The Whistle Report

[91_92_01_10_15]

During the Maryland game, after a series of calls went against Duke (the stretch where they called a foul on Ryan for tripping while he was lying on the ground, which was closely followed by the failure to call a charge that Ryan drew plus a foul on Miles when it looked like a clean block), I began to record the number of times the officials blew the whistle, and who benefited from each call. To my surprise, during the rest of the half (nine minutes or so), Duke benefited from six whistles while Maryland benefited from only four. Intrigued by the result, I documented the second half in the same way and then later went back and documented the entire first half. Here are the results:

1st half: Duke benefited from 12 whistles, Maryland 10
2nd half: Duke benefited from 13 whistles, Maryland 14

Notes:
Maryland benefited from the first 7 whistles of the second half.
Duke then got the next 4.
It was 13-8, with Maryland benefiting from more calls, with 1:26 left in the game, when Maryland began to foul intentionally.

Admittedly, there is little to be learned from one game's worth of data, but it is at least objective data, with little to no possibility of rater bias.

I'll continue to do this for the next few games to satisfy my curiosity, and I'll post the results here. Interpret them as you wish.

[uh_no]

Notes:
Maryland benefited from the first 7 whistles of the second half.
Duke then got the next 4.
It was 13-8, with Maryland benefiting from more calls, with 1:26 left in the game, when Maryland began to foul intentionally.

Admittedly, there is little to be learned from one game's worth of data, but it is at least objective data, with little to no possibility of rater bias.

I'll continue to do this for the next few games to satisfy my curiosity, and I'll post the results here. Interpret them as you wish.

Thanks for the analysis, its quite interesting...but to your bold statement....i think there is in fact a very high possibility of bias, if only subconsciously

[-bdbd]

During the Maryland game, after a series of calls went against Duke (the stretch where they called a foul on Ryan for tripping while he was lying on the ground, which was closely followed by the failure to call a charge that Ryan drew plus a foul on Miles when it looked like a clean block), I began to record the number of times the officials blew the whistle, and who benefited from each call. To my surprise, during the rest of the half (nine minutes or so), Duke benefited from six whistles while Maryland benefited from only four. Intrigued by the result, I documented the second half in the same way and then later went back and documented the entire first half. Here are the results:

1st half: Duke benefited from 12 whistles, Maryland 10
2nd half: Duke benefited from 13 whistles, Maryland 14

Notes:
Maryland benefited from the first 7 whistles of the second half.
Duke then got the next 4.
It was 13-8, with Maryland benefiting from more calls, with 1:26 left in the game, when Maryland began to foul intentionally.

Admittedly, there is little to be learned from one game's worth of data, but it is at least objective data, with little to no possibility of rater bias.

I'll continue to do this for the next few games to satisfy my curiosity, and I'll post the results here. Interpret them as you wish.

OK Mr. '91_92_01_10' -- I'm affraid that I really have to challenge your data. Wrong, wrong, all wrong!


I was at the game in Comcast on Wed. night, and I can report authoritatively, that according to about 17,000 eye witnesses there, that EVERY single whistle was blown in Duke's favor. There were simply none blown in Maryland's favor. There was NO DOUBT - absolutely none!!



.

[91_92_01_10_15]

Today's Results:

1st half: Duke benefited from 14 calls, St. John's 12
2nd half: Duke benefited from 19 calls, St. John's 15

Notes:
The first 7 calls of the game were in Duke's favor.
St. John's got the next 4.
Duke had benefited from more 2nd half calls by a score of 15-14 when the intentional fouling started.
There were 6 jump ball calls in the game, which I scored as neutral.

[cspan37421]

I'm not sure this analysis proves anything at all. If I understand your description right, you've tallied up the whistles without respect to whether fouls were actually committed, and if so, by which team. Moreover, you didn't account for fouls committed but not whistled.

For years Duke was accused of "getting all the calls" - and yet virtually none of these critics bothered to inquire, "is it possible that Duke's opponents foul more often than Duke does?" For instance, a team that is behind in a still-contested game often fouls "intentionally" to get the ball back (and hope the other team misses their free throws). Most of the time in prior years, Duke was not the team behind. Not to mention the fact that better defensive teams (which we used to be) can defend effectively without fouling as much. So it is not surprising at all that, often, more whistles go against Duke's opposition. The same is probably true of most top teams. Does Carolina get all the calls? Does Kentucky? Ohio State?

[Kedsy]

Does Carolina get all the calls?

Uh, yes.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Today's Results:

1st half: Duke benefited from 14 calls, St. John's 12
2nd half: Duke benefited from 19 calls, St. John's 15

Notes:
The first 7 calls of the game were in Duke's favor.
St. John's got the next 4.
Duke had benefited from more 2nd half calls by a score of 15-14 when the intentional fouling started.
There were 6 jump ball calls in the game, which I scored as neutral.

Duke's inside guys were getting hammered in the first 10 minutes, and the fouls were called. I think the fouls were 6 - 0 at one point, every one earned by SJ. Lots of contact went uncalled in the second half, especially when SJ bumped and bodied up against our guards trying to bring the ball up court. While there were a couple of turnovers, for the most part our guys played through it and kept playing without complaining. Good job by our guys, another bad day by the refs. Some of that crap needs to be called, and not just on us.

[91_92_01_10_15]

I'm not sure this analysis proves anything at all. If I understand your description right, you've tallied up the whistles without respect to whether fouls were actually committed, and if so, by which team. Moreover, you didn't account for fouls committed but not whistled.

I'm not trying to prove anything. Just reporting data on all whistles, fouls included. In other words, if the officials blew a whistle and made a call, who did it benefit?

[uh_no]

I'm not trying to prove anything. Just reporting data on all whistles, fouls included. In other words, if the officials blew a whistle and made a call, who did it benefit?

i take back what i said earlier. I misunderstood the intent of your post.