FL Tiger
04-02-2001, 09:07 AM
Well, with all this talk about the referees favoring Duke all year, I decided to “crunch the numbers” a little to see if there was any statistical evidence to back up mine and others’ contention that Duke has had more than a little help along their journey to the Championship game. Lets check the numbers out…
Personal fouls per game – I checked the numbers from what most consider to be the 6 major conferences – Pac-10, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, ACC, and SEC – and came up with the following:
Pac-10 Team Personal Fouls Per Game
Stanford led with only 16.8 PFs a game. Arizona was second at 17.9. Oregon last at 23.3
Big 12
Texas Tech led with 17.1 PFs a game. Texas last at 22.7
Big Ten
Northwestern led with 17.3 PFs a game. Iowa last at 22.5. Beakers, Illinois was the second most foul prone team in the Big Ten, with 21.7 PFs a game.
SEC
LSU led with 17.3 PFs a game. Tennessee last at 21.5
ACC
Duke got called for hacking a measly 17.0 times a game. North Carolina was second at 17.7 a game. Clemson and Georgia Tech brought up the rear at 21.5 PFs a game.
So, looking at all of the teams from the 6 major conferences, Only Notre Dame and Stanford were whistled for as few personal fouls per game than Duke. A strong case could be made that the officials help those other two teams out a little also, but for now we are looking at Duke. Incidentally, Battier got whistled for 2.1 personal fouls per game. He averages 34.7 minutes per game. It is stunning to me that for all the defensive plays he is in on for Duke, all the “charges” that he draws, he was only whistled for 2.1 personal fouls per game.
Free Throw Attempts per Game – In the 6 major conferences, there are a total of 68 teams. Duke ranks tied for 11th out of those 68 teams in free throw attempts per game. This is a team that usually has 4 players spaced outside by the three point line and often only has one inside player, usually Boozer or Sanders. How can a team that was 2nd in the country in 3 point attempts per game (27.1 per game) and virtually no inside game rank so high in free throw attempts per game? For comparison purposes, the Illini shot less free throws a game than Duke did. The leaders of teams out of the 6 major conferences in free throw attempts per game were Iowa (30.5), Iowa St (27.6), Stanford (26.6), Tennessee (26.4), Arizona (26.3), Colorado (26.1), Virginia (26.0), North Carolina St. (26.0), Texas A & M (25.9), UCLA (25.9), USC (25.8) and Duke (25.8) were tied, and then the Illini (25.1), followed by 55 other teams. Most of these teams have at least two good inside players that can draw fouls and also have penetrating guards that draw fouls.
There were also some good foul drawing players like Evans of Iowa and Inge of NC State that helped those teams’ cause.
Battier shot 223 two point field goals, and made 119. He shot 174 free throws, making 140. Battier shot 284 3 pointers. Man what an offensive player! Has anyone ever seen a guy that shoots nearly 60% of his field goal attempts as three pointers but yet also draws a huge number of fouls? Keep in mind that it is rare that a foul happens when someone is shooting a three pointer. Maybe once every second or third game or so. Jason Williams, who I feel should draw more fouls than Battier does since he is such a good penetrator, has similar numbers to Battier when it comes to drawing fouls. Williams has shot 280 2 point field goals, making 144, and has shot 193 free throws, making 127. Williams shot 289 3 pointers, so about half of his field goal attempts have been 3’s.
After doing this research, there is no doubt in my mind that Duke has an unfair advantage every game because of the refereeing bias. I would say that anywhere from 4 to 7 or 8 points a game are spotted to Duke each game, on average, because of this bias. Not to mention the points that come from the Duke players having the extra confidence each game of knowing that they can dribble out of a trap, hand check an opposing player (watch Battier do this, he does it all the time), flop and draw a foul or a charge (did you see Duhon flop in the first half of the Maryland game and they called the third foul on Baxter about 2 seconds after it happened? The official must have been waiting for the obligatory flop on Duhons part) and that any momentum gained by the opposing team will soon be broken by a few calls going Dukes’ way.
Duke is a good team, but how good would their players be if they were all playing for Northwestern, or Baylor, or Pittsburgh? This whole season has seemingly been scripted from the very start, with Battier being the sweetheart of the media and announcers like Packer and Vitale salivating over Duke all season long. No wonder so many people hate that team. As much as I want the Arizona Wildcats to be the 2001 NCAA champs, I don’t think that it is in the cards. With any kind of objective officiating this season, Duke would not have beaten Maryland three times out of four (maybe once they would have), would not have gotten a number one seed, and would not even be in the NCAA championship game…
Personal fouls per game – I checked the numbers from what most consider to be the 6 major conferences – Pac-10, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, ACC, and SEC – and came up with the following:
Pac-10 Team Personal Fouls Per Game
Stanford led with only 16.8 PFs a game. Arizona was second at 17.9. Oregon last at 23.3
Big 12
Texas Tech led with 17.1 PFs a game. Texas last at 22.7
Big Ten
Northwestern led with 17.3 PFs a game. Iowa last at 22.5. Beakers, Illinois was the second most foul prone team in the Big Ten, with 21.7 PFs a game.
SEC
LSU led with 17.3 PFs a game. Tennessee last at 21.5
ACC
Duke got called for hacking a measly 17.0 times a game. North Carolina was second at 17.7 a game. Clemson and Georgia Tech brought up the rear at 21.5 PFs a game.
So, looking at all of the teams from the 6 major conferences, Only Notre Dame and Stanford were whistled for as few personal fouls per game than Duke. A strong case could be made that the officials help those other two teams out a little also, but for now we are looking at Duke. Incidentally, Battier got whistled for 2.1 personal fouls per game. He averages 34.7 minutes per game. It is stunning to me that for all the defensive plays he is in on for Duke, all the “charges” that he draws, he was only whistled for 2.1 personal fouls per game.
Free Throw Attempts per Game – In the 6 major conferences, there are a total of 68 teams. Duke ranks tied for 11th out of those 68 teams in free throw attempts per game. This is a team that usually has 4 players spaced outside by the three point line and often only has one inside player, usually Boozer or Sanders. How can a team that was 2nd in the country in 3 point attempts per game (27.1 per game) and virtually no inside game rank so high in free throw attempts per game? For comparison purposes, the Illini shot less free throws a game than Duke did. The leaders of teams out of the 6 major conferences in free throw attempts per game were Iowa (30.5), Iowa St (27.6), Stanford (26.6), Tennessee (26.4), Arizona (26.3), Colorado (26.1), Virginia (26.0), North Carolina St. (26.0), Texas A & M (25.9), UCLA (25.9), USC (25.8) and Duke (25.8) were tied, and then the Illini (25.1), followed by 55 other teams. Most of these teams have at least two good inside players that can draw fouls and also have penetrating guards that draw fouls.
There were also some good foul drawing players like Evans of Iowa and Inge of NC State that helped those teams’ cause.
Battier shot 223 two point field goals, and made 119. He shot 174 free throws, making 140. Battier shot 284 3 pointers. Man what an offensive player! Has anyone ever seen a guy that shoots nearly 60% of his field goal attempts as three pointers but yet also draws a huge number of fouls? Keep in mind that it is rare that a foul happens when someone is shooting a three pointer. Maybe once every second or third game or so. Jason Williams, who I feel should draw more fouls than Battier does since he is such a good penetrator, has similar numbers to Battier when it comes to drawing fouls. Williams has shot 280 2 point field goals, making 144, and has shot 193 free throws, making 127. Williams shot 289 3 pointers, so about half of his field goal attempts have been 3’s.
After doing this research, there is no doubt in my mind that Duke has an unfair advantage every game because of the refereeing bias. I would say that anywhere from 4 to 7 or 8 points a game are spotted to Duke each game, on average, because of this bias. Not to mention the points that come from the Duke players having the extra confidence each game of knowing that they can dribble out of a trap, hand check an opposing player (watch Battier do this, he does it all the time), flop and draw a foul or a charge (did you see Duhon flop in the first half of the Maryland game and they called the third foul on Baxter about 2 seconds after it happened? The official must have been waiting for the obligatory flop on Duhons part) and that any momentum gained by the opposing team will soon be broken by a few calls going Dukes’ way.
Duke is a good team, but how good would their players be if they were all playing for Northwestern, or Baylor, or Pittsburgh? This whole season has seemingly been scripted from the very start, with Battier being the sweetheart of the media and announcers like Packer and Vitale salivating over Duke all season long. No wonder so many people hate that team. As much as I want the Arizona Wildcats to be the 2001 NCAA champs, I don’t think that it is in the cards. With any kind of objective officiating this season, Duke would not have beaten Maryland three times out of four (maybe once they would have), would not have gotten a number one seed, and would not even be in the NCAA championship game…