The reffing was a hit job [says one guy getting ripped in his own comments]
Not excusing the lazy post-ups by Hunter, the overwrought hero ball by Wagner, the all-too-expected Smith turnovers, the frickin missed free throws .... BUT
The reffing was an absolute hit job. Juzang got to shoot three FTs on a reach-in. At least two offensive fouls by U-M were fictitious. There was a BS travelling call on Wagner, too. Even a couple call reversals (I think when Johns was forced out of bounds) showed where the officials' instincts were. Screw U-M, ask questions later. Plus, half of those O-rebs by UCLA were over the back of an M guy.
Honestly, if Michigan makes a few shots or Jozang misses a few, none of this matters. BUT also, if the refs aren't in the tank for UCLA, the outcome would also be different. Not mutually exclusive.
Just cause it's the theme song doesn't make it not true.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
The refs were bad, they were definitely not one sided. There were plenty of bad calls both ways and not just fouls, some of the calls on out of bounds balls were pretty bad. One got overturned, many did not.
Their big was, at one point, sitting for foul trouble due to a pretty lucky call in our favor in the second half. Unlike us, they actually had to sit guys due to bad calls in the second half.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
I have a propensity to get on a high horse about the officiating and sometimes I’m not even correct. Last night however was a game of missed opportunities and that’s why we lost. Easy things such as free throws and layups would’ve shifted the game in our favor and we could be excited about the final four while stressing over playing Gonzaga. It was not the officiating, it was our self inflicted wounds that did us in.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
49 points, man, 49 points...
That’s what happens when you feed the big man every time down the court. No rhythm on offense. I just don’t get it.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
People that blame refs for the outcomes of games are sore losers. Get out of here with that bullshit.
I'll agree most of the time, including about last night's game. We lost because UCLA beat us, not because of anything else.
Where I'll disagree can be fairly pointed in the direction of a somewhat poignant reference around here, the 2016 football clash with OSU. The officials, through both bad calls and no-calls, played an excessively LARGE part in OSU winning that game. Excessively large.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Just stop it man. We had an off night shooting from the field and especially the foul line. Stop blaming the refs. It sucks the season ended this way but it happened.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
There were a few iffy calls (there always are) but overall, this was vastly better than the officiating against Texas Southern or LSU.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Michigan was in the bonus w 8 minutes left and still had 3 fouls to give w 1 minute left. GTFO. This wasn’t on the refs at all.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
Michigan lost because they couldn't hit open shots, easy put backs at the rim and enough FTs that they did get.
the Juzang 3 wasn't a great call, but you get that in every game.
Michigan lost because they didn't execute when they had to, not because of the refs.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
We missed a million shots. Everyone had a hand in that loss except the refs.
Agree 100%. We played tight from the start and couldn't get out of our own way........
Drank the Stagg last night. Undoubtedly the best I've ever had. ?
Thanks again!!!
That's a good way to soften the blow of that loss! Cheers!
The game definitely ruined the buzz. Honest question, who is your avatar pic?
A photo of a spartan fan that turned out to a presser for a miles bridges announcement at msu.
Cool, thanks. Knew there had to be a story behind it.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
You right now:
Pretty much every call last night was correct; as is usually the case. An argument can be made for whether Juzang was shooting, but Brooks did foul him. The rest of your post is just whining about a fictitious conspiracy amongst the refs to hurt Michigan. That... is untrue.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
There are bad calls and no calls in every game which just makes it part of the game and what to expect. Overall I thought the refs let them play without calls ticky tack fouls.
And how do you make a post about missed calls and not mention the uncalled text book hook and hold by UCLA?
March 31st, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
The refs were not even close to the reason we lost that game last night and you should feel a little worried about the potential undealt-with insecurities that are probably feeding this idea that someone else is always screwing you.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
The only truly terrible officiating was not reviewing the most obvious hook and hold I've seen all year. But that didn't decide the game.
I think I remember the announcing crew say that they did review the hook and hold but decided not to call the technical.
They said "if they decide to go review it...", and they didn't as the ball was inbounded a moment later. It was the clearest hook-and-hold all season but wasn't a game decider.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
The refs did not affect this outcome. Michigan was given lots of opportunites to win this game. They missed free throws, had 3 shots in the last 16 seconds to win the game, and missed many close shots around the rim.
This loss was on the players.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:20 PM ^
Michigan *gave itself* lots of opportunities to win this game by playing their asses off on defense. I don't want to minimize the good part of Michigan's efforts. But they just could not turn their defense into offense, as Juwan has preached and the team has displayed throughout the season. Unfortunate.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
Refs kind of set a tone for how they're going to call a game. It seemed like this one, they were willing to let a lot of the physical stuff go, which I think is probably good. In that lens, some of the calls on Riley were probably a little soft and the refs handed Michigan a huge advantage down the stretch with Riley out and Nwuba fatigued and in foul trouble.
And Michigan couldn't capitalize by scoring in the lane in the last 5 minutes or so. So yeah, it sucked that Juzang got those free throws, but he made them. Both teams got some advantages, UCLA just did a little more.
I thought the officiating was very good in comparison to most of the tournament so far
Let it go. We lost because we missed makeable shots. (Edited for autocorrect reversion after correction once)
i'm sure 'marketable' is an autocorrect, but it's a good one, given the current discussions of NIL, the ladies' tournament, etc.
Ah, the irony of NIL again.
Michigan did not play well. We missed a bunch of open shots. Missed a bunch of free throws. Turned the ball over way too many times. If we did that against a really good team, we would have lost by 20 points. We did that against a mediocre opponent and barely lost.
Agreed. Given the same performances from both teams last against Gonzaga, both would be run out of the gym.
Stop. UM self destructed. Case closed. Move on to next fall.
Out of all the terrible ref shows in this season and especially in the tournament, this was hardly one deserving any complaints.
I can't believe you can still get FTs for the stupid rip-through move in college that Juzang did. It's been an inbounds foul in the NBA for almost a decade now. That's gotta get fixed
Not to mention there’s only a 50/50 chance he’s actually trying to shoot ball. It could have just as easily been interpreted as a pass attempt. And for the record he wasn’t doing either, he was just trying to draw a foul, mission accomplished.
Can't agree with you BTB - have you watched James Harden? It's obv to me Juzang has - that was straight out of the Harden playbook. Drives me crazy. I love Steph but he does it too.
I'll agree to this extent - it's part of the reason Harden's never won a title - he gets that call ALL THE TIME in the regular season, but far less often in the playoffs. This was a playoff game - let it go.
Yes Harden drawls fouls and is agonizing to watch at times, but that exact specific rip through technique in the NBA is an inbounds foul and not free throws. Was done in response to KD doing it all the time:
https://grantland.com/the-triangle/rip-rip-through-celebrating-the-nba-rule-change/
Not disputing the rule - disputing its enforcement. Harden still gets 3 shots multiple times each game by forcing a "shooting" motion into opponents. When he splays his arms, he gets to the line as often as an inbounds.
Dribble, dribble, jab step, head fake - opponent can't resist, puts his arm or leg forward - Harden leaps into it and splays his arms in feigned agony. 3 shots. God, I hate that.
We lost the game in the first 5 min. We were up 10-4 but we had 5 easy missed shots from in the paint and we turned the ball over 3 times in the first five minutes of the game instead of putting UCLA out of their misery we should of been up 20-4 at that time and totally deflate UCLA. Instead we were only up 10-4 and letting UCLA hang around and that is when Junzang decides to have an out of body experience and shows the world how to put the ball in the net without missing.
Blaming the refs is a very poor excuse ... hit your free throws , make easy shots in the paint and don't turn the ball over and you will win the game easily
Exactly. UCLA gave UM a huge window to open up a big lead in those first 5-6 minutes and they couldn’t take advantage.
We absolutely missed a golden opportunity to get a huge lead. So many dumb turnovers and empty possessions. UCLA was a mess, and we didn't pounce.
I don't think you get to blame the officials when you miss FTs, open 3s, and layups at crunch time. Sure some calls were mysterious, but hit some shots at a merely below average rate (as opposed to way below average) and M wins with a little breathing room.
All I'll say about officiating is I am now fully on Team Bilas. The non-primary defender sliding over late to draw a charge is not defense and must be eliminated. And this is a tournament wide complaint.
can any of you guys do this:
no, but I could put the fire out.
i will say those are pretty tiny chainsaws compared to what we use, but juggling a running chainsaw would take a lot of practice.
Those are 'juggling saws' not Stihl Farm Boss saws..
That crazy bastard might get burned if he’s not careful.