JT3 needs to work the refs

[guru]

I really think this is the only area where he is completely deficient as a head coach. I'm not advocating that he whine like Boeheim or be as over the top and obnoxious about it as Coach K, but he needs to get fired up. Remember when Pops used to use technicals as a way to jack his own team up - to show them the fire that they need to be expressing, too? I can honestly say over his two seasons I've never seen JT3 in a ref's face, and there were certainly points during the BET when questionable calls were made and he should have made more of an issue about it. If we want our team to show more fire, it needs to start at the top.

[SirSaxa]

I don't know if it was visible on TV, but JT3 got on the refs quite a bit. Fortunately for us, he is not the crazed, Steve Lavin, Calipari, etc. kind of guy who embarrasses their university. But he is not some wallflower.

And as for the calls.... the BET was called VERY loosely. But I didn't see it favoring us or against us. What about that breakaway when Jeff got the block and clobbered the guy? No foul!!! Great. I'll take it. There were lots of missed calls when our guys got hit, but it went both ways.

We did not lose because of the refs.

[RockawayHoya]

Agree with both Guru and SirSaxa. When Cuse was making their late charge in the 2nd half and caught up to us around the 9-10 min mark of the 2nd half, you think the guys would have started playing with a greater sense of urgency if III had just gone ballistic on Cahill and gotten T'd up? That would have been a perfect time to use a T to get your kids to refocus. However, I don't condone showing up the refs at every opportunity.

See my post in the "On the bright side" thread about the reason why I didn't think we got calls.

[FLHoya]

I sat on the side of the court next to the GU bench at most of our home games this year, and I can tell you that JT3 gets on the refs plenty when he feels it's warranted. He's never going to turn into Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, Coach K, Bobby Knight, etc., but I don't think you need your coach to turn into a caracature to be effective. Besides, yelling at the official over bad calls isn't the only way to fire up your team. Sometimes it works and the team plays inspired thereafter...sometimes it just gives the other team three points.

One of my favorite Esherick moments involves this however. In a game against Miami (the same one where he leaves to go to the bathroom during the game), he was upset over the quality of officiating. His solution? He waits until the ref (I wish I remember which one**) comes past the bench, yells "HEY!!"...waits for him to turn around...then says "F*** YOU!" right in his face. Technical foul. I know this b/c whoever televised the game showed a close-up replay of it. Great stuff!!

(**EDIT: I looked up the boxscore. The refs that day were Hess, Gray, and Stuart...oh man, now I wish I hadn't taped over that game)

[hchoya]

yeah, I totally agree that JTIII needs to get on the refs more, I have always said this about him, that sometimes it doesn't seem like the passion is there. No matter what the situation he always has the exact same look on his face, I think it needs to change a little and I think JTIII needs to show a little more emotion.

[steelhoya]

JT3 doesn't whine like Boeheim or throw chairs like Bobby Knight but he certainly makes it known when he is unhappy with a call. He usually just talks to the official, which I think works better than screaming sometimes. Of course, there was one home game (I believe it was WVU) where he had to be restrained from going out on the court by assistants after a terrible call.

[guru]

I'm not talking about going crazy all the time - that's clearly not his personality. But this team NEVER gets fired up, and I think sometimes - when warranted - going hard after the refs or even getting a T is a way to SHOW THEM HOW MUCH YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT WINNING. Sometimes our players don't seem to care all that much. They probably do, but they don't show it. And neither does JT3

[Deleted]

guru said:

I'm not talking about going crazy all the time - that's clearly not his personality. But this team NEVER gets fired up, and I think sometimes - when warranted - going hard after the refs or even getting a T is a way to SHOW THEM HOW MUCH YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT WINNING. Sometimes our players don't seem to care all that much. They probably do, but they don't show it. And neither does JT3

Who cares if they don't "show" how much they want to win? I seem to remember plenty of stars/teams throughout the history of sports who have succeeded without any sort of histrionics or other wild shows of emotion.

If you go to a game, III gets appropriately worked up when needed. As for the players, if they aren't as fired up as you'd like... well... its just not in their personalities. Deal with it. Not everyone is a floor-slapping Wojo.

[guru]

I went to every home game this season, sat ten rows behind the Hoyas bench and I can honestly count on one hand the number of times JT3 got angry at the refs. And believe me it was warranted far more often. Fine - it's his personality, but the other team gains an advantage when their coach is working the refs and ours isn't. That's a fact.

[Deleted]

guru said:

I went to every home game this season, sat ten rows behind the Hoyas bench and I can honestly count on one hand the number of times JT3 got angry at the refs. And believe me it was warranted far more often. Fine - it's his personality, but the other team gains an advantage when their coach is working the refs and ours isn't. That's a fact.

And what, pray tell, is that advantage? Don't get me wrong, I think ALL coaches need to work the refs to some extent. But to extrapolate that behavior to a team's intensity isn't as clear-cut.

I find it hard to believe that if III took a tech here or there guys like Green or Wallace would suddenly be raging up and down the court. If you want the team to show more fire, recruit guys who show more fire. You can have all the ranting and raving on the sidelines you want, in the end if it ain't in a player's makeup, he's not gonna do it.

Either way, as Roy improves and earns even more minutes, and PEJR finally joins the squad, expect to see a much more expressive team in the coming years.

But no matter what, you're never going to get a level-headed guy like Green, Cook or Wallace to start hootin' and hollerin'.

[RockawayHoya]

Again, I think both sides of the argument are right, to a certain extent.

Buffalo, you're probably right that guys like Green, Cook, or Wallace probably will never raise their level of intensity were III to go off on a ref and give off the perception that he is protecting his players (say, after a very questionable call or a cheap shot by an opposing player than went unnoticed). But, in the future, if there are games where Roy or PEJr. (or, even hopefully the incoming frosh) look lackadasical out there with no fire, I would agree with Guru that perhaps we'd need an occasional outburst by III to break the other team's momentum. Perhaps III knows this already, but I'm not going to guess and make believe something I don't really know.

[guru]

You may be right about the effect on these players - though I'd still like to see him TRY it once just to see. Remember Jeff's reaction when Ashanti got flipped during the Cuse game? He was pretty worked up for about a five minute stretch, and that was over pretty much nothing.

The greater effect, I think, is that the refs respond. There's a reason Duke gets about 75% more FT attempts than their opponents - and though I'd never advocate JT3 making a horse's ass of himself in the style of Coach K, I think working the refs - when they deserve it - can have an effect on the way a game is called. That's all.