Game #25 - Saturday Feb 3 7pm SIU Arena - at Southern Illinois on ESPN3

[VU2014]

It is a coaching art to "work the refs" for calls and longtime coaches like Ben Jacobson or Barry Hinson can get the benefit of the doubt and have some pull, particularly at home. There were a TON of "hometown" calls on Saturday. The refs tried to make a few makeup calls but the damage was done when they put our bigs in foul trouble in the 2nd half with ticky-tac BS foul calls. Jay and Smits couldn't be aggressive on the boards.

[valpo64]

I understand  all of that, the "homer" thing and all.... but respect for a coach I don't buy when it comes to  getting a call or not

[VU2014]

We need someone else start the Evansville game thread to hopefully change our luck. I was only good for 1 game. 

[FieldGoodie05]

Valpopal and others, since when do coaches have to "earn the respect of the officials" and what does that mean?  Also, just how does the "respect" thing make a difference in a game?

Refs are human.  In the business world it's often said the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  It's a relief when the squeak stops and you can get back to your job at hand.

This conceivably happens in all facets of life, including the referee in a basketball game.  There's a ton of room to insert emotions into calls, so I suspect that's his point.  I'm not convinced that any ref can ignore properly asserted discontent from a coach.  But you never get what you don't ask for...or plead!!!

[valpo84]

64, it's kind of like what happens when a rookie hitter enters the MLB.  He needs to show he knows the strike zone, and not show up the umps when calls go against him for a certain amount of time.  If he shows that, then the 50/50 calls start going his way.  Same with pitchers.  Maddux' zone got larger as the years went on.  Rizzo gets calls, Votto gets calls.  Hoop coaches are always working the refs.  The long-tenured coaches, through cajoling, yelling (Huggy), glaring (Coach K), pleading, bullying (Knight) or whining (Boeheim), earn a reputation and after years of success are able to "manipulate" the refs when things need to be adjusted.  There were Jordan Rules and there are rookie rules.  Coach Matt needs to learn when it is the right time to work the refs, or get the T, and that it will be effective. As some one said it's an art form.  Example A, 1987 Midwest Regional in Cincy--IU is struggling, calls are not in IU's favor, Knight hammers the courtside phone, calls magically start going IU's way vs LSU.  Game, set, National Title. 

[valpotx]

Bandwagon fans are those that stop watching or caring about their team when they struggle.  I am definitely not a bandwagon fan, as I continue to watch, and am extremely frustrated/annoyed to see my team suck so badly .

[justducky]

Bandwagon fans are those that stop watching or caring about their team when they struggle. 

By this definition I jumped off the Dorrow bandwagon years ago and even their glimmers of slight progress give me no inclination to ever return. As for Lottich and this team and their futures, I am still fully onboard for the long haul. That said, Matt still has a LOT to learn.

[underdawg]

It is a coaching art to "work the refs" for calls and longtime coaches like Ben Jacobson or Barry Hinson can get the benefit of the doubt and have some pull, particularly at home. There were a TON of "hometown" calls on Saturday. The refs tried to make a few makeup calls but the damage was done when they put our bigs in foul trouble in the 2nd half with ticky-tac BS foul calls. Jay and Smits couldn't be aggressive on the boards.

It's actually a technique---more so than just B8tching all the time, vet coaches like Hinson usually just explain their view on a call to a ref--calmly and with some logic> A lot of calls by refs are 50-50 ones which could be called either way, I suspect so if a ref feels that he has leaned too much from being fair he might subconsciously try to even things up by calling a 50-50 situation the opposite way next time--that's just my theory

[valpo84]

dawg, it's also finding a point of emphasis for that ref to call the foul.  If a moving pick isn't being a called, a discussion with the ref about moving picks may lead to a call later.  It's, shall we say, getting that ref to be inclined to find the infraction.

[underdawg]

dawg, it's also finding a point of emphasis for that ref to call the foul.  If a moving pick isn't being a called, a discussion with the ref about moving picks may lead to a call later.  It's, shall we say, getting that ref to be inclined to find the infraction.

Speaking of moving picks, that must be a point of emphasis this year--seems like they have called a bunch. Maybe because lots of teams are using that high screen offense all the time

[bbtds]

It will be interesting to see how Coach Lottich conducts himself towards the refs this season. Will his philosophy change, and if any, will it change only slightly towards the refs?

[VU2014]

It will be interesting to see how Coach Lottich conducts himself towards the refs this season. Will his philosophy change, and if any, will it change only slightly towards the refs?

This is a interesting question. That was one of the biggest topics of conversation about last season. As much as our UNI friend gets annoyed by the suggestion but the officiating was different from the HL's officiating. Let me be very clear. The reason we were losing games last season was not because of the refs, but they certainly impacted a few of our games (the SIU away game comes to mind). I'm hoping our guys can adjust to the way the MVC refs officiate and I'm hoping we can get a little more respect from the refs.

[underdawg]

It may have been the refs, but probably also could have partially been Kavion Pippen hitting 9 of 11 shots