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Collins is not to be blamed for T...

hollandnucat

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Feb 4, 2009
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I see many people getting on Collins for getting a T after the horrendous miss by the refs. The real blame should be on the ref for making the T. They missed an obvious call then compounded it by calling a T when they should have let Collins off the hook at that spot in the game. I am guessing they made the call because of him being out on the floor yelling. A better official lets it go at this point in a big game. Better officials try to minimize their impact in a game like this. I think Collins usually does a nice job of pushing refs without getting a T.
 
Context is important- this wasn't an isolated call. Having already missed another goaltending call earlier, the refs earned Collins' attention for much of the game with their calls. A coach has to stand up for his team. I don't think Collins made a calculated decision; he just reacted - but that triggered by the egregious last straw, not an isolated missed call.
 
I see many people getting on Collins for getting a T after the horrendous miss by the refs. The real blame should be on the ref for making the T. They missed an obvious call then compounded it by calling a T when they should have let Collins off the hook at that spot in the game. I am guessing they made the call because of him being out on the floor yelling. A better official lets it go at this point in a big game. Better officials try to minimize their impact in a game like this. I think Collins usually does a nice job of pushing refs without getting a T.

Sorry. I must disagree with you. We tell our children this all the time: just because something happens to you that you think is unfair does not give you the right to explode or lash out at someone else. If sports is supposed to be the metaphor for life its proponents say it is, a guy like CC needs to know that that's the time to be calm and not do anything stupid. So I guess now that I type this that it actually is the metaphor for life: most explode, far fewer manage to control themselves.


I'd have gotten T'd up on the Skelly non-continuation or the Bennet phantom flagrant or Scotty's non-4th foul. So I'm not one to talk. It would take a rare man to not get T'd up in that situation. But that's what makes them rare. It doesn't mean it was right.
 
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Couldn't agree more with DCB. If our mantra is "toughness," we have to show toughness from the top. Chris has to keep his composure there.
 
Sorry. I must disagree with you. We tell our children this all the time: just because something happens to you that you think is unfair does not give you the right to explode or lash out at someone else. If sports is supposed to be the metaphor for life its proponents say it is, a guy like CC needs to know that that's the time to be calm and not do anything stupid. So I guess now that I type this that it actually is the metaphor for life: most explode, far fewer manage to control themselves.


I'd have gotten T'd up on the Skelly non-continuation or the Bennet phantom flagrant or Scotty's non-4th foul. So I'm not one to talk. It would take a rare man to not get T'd up in that situation. But that's what makes them rare. It doesn't mean it was right.
We have a coach that gets completely into the game and is highly emotional. Thus, we have a coach that draws the technical foul when he sees something absurd called on the court. He really cannot help it. It is who he is. Odds are... if it were not who he is, we would be having this conversation at the NIT.
 
I don't know about what the odds are and I'm not saying Collins was stupid or a fool or inexcusably wrong to do what he did. I'm simply saying that it wasn't right, which is what the prior poster said.

What Collins did was understandable. It was normal. It was expected. It's what we all wanted our coach to do instinctively.

That doesn't mean it was right. That's all I'm saying.
 
I don't know about what the odds are and I'm not saying Collins was stupid or a fool or inexcusably wrong to do what he did. I'm simply saying that it wasn't right, which is what the prior poster said.

What Collins did was understandable. It was normal. It was expected. It's what we all wanted our coach to do instinctively.

That doesn't mean it was right. That's all I'm saying.
Collins reaction to that bad of a call was at a minimum what about any coach would do. A "good" official in this situation would not call a technical at this point in the game unless pushed to the brink. I do not feel that was the case here. I put more blame on the officials who by missing on both these situations they were not ready for a game of this magnitude. we all make mistakes and in my mind they made two huge mistakes.
 
Collins reaction to that bad of a call was at a minimum what about any coach would do. A "good" official in this situation would not call a technical at this point in the game unless pushed to the brink. I do not feel that was the case here. I put more blame on the officials who by missing on both these situations they were not ready for a game of this magnitude. we all make mistakes and in my mind they made two huge mistakes.

I think if his reaction were exactly the same but about a foot closer to the bench, he probably would've gotten a pass. He really was out there pretty far, and the ref - though he could have gone around him - could legitimately say Collins was blocking his path getting down the court.

I agree though with the sentiment that if Collins weren't that type of guy, NU wouldn't have been in this position in the first place.
 
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I'm honestly surprised it took him that long to get a T. Most other coaches would have gotten a T much earlier in the game with that officiating.
 
Sorry. I must disagree with you.

I don't agree. This was perhaps one of the biggest turning points in program history, a huge comeback against the #1 seed, winningest program in the country. If there is any grounds for excusing Collins for losing control, this is it. The refs created a 4 point swing by blatantly missing the goaltending call and then calling the T on Collins. This effectively killed the comeback. Ideally should Collins have reined it in and tried to regroup the guys to continue the comeback? Yes but he was making an emotional statement of standing up to the egregious reffing on behalf of his players.
 
I see many people getting on Collins for getting a T after the horrendous miss by the refs. The real blame should be on the ref for making the T. They missed an obvious call then compounded it by calling a T when they should have let Collins off the hook at that spot in the game. I am guessing they made the call because of him being out on the floor yelling. A better official lets it go at this point in a big game. Better officials try to minimize their impact in a game like this. I think Collins usually does a nice job of pushing refs without getting a T.

26 PF including the fourth on the leading scorer chasing through a screen, a flagrant when their player did the same, 2 missed goal tending calls and a refusal to call traveling on the zags big men. Yeah I can see why that last one might have set him off.
 
I don't agree. This was perhaps one of the biggest turning points in program history, a huge comeback against the #1 seed, winningest program in the country. If there is any grounds for excusing Collins for losing control, this is it. The refs created a 4 point swing by blatantly missing the goaltending call and then calling the T on Collins. This effectively killed the comeback. Ideally should Collins have reined it in and tried to regroup the guys to continue the comeback? Yes but he was making an emotional statement of standing up to the egregious reffing on behalf of his players.

The biggest point in program history and your conclusion is that he should get T'd up? Really?

What did the emotional statement of standing up to the egregious reffing result in? If your answer starts and ends with anything but "L", it's a fib.

I'm not saying it's undefensible. I'm. It saying it's inexcusable. I'm not saying 99 out of 100 guys wouldn't do the same thing. I'm just saying that it wasn't the "right" thing to do, as so many here are intimating it was. It was a completely understandable error action by CCC. But that's all it was.
 
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26 PF including the fourth on the leading scorer chasing through a screen, a flagrant when their player did the same, 2 missed goal tending calls and a refusal to call traveling on the zags big men. Yeah I can see why that last one might have set him off.


As can I. But that's not the point. That's a different point.
 
I think if his reaction were exactly the same but about a foot closer to the bench, he probably would've gotten a pass. He really was out there pretty far, and the ref - though he could have gone around him - could legitimately say Collins was blocking his path getting down the court.

I agree though with the sentiment that if Collins weren't that type of guy, NU wouldn't have been in this position in the first place.
If it was given because the coach was on the floor then there would have to be 25-50 or more T's every game, for coaches being on the floor. Ever watch Cream or Groce work a game? Heck, way more then half of NCAA HC's are on the playing floor more then some of their players.
 
He ran out fast, screaming at the guy, aggressively, clearly intending to get in the ref's face out on the floor. That's a T.

I don't mind one but that he did it. I'm glad he did. But it was a T all day long. And as impossible as this is to fathom, the right thing to do was to bit his tongue, be positive and try to keep the positive "mo" going. It an emotional outburst.

Practically impossible, I know. That's why it's rare and takes a rare man. But it would have been the best thing to do, regardless of how rare it is.

I also wish that Moises Alou hasn't lost his mind for 2 seconds in game 6 after the Bartman play. That was a similar, totally understandable, emotional outburst that contributed to a devastating emotional deflation.
 
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After a number of bad calls, Collins' reaction was understandable. And part of the reaction may have been intended to fire up the team. I love his passion for his guys and they love him back.
 
After a number of bad calls, Collins' reaction was understandable. And part of the reaction may have been intended to fire up the team. I love his passion for his guys and they love him back.

I doubt his reaction was to "fire his team up". Cats were already on fire at that point.
 
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No good comes of a coach losing his cool in that situation. If he'd gotten T'ed up in the first half when we appeared dead in the water and needed to make a statement, you could argue it had value. There was no value in the T late in the game in the middle of a run. Completely understandable, but it killed the rally. And the officials could not have ignored him -- he was halfway out on the court and in direct line of the ref. There was no option but to T him.

We had a high school coach named Vergil Fletcher, one of the great high school coaches of all time. He used to be quite a ref baiter in his younger days, I'm told. By the time I saw him in his 50s and 60s he never got a T. And his players didn't either. Somebody asked him late in his career about it and he said, "If I want my players to be poised under pressure, I need to be."
 
26 PF including the fourth on the leading scorer chasing through a screen, a flagrant when their player did the same, 2 missed goal tending calls and a refusal to call traveling on the zags big men. Yeah I can see why that last one might have set him off.
The traveling by their big men drove me nuts. I only got to see the first half, but that Collins kid dragged his pivot foot on every touch and was never called. Maybe that never gets called in the NCAAs anymore, but it sure was frustrating to watch.
 
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Context is important- this wasn't an isolated call. Having already missed another goaltending call earlier, the refs earned Collins' attention for much of the game with their calls. A coach has to stand up for his team. I don't think Collins made a calculated decision; he just reacted - but that triggered by the egregious last straw, not an isolated missed call.
Absolutely correct. Collins had been rightfully livid with the officiating all game--by my count courtside there were about ten missed calls that game, eight of which went against Northwestern. I never complain about the refs but it was really, really bad. Often poor officiating evens out, but most of the missed calls went against the Cats, and when that second obvious goaltending call was missed, Collins couldn't help himself. I was amazed he wasn't t'd up earlier.
 
We have a coach that gets completely into the game and is highly emotional. Thus, we have a coach that draws the technical foul when he sees something absurd called on the court. He really cannot help it. It is who he is. Odds are... if it were not who he is, we would be having this conversation at the NIT.
Coaches do draw technical fouls. That's why they exist. It's not like Collins's was the first ever.
 
He ran out fast, screaming at the guy, aggressively, clearly intending to get in the ref's face out on the floor. That's a T.

I don't mind one but that he did it. I'm glad he did. But it was a T all day long. And as impossible as this is to fathom, the right thing to do was to bit his tongue, be positive and try to keep the positive "mo" going. It an emotional outburst.

Practically impossible, I know. That's why it's rare and takes a rare man. But it would have been the best thing to do, regardless of how rare it is.

I also wish that Moises Alou hasn't lost his mind for 2 seconds in game 6 after the Bartman play. That was a similar, totally understandable, emotional outburst that contributed to a devastating emotional deflation.
Watch the replay, particularly the second replay. Collins is no more that 3 feet onto the court, and is immediately restrained by his assistants, Officials are taught in these situations to avoid a confrontation, but instead of sprinting down the court, he slows as down and T's him up.

There is a reason why Collins will not be reprimanded, but that official was and may never work an NCAA tournament game again. Hint: it will have little to do with the basket interference call, since that call is NOT the baseline official's responsibility at all.
 
Mike: My instinct is that replays are irrelevant here. Pretend it's "live" again. I'd have T'd him up in 2 steps. It was an angry, aggressive move. Frankly, if there were no steps involved, if he just bounced up and down instead, he was demonstrative enough to warrant a T.

Like I've said a dozen times: I don't blame him. I don't think he was "wrong". I don't think it's a flaw in him or anything like that. Just that he should not get any better treatment than any other coach just because he's ours. He warranted the T.

But the refs warranted a suspension and a fast road back to high school games for their terrible officiating.
 
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Chris could have used better judgment but his reaction was understandable.Constructive criticism is fine but he led the Cats to the final 32 teams in the tournament so he should be forgiven.

Does anyone remember how many other technical fouls Chris had this season?
 
Chris could have used better judgment but his reaction was understandable.Constructive criticism is fine but he led the Cats to the final 32 teams in the tournament so he should be forgiven.

Does anyone remember how many other technical fouls Chris had this season?

Zero, if I recall correctly. One was announced as given to him in the noncon, but later credited to one of his assistants. And again, refs know coming in who is a hothead and who is not.
 
Absolutely correct. Collins had been rightfully livid with the officiating all game--by my count courtside there were about ten missed calls that game, eight of which went against Northwestern. I never complain about the refs but it was really, really bad. Often poor officiating evens out, but most of the missed calls went against the Cats, and when that second obvious goaltending call was missed, Collins couldn't help himself. I was amazed he wasn't t'd up earlier.
With Gonzaga being a number 1 seed, a certain amount is to be expected but the amount that they missed or chose not to call was over the top. At that point, CCC and the Cats were having to play 5 on 8. The missed GT and T were just the final straw
 
No good comes of a coach losing his cool in that situation. If he'd gotten T'ed up in the first half when we appeared dead in the water and needed to make a statement, you could argue it had value. There was no value in the T late in the game in the middle of a run. Completely understandable, but it killed the rally. And the officials could not have ignored him -- he was halfway out on the court and in direct line of the ref. There was no option but to T him.

We had a high school coach named Vergil Fletcher, one of the great high school coaches of all time. He used to be quite a ref baiter in his younger days, I'm told. By the time I saw him in his 50s and 60s he never got a T. And his players didn't either. Somebody asked him late in his career about it and he said, "If I want my players to be poised under pressure, I need to be."
First Collins was about 3 feet on the floor , not halfway. The missed call killed the rally and NU's players were poised to the end.
 
First Collins was about 3 feet on the floor , not halfway. The missed call killed the rally and NU's players were poised to the end.
No one is going near a relevant question: who were the refs in that game and have they been on the NCAA floor since that night? Should be available, but not something people know how to access?
 
Update: The three officials who worked NU-Gonzaga were Jeff Clark, Chris Rastatter and Brent Hampton. None worked any of the games last night. We'll see if they show up tonight. I'd be shocked if they did.
 
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I see many people getting on Collins for getting a T after the horrendous miss by the refs. The real blame should be on the ref for making the T. They missed an obvious call then compounded it by calling a T when they should have let Collins off the hook at that spot in the game. I am guessing they made the call because of him being out on the floor yelling. A better official lets it go at this point in a big game. Better officials try to minimize their impact in a game like this. I think Collins usually does a nice job of pushing refs without getting a T.
Arrest stole the freaking game from us they should be arrested we play them great the refs killed us with their foul calling
 
It was an angry, aggressive move. Frankly, if there were no steps involved, if he just bounced up and down instead, he was demonstrative enough to warrant a T.
I disagree. Coaches being demonstrative? If what Collins did was on the sideline (aggressive gesturing) warranted a T then we've all seen hundreds that never get called. I think the NCAA has different priorities than you do in this area.

The priority should be to fix missed goal tending. Who else remembers at W-R a couple yrs ago when the refs missed 2 huge Ts that probably cost us the in-conference game against (I can't recall)? We should simply give goal tending calls to someone on the sidelines who watches the footage from the cameras that are right there. Done.
 
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