college refs are better

[Chris]

  I hate nba refs as much as the next guy but I would guess that HS refs, jr high refs and rec league refs are also better. It's easier to ref games played at a slower speed by lesser athletes.

Yeah, plus, college refs are not dealing with overpaid prima donnas who complain about every call, try to constantly show them up, and who they get to know the tendencies of over many years.  

In college, generally players are kept in check by their coaches, and refs do not need to assert their authority the way they seem to need to do in the NBA.  And when you see players multiple times a season for 10+ years, it is really hard not to let reputations color your officiating.  

[wdleehi]

I still think the NBA refs do a great job of calling the games the way the NBA wants them to call the game.




I think they would be capable of calling games well if they were to call games without the built in bias they are suppose to have. 

[JSD]

Overall, I think the refs are better in the NCAA. They don't get wrapped up in the star treatment it seems.

[papa shuttlesworth]

I forget where/when I read it, but I was surprised to learn that there are a lot of rules would appear to be the same but are just different in the NBA and NCAA.  For example, the definition of a block/charge - in one case, it is based on foot position and in the other case it is position of the torso.  I don't think even the most observing of fans realize these minor differences, so it just looks like one set of refs is just bad.

I think refs on all levels make mistakes, but I also think that they probably know a little bit more about the rules and how to officiate than I do.

I'll still yell at them, though.

[guava_wrench]

Overall, I think the refs are better in the NCAA. They don't get wrapped up in the star treatment it seems.

See Chris's comment above.

I always laugh when announcers say stupid comments about non-stars getting 'star calls'. Idiots. It is often just a missed call. If a star gets it, we make up the story that it is a 'star call'. When a borderline gets it, certain people get confused because it doesn't fit what they want to be true.

What is even sillier is when announcers talk about away teams getting calls as if there is something odd about that. They seem to refuse to consider that home court really doesnt seem to have a bearing on refereeing but instead repeatedly act like these are anomalies.

[MBz]

Butler/Pitt anybody?

The first foul most definitely had to be called.  Gilbert Brown traveled due to the foul.  Had they not called the foul they would have had to call the travel which would not have been right.  The last one, in that situation I think you let it slide, but it was a foul. He got him on the arm.

[Tai]

Butler/Pitt anybody?

The first foul most definitely had to be called.  Gilbert Brown traveled due to the foul.  Had they not called the foul they would have had to call the travel which would not have been right.  The last one, in that situation I think you let it slide, but it was a foul. He got him on the arm.

I picked Pittsburgh to win the championship game, but no you freaking don't. It was clearly a foul, and I knew it as soon as it happened. I would have just said, if it wasn't called, that Pittsburgh should send gifts to those refs for missing that call.

A foul's a foul; letting them slide is just bad mentality.

[Assassin70]

Butler/Pitt anybody?

The first foul most definitely had to be called.  Gilbert Brown traveled due to the foul.  Had they not called the foul they would have had to call the travel which would not have been right.  The last one, in that situation I think you let it slide, but it was a foul. He got him on the arm.

I picked Pittsburgh to win the championship game, but no you freaking don't. It was clearly a foul, and I knew it as soon as it happened. I would have just said, if it wasn't called, that Pittsburgh should send gifts to those refs for missing that call.

A foul's a foul; letting them slide is just bad mentality.

Good job by that team of officials...dumb plays by those kids.

[Finkelskyhook]

Overall, I think the refs are better in the NCAA. They don't get wrapped up in the star treatment it seems.

They're not even close to better than NBA refs.  NBA refs are amazingly accurate in their calls.  They just have to be amazingly accurate so many different situational ways with the same scenario that they look worse. 

[Finkelskyhook]

Overall, I think the refs are better in the NCAA. They don't get wrapped up in the star treatment it seems.

See Chris's comment above.

I always laugh when announcers say stupid comments about non-stars getting 'star calls'. Idiots. It is often just a missed call. If a star gets it, we make up the story that it is a 'star call'. When a borderline gets it, certain people get confused because it doesn't fit what they want to be true.

What is even sillier is when announcers talk about away teams getting calls as if there is something odd about that. They seem to refuse to consider that home court really doesnt seem to have a bearing on refereeing but instead repeatedly act like these are anomalies.

It's hard to fathom that anybody who watches NBA games could think that these officials don't officiate by different rules for different players.  Frankly, I think it's silly to assume that the best trained officials in the history of basketball could watch the same guy flagrantly travel and "miss" the same call over and over again....But get it exactly right virtually every time a less prominent player travels.  The reality is that they're getting it right both times.  It isn't made up, Guava. 

[wiley]

This Celtics Knicks game got off to a great start, then the refs sucked all the energy out of the game with a bunch of phantom calls.   Let's forget about accuracy for a moment.  How about a watchable product.  I mean, to me that should be the starting point before even getting into right and wrong calls.  This game was a sucky thing to watch for a quarter and a half in basketballs greatest stadium and one of its greatest rivalries.  The players can only do so much to entertain.  The game has to be reffed in a reasonable manner.  Stars can't overcome these useless stoppages.

[ballin]

College refs know how to let players play.

College refs know how to make a call when it's a sure foul, not when a foul maybe sort of could have probably happened but might not have...well I'd better blow this thing.

College refs err on the side of non-calls instead of phantom calls, so the game has flow.

College refs don't ref as if they're in a panic.

College refs don't put themselves front and center.

College refs make mistakes but the mistakes are quickly forgotten because the game itself comes to the forefront.

College refs don't help the team that's losing as much as NBA refs, allowing blowouts without fear of losing money.

By and large I agree. You could make the same argument for FIBA refs as well.

Just wanted to add the fact that college refs aren't as whistle-happy is also part of the reason why they're not as generous to the losing team. The reason is a few phantom calls in favor of the losing team would stand out a lot more in a college game than it does in an NBA game.

Hence, in an NBA games the losing team gets the benefit of the doubt every time the whistle is blown (which is often). This can lead to a dramatic swing of events, especially considering how efficient NBA offenses are.

Yet in a college game, there would be no way to cause that kind of a point swing without the ref doing something that would probably get him fired. So it doesn't happen.