Duke Getting Duke Calls

There are a lot of reasons why it's hard to come into Cameron Indoor and win. The student section is one of the most creative and loud, bringing a lot of opponents nerves to the surface. However, it's not the biggest reason why Duke always has an outstanding home record. This season, they are 14-0 at home and 1-4 on the road. The refs are incredibly bias towards the Blue Devils on their home court. I hate Duke basketball, not because I want to be a bro and pretend to hate on the white guys, but because they get unfair calls.

I was watching the Georgia Tech-Duke game on Thursday and it was one of the worst officiated and ugly college basketball games I've seen in a while. Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech's leading scorer and rebounder, was virtually taken out of the game in the first 33 seconds by picking up two fouls. The second foul was a graze of a blue and white jersey. I was pulling my hair out, knowing the worst was yet to come. Derrick Favors, one of the best freshman in the country (2nd leading scorer and 2nd leading rebounder on the team) picked up three first half fouls. In total, there were 52 fouls called in the game. Defense wasn't allowed to be played and the refs should have been embarrassed afterwards. The slightest bit of contact warranted a foul and once a defender got airborn near the rim, the whistle was blowing. It was all very painful and frustrating to watch as you just wanted to hit one of the refs. (the 63% combined free throw shooting didn't help). Well, that just might have been me. Anyways, only two more fouls were called on Georgia Tech than Duke, but the difference was that Duke was actually committing fouls. When the Blue Devils got called for a foul, it was a clear hack or blocking foul. The Yellow Jackets, as I said earlier, couldn't play defense. Their whole game plan was ruined as they had to adjust to guys getting in foul trouble. In the second half, fouls became too much to handle for GT, and Duke's three point shooting got out of control. At a neutral site, I think the game may have come down the wire as these two teams have very contrasting playing styles.

I think it's fairly obvious that Duke does get calls in their favor at home. I then question how much it helps them down the line. The team has to adjust to seeing some non-calls and some bad calls on them on the road. Because the majority of their games are at home, a certain type of officiating gets ingrained in their minds. Unfortunately for them, March Madness games aren't held on Coach K's Court. This could be the reason why they haven't advanced past the Sweet Sixteen since 2004 despite the #2, 3, and 4 seeds they are blessed with each year. I can't really pin the officiating on the program because they're not involved with the refs. However, I think they're hurting in the postseason because of this "ref inconsistency" of home and away. There are places where the home team gets the calls, but I think it's strongest at Duke. I guess I really can't complain too much if it means that I get to see the Greg Paulus', Jon Scheyer's, and Kyle Singler's of Duke hold their jerseys over their faces earlier than expected in March.