Blaming refs is making excuses

[camp_steveo]

beat them bad enough and the refs don't matter.

make your easy layups and the refs won't matter.

make more of the 3s you take and the refs won't matter.

don't make excuses when you lose.

UK may have lost a couple of games this year, but they are still UK. You can't go into that game with less intensity than they have and expect to win.

 

[WaywardVol]

beat them bad enough and the refs don't matter.

make your easy layups and the refs won't matter.

make more of the 3s you take and the refs won't matter.

don't make excuses when you lose.

UK may have lost a couple of games this year, but they are still UK. You can't go into that game with less intensity than they have and expect to win.

Don’t get out rebounded by 20 and refs don’t matter.

 

[CAVPUT]

beat them bad enough and the refs don't matter.

make your easy layups and the refs won't matter.

make more of the 3s you take and the refs won't matter.

don't make excuses when you lose.

UK may have lost a couple of games this year, but they are still UK. You can't go into that game with less intensity than they have and expect to win.

True but the refs do have the ability to greatly impact a teams performance.

 

[madbamahater]

Have to play better, make shots and rebound. All that is true, but it's also true it is a shame the refs totally controlled the tempo of play by blowing the whistle when they other wise wouldn't in other games.

 

[Tnphil]

10 of 21 on layups ....out rebounded by 20....3 point stats that is laughable.....But its the refs fault we lost.

One thing I have learned the last several years by reading UT boards.....UT has never lost in any sport.....they just got beat by the refs.

 

[Tnphil]

Barnes said yesterday we foul too much and he's told the team we foul too much. So if we aren't fouling shouldn't the man making several millions to coach standup and back his team against bad reffing. Why would he say yesterday we foul too much and he's had that discussion with his players if the refs are screwing us?

 

[madbamahater]

10 of 21 on layups ....out rebounded by 20....3 point stats that is laughable.....But its the refs fault we lost.

One thing I have learned the last several years by reading UT boards.....UT has never lost in any sport.....they just got beat by the refs.

No one and I mean no one is only blaming the refs. This take is just sensationalizing and exaggerating. Everyone knows Tennessee played very poorly and had they played better they probably would have won. But that doesn't excuse the awful lop-sided calls by the referees. Whether you win by 40 points or one point you should never have to beat the refs.....

 

[TNRazor]

We didn't play well at all, but it did seem like we were playing 5 on 8.

 

[BigBadVol]

The refs certainly didn't cost TN this game but in the past, TN has gotten jobbed in some games. I think it makes some fans cynical about the officiating in all the games.

 

[Tnphil]

No one and I mean no one is only blaming the refs. This take is just sensationalizing and exaggerating. Everyone knows Tennessee played very poorly and had they played better they probably would have won. But that doesn't excuse the awful lop-sided calls by the referees. Whether you win by 40 points or one point you should never have to beat the refs.....

so Barnes lied when he said yesterday we foul too much and he's told the players they foul too much.....OK. Barnes lied to us.

 

[Putbacks]

No one and I mean no one is only blaming the refs. This take is just sensationalizing and exaggerating. Everyone knows Tennessee played very poorly and had they played better they probably would have won. But that doesn't excuse the awful lop-sided calls by the referees. Whether you win by 40 points or one point you should never have to beat the refs.....

This a 1000x, and a coach takes tremendous risks by publicly criticizing the officiating. Barnes knows that he can only attempt to fix his team’s flaws. Saying that his team “fouls too much” might have some subliminal impact in addition to getting the attention of his imperfect players.

 

[Illinoisvolfan2]

Very true. Seems like we always whine about the refs when we play like crap and lose

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Sounds like making excuses for piss poor officiating to me

 

[VolGee4]

Very true. Seems like we always whine about the refs when we play like crap and lose

Not really. College officiating overall is bad. The Vandy game was very poorly officiated, and we took a 17 point lead. Criticizing it doesn’t mean the team can’t still win. Those aren’t mutually exclusive. But putting your head in the sand and ignoring it doesn’t do any good either.

 

[PowerWookie]

We lost a game to our biggest rival in basketball.

It happens.

look at the Duke UNC rivalry over the years, weird things happen and the most talented team does not always win

 

[Backwards K]

If you read UK message boards, they think the refs were cheating them. If the Vols don't get out rebounded by 20+ or miss so many lay ups, or shoot 3 of 21 from 3, the refs wouldn't have been a factor. It hasn't happened often lately, but the Cats just wanted it more and they out hustled the Vols. You can't play scared in big games or in tournament games.

UK was set up to be knocked out by the Vols and their season could have been on a downward slide. Instead, the Vols gave them hope by not being ready to compete. No excuses for that.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

To say a game was not lost either to lopsided refs or refs not allowing a team to play their game or refs making bad calls at crucial points do change momentum(ex 8-0) is just as stupid as saying every loss is caused by referees.

I am not saying UT might not have won or had a better chance if they had hit more layups or gotten more rebounds but many of those were affected by uncalled fouls(last layup drive by zz).

In this case I think both is true. UT could have won anyway but to say the refs didn’t affect the outcome is stupid.

 

[volinokc]

beat them bad enough and the refs don't matter.

make your easy layups and the refs won't matter.

make more of the 3s you take and the refs won't matter.

don't make excuses when you lose.

UK may have lost a couple of games this year, but they are still UK. You can't go into that game with less intensity than they have and expect to win.

It’s either blame the refs or wildly overreact to a loss for a lot of posters here. We played bad, but it wasn’t indicative of who we are as a team, and just about every mistake we made yesterday was a lack of focus, not a lack of skill. We still have a lot on front of us and we will be better than we were yesterday.

 

[vol94]

beat them bad enough and the refs don't matter.

make your easy layups and the refs won't matter.

make more of the 3s you take and the refs won't matter.

don't make excuses when you lose.

UK may have lost a couple of games this year, but they are still UK. You can't go into that game with less intensity than they have and expect to win.

I agree. Bad calls occur during every game in every sports - from Little league sports to collegiate & professional sports. Officiating can impact the momentum of a game (see Ohio st Vs UGA football, TN Vs Ole Miss 2021 football), but players must play through it and overcome the adversity. Look at a Vandy as they found a way to beat Arkansas though the referees called a flagrant two and technicals giving Arkansas 7 four shots, 7!


We had way too many “reach in”fouls around the perimeter which is bad play. The fouls called on TN for fighting thru screens was a bit frustrating, but TN (esp Uros) got away with some things too.

Barnes said in his postgame show that we foul too much and he has addressed it for the past three weeks.

We had numerous opportunities but turnovers, poor rebounding, missed layups and poor shooting lost the game. My concern is this team continues to lack a half court identity, so we scramble to find a decent shot before the shot clock. Scoring droughts have to be eliminated for us to advance to the Sweet 16 and beyond.

Go Vols!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Better officiating was just one of several things that would have changed the result. Two early fouls, at least one being ticky tack and unnecessary, directly resulting in Vescovi sitting down was obviously huge. Refusing to call more egregious fouls on KY’s key personnel was another. Flip the refs slant in favor of the home team and TN wins. But other things were available as well. Get out rebounded by 10 instead of 20. Make one out of every 3 three pointers instead of one out of every 7. Vescovi waiting for numbers after the steal with a two point lead instead of throwing up a three attempt would have brought the roof down had TN stretched that lead to 4. Make Olivier go to bed an hour or two earlier - or correct whatever his issue was. Feed the ball to Uros on EVERY trip and let him score 40 if that’s how KY was going to defend. Make 15 of 20 bunnies instead of 11 of 20.

 

[Preyed_On]

Sounds like making excuses for piss poor officiating to me

You sound like you’re making excuses for a piss poor performance on the hardwood.

If you leave it up to the officials and you lose, that’s your fault. Be an adult and learn from it. Don’t turn into a petulant child and point the finger. It’s called taking responsibility. The refs didn’t shoot 3-21 from 3. Kentucky played good defense and they were motivated. People have been trashing them for 2 weeks. Give credit where it’s due. They played hard.

 

[cncchris33]

Sounds like making excuses for piss poor officiating to me

Dude, there's no way you watched that game and walked away believing the officiating was explicitly one-sided. The refs sucked, but they sucked on both ends. There's a dozen things we can point to by our team to say it influenced the outcome as much or more than the officials being one-sided. You've got to be more objective.

 

[ColinS]

To say a game was not lost either to lopsided refs or refs not allowing a team to play their game or refs making bad calls at crucial points do change momentum(ex 8-0) is just as stupid as saying every loss is caused by referees.







I am not saying UT might not have won or had a better chance if they had hit more layups or gotten more rebounds but many of those were affected by uncalled fouls(last layup drive by zz).







In this case I think both is true. UT could have won anyway but to say the refs didn’t affect the outcome is stupid.

I think you may be referring to ZZ leaning into the defender to create contact. That was a good no call. I could have missed one though.

 

[Butch s]

beat them bad enough and the refs don't matter.

make your easy layups and the refs won't matter.

make more of the 3s you take and the refs won't matter.

don't make excuses when you lose.

UK may have lost a couple of games this year, but they are still UK. You can't go into that game with less intensity than they have and expect to win.

Maybe, just maybe them taking 25 ft to our 10 may have also contributed to the loss and any rhythm we may could have had. I agree we didn’t play well enough to win, except it was a physical game. They were rewarded for their physicality, we were penalized for ours

 

[Butch s]

10 of 21 on layups ....out rebounded by 20....3 point stats that is laughable.....But its the refs fault we lost.

One thing I have learned the last several years by reading UT boards.....UT has never lost in any sport.....they just got beat by the refs.

One thing I have learned is some people should have been trapped in a jimmy hat