Terrible Foul Calls for 2 Games in a Row Now!

[BHDAU1 240]

So yet again at Alabama we had the refs take one of our best players out of the game for virtually the entire game.  The first two fouls called against Kessler were atrocious.  Even the play by play guys were wondering what the hell just happened.  Out of the remaining three he got in the 2nd half, 2 of them were questionable at best and the 1st one took him out of the 2nd half for all intents and purposes within the first few minutes of the half.  It was almost a exact replay of the last game where the refs did the same thing.  I would not complain if Kessler earned them, but he did NOT earn more than half of the fouls called against him the last two games.  I wonder if we are going to keep seeing this for the remainder of the season?  It's like the refs are so poorly trained that if Kessler is anywhere near the ball when on defense near the basket they are blowing their whistle.  It's like a mindset of Kessler is a big guy so he is automatically going to foul each time.  To make matters worse, the refs only called a couple of touch fouls on Alabama the entire game.  We had guys getting nailed when driving the lane and no calls.  The one that made me laugh out loud was near the end of the game when Green was guarding one of Alabama's big men who posted him up and literally ran him over as he pushed him further under the basket and Green gets called for the foul?  It was so comical that it was unbelievable.  Im not someone who normally gets on here to complain about bad refs but the last two games in a row have been so bad I felt like I had to.  With all that said, how bout them Tigers? What a team we have this year.   AU's depth and talent level is unreal.  I've watched a lot of basketball this season even outside of every Auburn game and I can honestly say that we are where we belong in the top 5.  If this team keeps getting better collectively they should win the SEC, and I don't think there is anyone in the country that can beat them if Auburn is playing their best game. 

[BHDAU1 240]

In looking at the box score Auburn had 24 fouls called against them total, and Alabama was in the bonus less than 5 or 6 mins into the 2nd half.  Alabama had 18 fouls called on them total, and 2 or 3 of those were at the end of the game and on purpose.  Factor out the 2 fouls committed on purpose and the foul discrepancy was 24 vs. 16, eight fouls more called on Auburn.  Can anyone that actually watched that game honestly say that Auburn and Alabama were playing with different levels of physicality and Auburn deserved 8 more fouls?!!  That is potentially 16 more free points gifted to Alabama, but Auburn still found a will and way to win the game! 

[GwillMac6 20,791]

In the SEC games there has been a noticeable change to how Kessler is being officiated. They are doing the cardinal sin of officiating which is anticipating a foul/contact without actually seeing if a foul occurs.  IT IS INFURIATING!!!! There have been quite a few bad calls on him the past 2 games especially.

Edited January 12, 2022 by GwillMac6

[creed 1,666]

6 hours ago, BHDAU1 said:

So yet again at Alabama we had the refs take one of our best players out of the game for virtually the entire game.  The first two fouls called against Kessler were atrocious.  Even the play by play guys were wondering what the hell just happened.  Out of the remaining three he got in the 2nd half, 2 of them were questionable at best and the 1st one took him out of the 2nd half for all intents and purposes within the first few minutes of the half.  It was almost a exact replay of the last game where the refs did the same thing.  I would not complain if Kessler earned them, but he did NOT earn more than half of the fouls called against him the last two games.  I wonder if we are going to keep seeing this for the remainder of the season?  It's like the refs are so poorly trained that if Kessler is anywhere near the ball when on defense near the basket they are blowing their whistle.  It's like a mindset of Kessler is a big guy so he is automatically going to foul each time.  To make matters worse, the refs only called a couple of touch fouls on Alabama the entire game.  We had guys getting nailed when driving the lane and no calls.  The one that made me laugh out loud was near the end of the game when Green was guarding one of Alabama's big men who posted him up and literally ran him over as he pushed him further under the basket and Green gets called for the foul?  It was so comical that it was unbelievable.  Im not someone who normally gets on here to complain about bad refs but the last two games in a row have been so bad I felt like I had to.  With all that said, how bout them Tigers? What a team we have this year.   AU's depth and talent level is unreal.  I've watched a lot of basketball this season even outside of every Auburn game and I can honestly say that we are where we belong in the top 5.  If this team keeps getting better collectively they should win the SEC, and I don't think there is anyone in the country that can beat them if Auburn is playing their best game. 

The counter to this is that Cardwell is more than adequate and played really well. Actually his minutes in this game were better played than Kessler's minutes in my opinion. Cardwell seems a little quicker than Kessler, not slighting Kessler here cause he can move too, but I think Cardwell was quicker at moving into position defensively and offensively, which was needed against bama's athletic personnel. The great news is we have two really good paint guys.

[Auburn Tiger 1,340]

Fouls got bama back into the game when we were running away with it in the second half. If the refs call a balanced game, this one is closer to a blowout. Scrutinizing one team over another like that makes one team play less physically and allows the other to be way more physical. It was obvious last night. They were mauling our guys and getting no calls for it. Lots of head scratcher calls last night. Refs should have some sort of consequence for egregious calls. Fine them for it or something. You’d see far less of them in my opinion. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by Auburn Tiger

[casatiger 514]

We had a 14 point lead and lost our mind from a shot selection standpoint.  To me this is what let them back in the game.  We need to talk to the SEC office about Kessler though.   One of the most impactful players in the sec and nation is being relegated to the bench for phantom fouls.   That hurts the sec basketball product. 

[CT Tiger 136]

26 minutes ago, Auburn Tiger said:

Fouls got bama back into the game when we were running away with it in the second half. If the refs call a balanced game, this one is closer to a blowout. Scrutinizing one team over another like that makes one team play less physically and allows the other to be way more physical. It was obvious last night. They were mauling our guys and getting no calls for it. Lots of head scratcher calls last night. Refs should have some sort of consequence for egregious calls. Fine them for it or something. You’d see far less of them in my opinion. 

If the refs called a fair game, we could have been up double digits at the half. Bama's FG % was not looking very impressive and it was clear that FTs kept them in the game. 

[fishepa 1,911]

Opposing coaches have probably been complaining to the refs pre-game to have them watch for certain things on Kessler.  I totally agree that the majority of his fouls last night were bogus, but he's got to find a way to defend without giving the refs a reason to call them.  The only thing you can hope is they call the game fair on both sides, which didn't happen last night.

[jj3jordan 2,081]

The “tell” that the refs are prejudging Kessler is that we still had a bunch of blocks. Jabari and Dylan picked up the slack. But the refs are not predisposed to blowing the whistle on Jabari and Dylan. Thus they forgot to cheat. No worries though. Dylan getting better by the minute.  Before long they are going to want Kessler to stay in the game. LOL.
 

[boisnumber1 2,828]

5 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

In the SEC games there has been a noticeable change to how Kessler is being officiated. They are doing the cardinal sin of officiating which is anticipating a foul/contact without actually seeing if a foul occurs.  IT IS INFURIATING!!!! There have been quite a few bad calls on him the past 2 games especially.

SEC officials are notorious for anticipating fouls. They will blow the whistle, then you watch the replay, and there isn't even contact at all. They suck. Then you factor in the bammer thing and it's just worse.

[triangletiger 1,599]

I’ve come to realize that, in general, bball refs are predisposed to call fouls on big men.  I see it in Middle School basketball games with my son.  My son just turned 14 in December, but is 6’1”, so he towers over most of the other players he goes up against.  I see him get called for fouls quite a bit that appear to be clean blocks.  It almost as if the refs feel the need to ‘protect’ the smaller players from the big bully out there on the court.

[Auburn93 584]

How they are treating Kessler should be our largest concern.

[Auburn93 584]

3 hours ago, creed said:

The counter to this is that Cardwell is more than adequate and played really well. Actually his minutes in this game were better played than Kessler's minutes in my opinion. Cardwell seems a little quicker than Kessler, not slighting Kessler here cause he can move too, but I think Cardwell was quicker at moving into position defensively and offensively, which was needed against bama's athletic personnel. The great news is we have two really good paint guys.

They did the same thing to Cardwell at the end of the game.  I watched it in slow motion and twice the Alabama player drove toward the basket and fell away from him, drawing a foul even though Cardwell did not even touch him.  One even pushed off Cardwell. 

[Auburn93 584]

2 hours ago, casatiger said:

We had a 14 point lead and lost our mind from a shot selection standpoint.  To me this is what let them back in the game.  We need to talk to the SEC office about Kessler though.   One of the most impactful players in the sec and nation is being relegated to the bench for phantom fouls.   That hurts the sec basketball product. 

Our "poor" shot selection built that lead.  Every shot that Wendell takes could be scrutinized.  Now, I did not like Jaylen shooting the rock.  The fouls hurt us and nothing else.  

[LPTiger 5,202]

It is one thing for us to notice the calls against Kessler.  It is another for ESPN broadcaster Jimmy Dykes to call them out on national tv.   Jimmy said something like, "the most impactful defensive player in the country is now on the bench just 3 minutes into the game thanks to a terrible call."

[Viper 3,139]

Spot on. Last two games were atrocious. The one on Jabari Smith against FL where he gave up trying to block the fast break shot…was almost as bad as 2001 Vandy…

 

[im4aual 488]

Refs should be made available after the game to answer questions, just like coaches and players

[SumterAubie 3,033]

Did you expect any different AT bamr?

[LPTiger 5,202]

1 hour ago, Viper said:

Spot on. Last two games were atrocious. The one on Jabari Smith against FL where he gave up trying to block the fast break shot…was almost as bad as 2001 Vandy…

 

Viper how in the heck did you recall that play?   Even seeing it now I don't remember it.   Has to be top 10 all time worst calls...

[Eagle-1 3,821]

The NCAA should grant Kessler an extra year of eligibility for what's been done to him the last two games.

[BHDAU1 240]

I wish someone would go in and edit the title of my thread here.  I created it on my phone and totally missed the "d" that ended up on the word "foul"!  Anyway, I re-watched most of the game again and it was just as bad, if not worse, watching it the second time when I wasn't worried about the outcome.  The refs were absolutely terrible.  GwillMac6 is exactly right in that the refs are simply calling fouls based off of the anticipation of a foul just because of Walker's size.  That is about the worst mindset a ref can have. We have seen Jabari get the same type of bad calls as well.  Someone mentioned Auburn learning to play without getting those type of calls but that is impossible unless they just give up on trying to play defense and back away from anyone handling the ball.  We are talking about fouls being called on Kessler and others (to a lessor extent) where there is literally ZERO contact and still the foul gets called.  There was also the foul called on Kessler in the 2nd half where he was inside the restricted circle and jumped straight up with his arms straight up in the air and the Alabama player totally jumped into him and Kessler gets the foul.  It is inexcusable.  The reality is that Auburn could have lost the game all because of terrible calls against Kessler, the leading shot blocker and arguably best rim defender in the SEC being artificially removed from playing.  Someone needs to hold these refs accountable for these blatant terrible calls to make sure it doesn't keep happening over and over again.   

[Rednilla 5,401]

5 minutes ago, BHDAU1 said:

The reality is that Auburn could have lost the game all because of terrible calls against Kessler, the leading shot blocker and arguably best rim defender in the SEC NATION being artificially removed from playing.

FIFY

[boisnumber1 2,828]

7 minutes ago, BHDAU1 said:

...Someone mentioned Auburn learning to play without getting those type of calls but that is impossible unless they just give up on trying to play defense and back away from anyone handling the ball.  We are talking about fouls being called on Kessler...

You nailed it. That was 100% the whole objective of the officiating last night - Do what it takes to make it as even as possible by not allowing the much better defensive team to play defense like they can play defense.

Edited January 12, 2022 by boisnumber1

[boisnumber1 2,828]

1 hour ago, LPTiger said:

Viper how in the heck did you recall that play?   Even seeing it now I don't remember it.   Has to be top 10 all time worst calls...

The question is how do YOU NOT remember! Lol I will never ever forget that crap. Ever.

[LPTiger 5,202]

It seemed that driving and getting fouled was the Gump's plan from the jump.   Maybe that is the way they have played all year...   It seems an odd plan when you are going against one of the nations top rim protectors.   It is almost like someone told them to attack the rim, and they would be rewarded...  Or more realistic, NO felt pretty confident he would get the calls at home.   I can't wait to see how the game is called at AA.   As Devan said, you can't spell roll tide without 2 Ls.