Notebook: Regarding Foul Shot Discrepancies

Big game against Oklahoma tonight, but I haven’t see much in the way of previews yet. Guessing those will pop this morning/afternoon. Everyone is still talking about the foul discrepancy in the West Virginia game.

To which I have this to say: I think it’s hilarious that a team known for getting away with fouling (by calling it tough defense - Press Virginia my rear end) is complaining about a crew that finally called a lot (but still not all) of their fouls. Bilas and Fraschilla had similar complaints about the officiating in AFH; they only differed on which team was benefitting.

Despite what Huggins says, free throw discrepancies aren’t a new, novel thing. In fact, discrepancies of a +25 differential happen several times a year - 29 times so far over the last 8 years (including this season), as a matter of fact. That’s almost four times per year (and this season isn’t complete yet).

This is all a very statistically based way of me basically saying shut up and learn how to play real defense without fouling. WVU literally grabs players on inbounds passes (and that one wasn’t even called; instead they got a verbal warning from the ref). What you saw on Saturday was what happens when a team with a passive offensive gameplan met up with a team who had an aggressive gameplan against an aggressive defense. That’s all.

Additionally, where is the rule that fouls should be even or teams should shoot similar numbers of free throws? Why would that ever make sense? I hate makeup calls and I hate it when officials try to balance the fouls. If one team fouls more than the other, JUST CALL IT. It doesn’t have to be equal to be a fair whistle. In fact, it probably shouldn’t be equal.

I have no issue with the foul shot discrepancy. You could simply chalk it up to statistical anomaly, after all, this happens several times a year; that’s fine if you want to do that. However, I am of the opinion that most of West Virginia’s box scores should look like that, especially if that’s how they’re going to play offense. One thing I will not entertain is that there’s some conspiracy to get KU to win the league every year. That is just ridiculousness.

On to the news and notes.

USA Today says Kansas making a case for a #1 seed.

Meanwhile, NBC Sports wonders out loud if the Jayhawks have enough in them to come back and win the Big 12.

Either way, this week of conference play will be wild.

Another excellent breakdown from Jesse Newell comparing a play Devonte Graham made on Saturday to one Landen Lucas made last year.

Scott Chasen at the LJW dissects three under the radar plays from the WVU game.

And here are Benton Smith’s 5 stats that popped.

Here are some of the signs from college gameday - and some of the ones you weren’t allowed to see.

Kansas baseball moved to 2-1 on the season with a series win over Murray State this past weekend.

Kansas softball moved to 8-2 with a two-game sweep of Missouri State.

In other news...

How Eric Hosmer signing with the Padres will affect more than just the Royals.

Are the Yankees eyeing Moustakas?

USA Women’s Hockey is in the gold medal game.