Could Jim Burr possibly be any worse at officiating a basketball game? I think he gets confused a lot and thinks he's at a football game. Watching the WVU/Syracuse game, I watched the guy calling a phantom walk on Herber followed by a refusal to call a foul on an obvious hack on Gansey. I think the guy is just bad at his job. And I'm not sure that he's really biased against WVU because he makes horrendous calls on both teams...I know they want the Big East to be "tough" but that doesn't mean a hockey game needs to break out. Maybe Burr isn't really worse than any other official...but, it always seems like if there's a bad call, Jim Burr is nearby.
I said earlier this month that I think McNamara has gotten worse...and I think the WVU game showed it. If it wasn't for Devendorf, they wouldn't have had a chance. McNamara made some good shots but he missed more than he made...he threw up some really bad stuff. I think he might have a Napoleon complex. McNamara walked around the 5:30 mark and gave the ref a little lip...he needs smacked around a little.
Back to Devendorf...I think if Pat Beilein would have been like "bring it," he would have tried to take on the entire WVU team by himself. He just seemed to have that type of attitude. I think that would have been a good strategy for the Mountaineers...just bring it. And, is it a requirement at Syracuse that the two white boys on the court have to look like skinheads? Just wondering.
WVU really needs to work on their in-bounding plays. I have never seen a team who has had more problems getting the ball in play and wasting more timeouts because of those problems. It's so unnecessary. Additionally, I don't understand why every team we play just doesn't go inside on every play. WVU has no inside presence on defense. Playing West Virginia is a dunker's dream.
J.D. Collins has been playing better...less garbage shots, more good passes. Less drives...more kickouts. Good J.D., good. Herber needs to catch the ball when he's open instead of letting it go through his legs...killer at the 1:10 mark with only 3 fouls. This is the disadvantage to not having many fouls. And, this is the disadvantage of having no inside defense. But, we'll see what happens. And, WVU made the stop...down by 2 with 0:39 remaining.
Boeheim wanted a foul on McNamara's drive even though there clearly wasn't one. Burr ignored him...maybe he's not so bad. Beilein throws up a shot from halfcourt. Missed it...this game is over folks. WVU - 3 game losing streak. I really don't like Syracuse. I just don't understand that last play. I wish J.D. or Gansey would have flipped off the Syracuse crowd at the end of the game...they were ridiculous. Oh, and great blockout on that free throw guys. Awesome.
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I officiated college & HS baseball for 18 yrs before retiring due to health concerns &, while I was neither the best or worst umpire in my state or region, I did a darn good job & always exercised good judgment. So I am qualified to assess whether an official is good or bad. In every officiating realm, there are excellent officials who rise above the norm to be on demand by most coaches, but some who aren't that good but are very "political", & therefore wind up with constant plum assignments for the latter reason. Jim Burr, who I'm watching do the Pitt-UConn game as I write this, falls into the latter category because it indeed DOES seem that if there's a bad call, he's somewhere near it or part of it, & worse, if there's a TV game in the northeast part of the country (Big East, etc), he's on it. The same is true of Ed Hightower in the Big 10. I remember when Bobby Knight still was at Indiana -- he specifically did not want Hightower doing his games, but because Hightower, like Burr & some others, has been around a long time & is political, he obviously he has his buddies who do the scheduling ensure not only that he gets big games but those on national TV. -- Phil in Denver
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