MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[D3HoopJunkie]

Thank you, St.Paul, you explained the inconsistency in officiating games perfectly! Now, maybe someone will listen!

Except those "touch" fouls are fouls.  They've been part of the rules for more than a decade.  It's not like some refs call them and others don't.  Each game is unique.  Players have to adjust.  Saying it's soft or weak is just living in the past.

Ryan, I disagree completely. Some refs do call every single foul and for every one of those refs there is another referee that is much more lenient. That's just a fact.

That is exactly what concerns me most when it comes to officiating. From region to region, game to game its the lack of consistency across the board that is most disturbing, not simply the number of fouls called on each team. Let hope having a national D3 referee coordinator will clean these things up.

With all this being said, I feel like I am responsibly for this back and forth because of what I said in my post game recap from Saturday night. I did not want it to come off this way. I used the word "gripe" which I think might have been misinterpreted. Again to state, I wasn't even at the game and didn't have the opportunity to watch as much as I would have like to. I just noticed that Maddredd and Walters struggled with fouls which limited them as players and obviously Albertus as a team. Like I said, were some justified? Probably so....

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

So "touch" fouls have been the one coaches and others have wanted called tougher for several years now. We have to stop complaining about it. That is what coaches want in the rules even if they complain (which cracks me up). The NCAA doesn't make these rules, adjust them, or decide what should be emphasized. Mainly coaches do it.

Yes, refs are inconsistent... just like the strike zone in baseball, pass interference and holding in football, etc., etc., etc. Welcome to the human element. We have to stop complaining about it and understand this is how it works. We can strive towards a bit more consistency, but no two human being sees things in the exact same way every single time - especially when the refs are in different positions on the floor.

Now to your concern about region to region, game to game... my point about the new coordinator of officials should be taken to heart. Jim Haney's job is multi-faceted, but one of the items on his list is to become more consistent region to region, conference to conference, game to game. Better evaluated, educated, teach, and guide officials while also making sure they understand their job is now being looked at not only by the coaches in games, but by evaluators, and the by someone at the national level. If refs want to move up to higher divisions or get bigger paydays by coaching conference and NCAA tournament games, they will need to get more consistent and call the game the way it is expected to be called.

It isn't going to happen overnight, but I am very confident that starting this year we are starting to see a more consistent game being called. That will also mean that players, coaches, and fans are going to have to get used to things in the past being called (or not called) per the old norm. If handchecking is allowed in Conference A and wrestling is allowed in Conference B, both conferences better get used to neither being allowed in the future. It will result in more griping, but back to the point: players need to adjust, coaches need to help their teams adjust, and fans need to understand how the refs are being asked to call the games. If touch fouls, illegal screens, pushing off, grabbing, etc. are being asked to be called more stringently, we have to stop griping about when they are called.

[Saint-Paul]

Saints shuffle the starting line up, going with four guards, and come up with a much needed win over Curry College, 76 - 70. Had a feeling the Saints might grab a win tonight, Curry has only one win in the last two years. The game was back and forth, with both teams trading 12 point runs.  Saints had a 1 point lead in the last two minutes and came up with two big defensive stops, forcing Curry turnovers.  Two sets of free throws and the game was in the bag.  Turnovers and poor shooting kept the Saints from putting this one away early.  Always nice to get that first win of the season before Christmas break.

[D3HoopJunkie]

Should be a great first home game today for the Falcons. WPI has always been a well coached and respected team. A little home cooking is always needed after a hard fought loss against a great team in Swarthmore last week. That loss is already behind us! Lets hope for a more complete game from our front court today!

Albertus wins in a close one.....86 to 77

[Falcons 25]

Great, hard-fought victory today in O.T. against a game W.P.I. squad!
Mason Jones w/26 pts. & J. Walters w/25 pts. paced the Falcons.
Yeoman game for our fine point guard, Ryan Pittman. (numbers aside,
he plays hard all the time!)
CENTER POSITION:  Thank God for Erick Langston- 11 rebounds!
Liam & Amir- 2 rebounds between them in 25 minutes of "play".
Gutsy win....BABSON THIS WEDNESDAY....FILL THE NEST, STUDENTS!!!!!

[WPI89]

Congrats Magnus. Great game beteen 2 good (young) teams.

[falcons2010]

Very good early season game between two teams still trying to find themselves. Good win for the falcons; let's keep it going! Didn't see much of the game, was watching michigan get beat again in a big game.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

There should also be some thanks to those refs.  The FTs that tied it up for OT were definitely a gift.  Dude took three steps before he even drew contact.  The ref made the right call for his position, but one of his partners should've helped him out.  That's what happens in basketball sometimes.  Good effort to come back and win, though.  Good to see, especially when the big guys weren't performing great.

[Falcons 25]

Great to see a game called FAIRLY! Nice to see you watching our game though. Please come in person
and enjoy our "NEST'.

[7express]

Great to see a game called FAIRLY! Nice to see you watching our game though. Please come in person
and enjoy our "NEST'.

I'm pretty sure he lives in Delaware or someone in the Mid Atlantic Region and has a fairly young kid, so probably tough for him to get up this way.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Great to see a game called FAIRLY! Nice to see you watching our game though. Please come in person
and enjoy our "NEST'.

I'm pretty sure he lives in Delaware or someone in the Mid Atlantic Region and has a fairly young kid, so probably tough for him to get up this way.

I've driven by the campus a few times on the way to see family, but the timing hasn't worked out well.  I should note, in the "teams who didn't get any votes pre-season, but might be in the Top 25 at the end of the year" contest, I took AMC.  I'm not crapping on the team, just trying to keep you all honest.  Shoot, I can see Ajen English's high school out my back window.

[falcons2010]

Hoops fan, for those of us who have not seen much or any of English on the court. What can of player is he? What does he do well?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hoops fan, for those of us who have not seen much or any of English on the court. What can of player is he? What does he do well?

I moved here the year after he graduated, so I haven't seen him play.  From what I hear a heck of a talent on the court, but trouble off it.  As we've gone over here, hopefully he's had time to mature a bit and will be a great asset for you guys down the stretch.  I know everyone around here is pulling for him.

[falcons2010]

We are all pretty excited to have him in New Haven. Hopefully he has matured; one thing that Oliver has done with these transfer kids is graduate them. Not to say that they are all matured but at least they are committed enough to earn a degree.

[falcons2010]

Any news on Green-Younger?