Bob Knight Hired at ESPN

[IUGrad03]

I saw a bit of that earlier today. I haven't seen him look so healthy and happy in awhile.

[STLDukeFan4]

Just saw Coach Knight on late night Sportscenter

1.) They were talking about the ACC tourney and takling about what it means to Duke. Coach Knight said that he is biast because he likes Duke, he likes the way we play on offense, and went on a bit about why he likes Duke. Was a nice thing to hear from someone on ESPN

2.) I think that Coach Knight being on ESPN is cool, the one thing I don't like is that Digger Phelps feels like he can now talk more. I don't usually complain about people talking hoops, but I cannot stand Digger.

Overall, I like it..I like Bob Knight and I will enjoy listening to him break games down throughout the tournament.

[Cali-Duke]

Saw late night sportscenter too.

I respect Coach Knight for being honest enough to admit he is biased. Wish other announcers/analysts would fess up.

[heyman25]

I saw that Sportcenter. I am so tired of UNC bias and really sick of their fans. Like the Alka Seltzer advertisement many decades ago" Oh What a Relief It is". I also saw Shane Battier interviewed about the Rockets 20 game win streak.They need 1 more win to have the second longest win streak in NBA history. Tied Milwaukee Bucks 20 game streak who had Robertson and Jabbar. Only the 71-72 Lakers that had Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain have had a longer win streak 33 games.

[moonpie23]

PLEASE put bobby knight opposite of Stephen A......that's a PAY-PER-VIEW that would live up to the hype...

[calltheobvious]

...He will also have no problem digging into the officiating, which someone needs to do. There are three teams on the floor in every game, and only two get dissected and analyzed. Across the board, officiating is so bad it's at a crisis level...


dukemsu

How about you dig first?

When ESPN brings someone into the studio to talk about officiating who actually knows something about it, I'll be all ears. I'm looking forward to watching Knight. But he doesn't have a whole lot of credibility when it comes to "digging into the officiating." And I believed that even before his recent clown act on network television.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...01/1247/SPORTS

[Sir Stealth]

This is kinda off topic, but I think the opposite should happen. I think that college basketball has really been degraded by microanalysis of every call. More and more, the announcers feel the need to say whether they thought every call was good or bad. Fans of many schools go to the games more to cheer against the refs than to cheer for their own team. It drags down the game - and makes it less about the actual play. Yes, refs are often bad. But more often than not, calls are part of the game. They usually even out. I don't have a problem with jumping on something that really decides the game at the end, but other than that, I'd rather just focus on the actual basketball - the two teams who actually do play the game.

[Classof06]

I've only seen a few clips of Knight but I love that he's on ESPN. If you want to learn more about the game, just turn Knight on and listen. I like that he hasn't tried to change himself and he comes off very natural. That's probably more to his liking than the director but what you see is what you get with Knight. I'm a fan of the move to get him on there and I'm sure ESPN doesn't mind more ratings.

[pamtar]

I love RMK! The badassary meter skyrockets at the fact that he refuses to wear a suit.

On The ACC Tourney - "I'm partial to Duke"

On Huggy Bear - "(he) walks around like a 400lb tub of butter."

Beautiful!

[feldspar]

Listening to Bobby Knight commentate on officiating is like listening to me opine on board etiquette.

[Ben63]

On Huggy Bear - "(he) walks around like a 400lb tub of butter."

Beautiful!

I heard that too and I lost it. It was one of those things that if anyone else said it, they would be fired but because it was Bob Knight it was hilarious.

[dukemsu]

How about you dig first?

When ESPN brings someone into the studio to talk about officiating who actually knows something about it, I'll be all ears. I'm looking forward to watching Knight. But he doesn't have a whole lot of credibility when it comes to "digging into the officiating." And I believed that even before his recent clown act on network television.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...01/1247/SPORTS

Well, maybe I'm just really wanting someone to point out (in a truly investigative fashion) just how bad the officiating in college basketball is. Knight has nothing to lose, seeing as how it's pretty commonly known that he deplores officiating.

I don't excuse his behavior on the Leno show or his old routine on heavyset officials. You have a point about his credibility on officiating, but I'd really like to see someone truly investigate (and not just about "one" team getting all the calls) how many calls are routinely blown. And I don't buy the old argument that they all even out. They don't.

I'd spend an hour digging into the officiating, but I don't think you were serious when you requested that I do so first.

[dukemsu]

This is kinda off topic, but I think the opposite should happen. I think that college basketball has really been degraded by microanalysis of every call. More and more, the announcers feel the need to say whether they thought every call was good or bad. Fans of many schools go to the games more to cheer against the refs than to cheer for their own team. It drags down the game - and makes it less about the actual play. Yes, refs are often bad. But more often than not, calls are part of the game. They usually even out. I don't have a problem with jumping on something that really decides the game at the end, but other than that, I'd rather just focus on the actual basketball - the two teams who actually do play the game.

Good points raised, I don't think anyone should go to a game to simply blast Hess, Hightower, or Valentine. Well, maybe Hess.

Seriously, though, I do not buy (as I stated above) that the calls even out. There are a ton of examples that I could cite that they don't. Too many officials are easily influenced by loud crowds or loud coaches. Refs change the way they call fouls at halftime, which confuses the players. The charge/block rule is poorly officiated to the point that players are petrified to drive the lane for fear of picking up a flop foul. This affects the overall gameplay as teams become content to just chuck the ball from the perimeter.

Two teams play the game, but three affect it. I'd just like to see someone raise the issue intelligently so we might see some changes with the next generation of officials.

[feldspar]

Well, maybe I'm just really wanting someone to point out (in a truly investigative fashion) just how bad the officiating in college basketball is. Knight has nothing to lose, seeing as how it's pretty commonly known that he deplores officiating.

I don't excuse his behavior on the Leno show or his old routine on heavyset officials. You have a point about his credibility on officiating, but I'd really like to see someone truly investigate (and not just about "one" team getting all the calls) how many calls are routinely blown. And I don't buy the old argument that they all even out. They don't.

I'd spend an hour digging into the officiating, but I don't think you were serious when you requested that I do so first.

You're wasting your time and breath. The officials in the major NCAA conferences are the best in the business. They miss calls. I'd be interested in you telling us what standard you would hold the officials up to were you in charge. Two bad calls a game? Five? One in the last minute of a game? Two bad calls against the home team? And how are you going to define "bad" exactly?

If you're talking about an investigation into unethical officiating, I could maybe stomach that. But you're talking about opening an investigation into why college officials aren't perfect. Do you realize that?

[dukemsu]

You're wasting your time and breath. The officials in the major NCAA conferences are the best in the business. They miss calls. I'd be interested in you telling us what standard you would hold the officials up to were you in charge. Two bad calls a game? Five? One in the last minute of a game? Two bad calls against the home team? And how are you going to define "bad" exactly?

If you're talking about an investigation into unethical officiating, I could maybe stomach that. But you're talking about opening an investigation into why college officials aren't perfect. Do you realize that?

As my post above states, I'm talking about specific calls that are routinely blown that have a profound effect on how the game is played, such as charge/block. That call is so poorly officiated that it has taken away the drive to the basket as an effective weapon in some conferences.

I have been watching college basketball for a lot of years. It's my opinion that the officiating has gotten progressively worse. I don't know why, and that's why I think it should be looked at.

I'm not asking for perfection. I am asking for improvement. If there are people who are satisfied with how it is, that's fine. But it's my opinion that it's routinely pretty bad. I can quantify it in a long, rambling post with evidence supporting my opinion, but somehow I don't think that's for this board.

We can agree to disagree, I hope.

[feldspar]

Too many officials are easily influenced by loud crowds or loud coaches.

I'd be genuinely interested in seeing some supporting evidence to back up this claim.

Refs change the way they call fouls at halftime, which confuses the players.

This is a blanket statement which is also unsupported by evidence.

The charge/block rule is poorly officiated to the point that players are petrified to drive the lane for fear of picking up a flop foul.

How is it poorly officiated? I see PLENTY of players driving to the lane. Plenty.

This affects the overall gameplay as teams become content to just chuck the ball from the perimeter.

What kind of basketball are you watching? Not the kind of basketball I've been watching lately, with plenty of bang-bang plays inside.

Two teams play the game, but three affect it.

If you have a rational idea of how to solve this supposed problem, I'd like to hear it.

The problem is not the officiating. It's the blithering commentators. I'm sitting here as we speak listening to Doug Gottleib spout off about the "over-the-back" call in the ASU game. First of all, Doug Gottleib is the last -- I mean LAST person ON EARTH I want opining on basketball officiating. Case in point, his statement that "if you don't have a box-out, you can't have over-the-back." This has to be the most ludicrous statement about the rules of basketball I've heard all season. Literally. Doug Gottleib, and 9 out of 10 commentators out there talk completely out of their hind ends when it comes to the rules of basketball, but fans take their word like gospel. No doubt, some clueless fan is going to be watching basketball tomorrow, and when "over-the-back" (which, BTW, is not even a real foul) is called, the poor schlub is going to yell "BUT HE WASN"T BOXED OUT!!!!"

[feldspar]

A somehow I don't think that's for this board.

Perhaps it belongs to the off-season, but I absolutely think it's for this board.

[TNDukeFan]

Interesting answer by RMK to an email asking what he'd have done differently: part of his answer was, extend the defense and switch up defenses to make the opponent have to react...

In other words, what Coach K does, and what he added with the zone this year!

[dukemsu]

Perhaps it belongs to the off-season, but I absolutely think it's for this board.

Fair enough. The off-season it is.

If you are looking for an example of horrendous officiating, you need look no further than the game tonight with Minnesota and IU. Literally, at least three major calls were totally blown in the last two minutes, all of them in favor of IU. Minnesota won on a variation of the Laettner play, despite the shooter being mugged multiple times with no whistle before he got the shot off, which was a left-handed prayer (the shooter is a right-hander). And I was watching the game at a bar with no sound, so I was not influenced by announcers. I do agree that the announcers (some of them) have no idea how to intepret the rules.

Not saying it was a conspiracy, but it was the truth-three calls were horrible.
A large part of my point was probably directed toward the Big 10, which is the other conference I watch the most of (other than the ACC). Big 10 officiating is generally worse than the ACC in my opinion.

It is time to focus on the Devils and their run, so I will curb the officiating hatred until the offseason. I will be getting my eons-long post ready.

dukemsu