against Wisconsin, we should win anyway...no arguments there. We brought our C- or our D game...I watched us beat Wisconsin, I know the team is capable of playing better than that. Baylor also didn't play great but still won.

 

However, it doesn't change the fact that officiating egregiously altered the outcome of the game. For crying out loud, our head coach got EJECTED for pointing out the officials failed to start the shot clock. Argue that he shouldn't have left the coaches box all you want...it doesn't change the fact that (per the rules) the ball should not even be in play if the shot clock has not started...so given the ball is not legally in play Tim Miles has every right to do what is necessary to correct this error. You cannot argue this unless you want to argue that Baylor should have all day to shoot while Nebraska has to abide by the :35 shot clock rule. And to top this off, Baylor was awarded 3 free throws for this. What should have happened is it should have been corrected & the missed time should have been put back on the game clock & Baylor should have had to re-inbound the ball.

 

Here are the official foul stats. These are accurate - I went to espn.com, clicked the play-by-play on the Nebraska game & counted the fouls committed by each team. In the first half, Nebraska was called for 13 fouls, Baylor 10. In the second half, Nebraska was called for 18 fouls & Baylor was called for 6. If you count Tim Miles 2 technical fouls, that 2nd half stat becomes 20-6. Baylor won 74-60. Baylor was awarded 48 free throws throughout the course of the game, while Nebraska was awarded 16.

 

Yes, Nebraska lost. I am not a person who likes blaming a loss on officiating. I also understand there is no such thing as a perfectly officiated basketball game. Mistakes will be made. Having watched the entirely of the game (all 40 minutes) & having just looked up the official stats on the fouls (per the espn website)...It is my opinion that the officiating altered the outcome of this game in an egregious manner.

 

EDIT - My solution to this (which will never happen). Fire the head official, make it so he will never be allowed to officiate a basketball game for the remainder of his life. And make it clear to all other NCAA officials that the same will happen to you (the head official presiding over any NCAA game), if it is determined by a committee (in charge of such) that the same has occurred in any future game.

 

So much this.

 

Honestly, our first half went better than I expected. Especially considering almost everything was fixable with Tim Miles being Tim Miles (for example, first half 0-11 3PT, second half 4-10). Nebraska has a tendency to overhype games. And there was no way that wouldn't affect the play of a young, relatively inexperienced team. Once they settled in though... a 13 point deficit was not insurmountable. But, to reiterate, every time we cut it to single digits... 5:30 into the second, NE pulls within 9. In the next 3:30 Baylor had 12 FTA vs NE's 1 - Baylor's up 18. Next 8 minutes, both teams get 2 FTA - NE pulls within 9. Next 2:30 Baylor gets 12 FTA vs NE's 4. The refs made sure Baylor couldn't lose. With one caveat I thought we could have/should have won that game.

 

Baylor fan quote: "Baylor has seen all types of officiating this year. We've seen 'breathe on a guy and it's a foul.' We've seen 'no blood, no foul.' Blind refs, 'you're playing in Austin and will get no calls refs,' we've seen it all. Nebraska looks and plays like they have not seen that variety of officiating all season, which favors Baylor mentally." Which I think one could argue showed up in our 7 blocks and 9 steals vs their 2 blocks and 7 steals.

 

And, I know one of the reasons this one bothers me so much is that I watched the NDSU Oklahoma game the night before. The one where 2 NDSU players had major scratches and through incidental contact one of them got kicked in the head. And this is such a turnaround. (I wonder if Hess saw that game, too?)

 

My counterpoint is something that no one else seems to be harping on except Baylor boards ("Miles definitely acted like he had never been there before.") is that this is the first time Miles has been ejected from a game. In 19 years of being a HC. With 2 NAIA–II titles. And this is his 7th postseason appearance. The first time he's been ejected. Why? (Baylor fan quote: "he was literally on the court and across midcourt from the coaching box") Nevermind that Scott Drew crossed the midcourt while the ball was in play, during the game, too.

 

I definitely took some positive takeaways though:

1. We're not in the Big 12.
   
2. We're in the B1G.
   
3. Our team played hard in the second half - there was no quitting.
   
4. In addition to 3, we adjusted well.
   
5. This is a very young team.
   
6. In addition to 5, next time won't be the first time in the tourney for most of our roster.