Over the weekend there was a lot of talk about questionable officiating, but it turns out that the most controversial officiating of the weekend may not have occurred in Indianapolis. Lost in the controversy of the awful Butler–Xavier finish was the supposedly awful officiating at the NC State–Wake Forest game. I say supposedly because I wasn’t even aware of the questionable officiating and our correspondent for RTC Live didn’t mention it except for commenting on the foul trouble for the two teams. It turns out that Wolfpack forward Tracy Smith, who fouled out with 5:28 to go played just 23 minutes in the 67-59 loss, was less than thrilled about the officiating. After the game Smith told anybody who would listen that the officials called too many “touch fouls” (undoubtedly only against NC State) and “favored Wake Forest all the way, but that’s ACC basketball” (not to nitpick, but ACC basketball is about favoring Duke and UNC). The result? Smith has been suspended for one game by NC State so he will not be available for the Wolfpack’s next game where they will travel to Arizona to take on the Wildcats. Given the way that the Pac-10 has played this year with the notable exception of USC trashing Tennessee this weekend we doubt that Sidney Lowe will miss Smith’s 17.6 PPG and 9.5 RPG. For his part, Smith apologized for his comments:
“I was caught up in the heat of the moment, but should not of made the comments I did. I want to apologize to my coaches, my teammates, and (Sunday) night’s officials for this situation.”
Interestingly, Smith’s statement does not say that the content of his comments were wrong just that he should not have said them. It should be worth while paying attention to how ACC officials treat Smith the rest of the season as the Tim Donaghys of the world may have found their latest edge in Vegas.
View Comments (5)
I understand the gist of the article, but would like to point out the glaring error... In college basketball, officials are associated with regions, not conferences. A ref may work a Duke game one night, a Charlotte game the next night and a UNCW game the next. College football is where officials are employed by conferences.
Officiating was bad. Very inconsistent both ways. Hard fouls inside weren't called, while touch fouls on the perimeter would draw a whistle. The game flow was hurt because of all the fouls called against both teams.
Don't blame Smith for being frustrated, it was a poorly officiated game and ACC fans routinely complain about poor officiating, but the league really doesn't do anything about it.
I was the RTC live correspondent for the game, and it surprised me when I saw Smith's comments this morning. The officiating wasn't perfect, but it seemed no different than normal ACC officiating. If anything, I thought officiating was being harsh on Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu, especially early in the game: they called him for two travels that were borderline, as well as an offensive foul outside of the paint that looked questionable. One of the big reasons Smith seemed to pick up fouls was because he was forced to be a secondary or help defender around the basket on Aminu and Ish Smith.
Also, The Charlotte Observer said the suspension was an in-house, NC State decision, not a conference mandated penalty.
http://aboverim.blogspot.com/2009/12/nc-states-smith-suspended-for-arizona.html
MP--
Thanks for your take since you saw it in-person. I also update the post to reflect the fact that it was NC State that suspended him most likely to try to avoid the wrath of officials this season.
@ MP, I thought Al-Farouq walked more than he got called for. When he changed pivot feet...near the game's end with Josh Davis on him? Terrible non-call, in fact a foul was called after the travel instead. It was terrible as a whole, but Wake benefited more from the insanity.