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‘Whistle blowing comp’: NBL refs under fire AGAIN after record-equalling foul-out chaos
Six players fouled out of Thursday night’s clash between Melbourne United and the Tasmania JackJumpers. And it continued a worrying early-season trend for the league and its officials.
The JackJumpers walked away with an 84-82 victory over Melbourne United in what quickly turned into a battle of availability. For United, Cole Anthony, Luke Travers and Josh Oduro all watched the remainder of the game from the bench. For United head coach Jacob Chance, it was a frustrating night and one where he will seek some guidance from the league.
“I’ve got to work through some things with the league and the referees and just adjust a bit better,” Chance said. “I think the league and everyone doesn’t want to see all these guys foul out, but there’s certainly controllable ones from us. “I loved our physicality and you’ve got to be up for the fight when you walk in this gym and we were tonight.
”“I think I picked up three fouls where I was standing at some point or another during the game, but, you know, I just don’t want to really comment on the refs, to be honest with you,” Roth said post-game.
“It’s just it is what it is and you have to move on and, you know, I’ve said this many times about them. “You know, I get after them, obviously, when I need to get after them, but they’re in a no-win situation and it’s very difficult to referee games, especially over here. ” Roth also touched on another issue the league has faced in recent years, pointing towards the turnover of referees from season to season.
“They’re coming and going and changing, and so there’s just a lot of stuff going on there. “You get what you deserve usually at the end of the day and some things come back around to you. “What a job, unless you’re in the NBA. So I just want to stay away from that one.
”“At the end of the day, a win is a win,” Roth said.
“One of the things I told the guys in about five or six days, no one’s going to remember that game anyways, other than we got a W.”“So there’s a lot to take out of that game to learn just individually and our composure and playing with better poise and so on and so forth. “And, you know, a win’s a win, and you can analyse it any way you want to, but we’ll take any W we possibly can, especially this early in the season.
” Former NBL player Luke Cooper, who played for the Sydney Kings, was far less reserved when giving his thoughts on the game and the American referees who have come into the league in recent years.
“Are we really helping to grow the next generation of Australian referees by giving NBL opportunities to American refs instead, who have no idea about our league? Former NBL Overtime host and commentator Cam Luke was also bemused by what he had watched.
“It annoys me when 2 good teams try to interrupt and play a game of basketball on the same court that 3 people are having a whistle blowing comp,” Luke posted on X. But Thursday night’s controversial game wasn’t the first time the JackJumpers have found themselves at the centre of an officiating talking point this season. Just last round, Tasmania was on the other side of the equation following a controversial no-call late in its loss to the Cairns Taipans.
The JackJumpers trailed 91-87 with 8.2 seconds remaining when Dakota Mathias appeared to be fouled on a three-point attempt. Instead, there was no call, and the commentary team could hardly believe it.
“Wow. Keanu Pinder playing with four fouls gets away with this,” Joel Peterson said. ESPN’s Olgun Uluc also reacted to the missed call on X, saying the issues stretched beyond one moment.
“So many new refs; and we’re seeing soft calls on rebound contests, any contact on drives, and any time someone falls when getting clipped by a screen. As Roth said on Thursday night, “some things come back around to you”. One round after the JackJumpers were left wondering where the whistle was, they survived a game where it seemingly never stopped.
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