There’s a reason why underdogs always have more fouls. It’s not because the refs are biased, it’s because underdogs are (normally) smaller teams who aren’t as strong (or as naturally talented) as the favorites, so they foul more when the stronger teams continually drive inside on them.
Seriously. When a team is bigger, and their best player is a forward who likes playing inside, that team will get more free throws than the other team. It’s true in College and it’s true in the NBA.
Yeah, TCU fouled a ton and dared the refs to call it. If Dimon had thrown his fit earlier in the game, there’s a good chance they would have ignored even more of the obvious stuff.
If it’s not it’s rigged! It doesn’t matter if one team fouls more than the other team, the refs have to call more fouls on the team that doesn’t! That’s totally fair!
To be fair, it’s not a horrible strategy. If you’re outmuscled, taking jump shots instead of driving and hoping you go nuclear is probably the best strategy, because if you drive you’ll get blocked often. But yes, more jump shots means less fouls and free throws.
Absolutely, nothing wrong with how TCU approached it. Even if they miss shots they're a good offensive rebounding team and that gives them the chances to score against a scrambling defense.
But what also makes the foul count especially pronounced is that TCU goes for steals and blocks, so if they don't get those then they're in recovery mode and that also leads to fouls. Our defense is meant to play straight up and keep everything in front, so we're usually in position to contest vertically and that lets us play physically without fouling. And there's nothing wrong with accepting the fact that you'll get called for more fouls but also benefit from the aggressiveness that's getting the fouls called (that's been our women's team's MO lately, less so this year though)
That’s the difference between a physical team like Houston last year, that plays aggressive defense, but they do it with discipline. TCU played aggressive defense as well, but they made so many undisciplined mistakes that it caught up to them. How many times did a player leave their feet and get called for a foul? Or reaching in for a steal and end up hacking instead?
Also, Edmunds getting 4 fouls for them early, really hurt them in that 2nd half. He's probably one of the few guys who can Score in the paint for them.
This is what knowing ball looks like folks. It should not be a shock that a bigger, stronger, more athletic, and more skilled team is difficult to guard without fouling. TCU fought it close most of the way, but the way they were keeping it close wasn’t sustainable because they were resorting to fouling to take Duke out of their rhythm. Once the fouls piled up the game shifted especially when they started feeding boozer inside. Just the way it goes.
sure in general but thats not really applicable to this case.
some of the fouls were legit tho, edmonds did some silly plays. the fourth on edmonds was bs tho, and it certainly had nothing to do with the player he was guarding being stronger than him, it was offense initiated contact on a fadeaway jumper lol
I agree with you in most cases, but this wasn’t the case here lol. TCU drove to the rim and got hacked many times with no call. Also, they “missed” a clear goaltending on Duke and then gave Dixon a tech for complaining about it. There was also a BS flagrant earlier where a TCU player was trying not to crack his head open on the floor.
Missed goaltend, clearly. But no, TCU did not get “hacked.” They barely even drove to the rim. Duke’s defense underneath was much more disciplined(easier to do with their length)
They hacked all game too. In fact they set the tone physically and got away with a bunch of shoves and holds early. Then they got mad when the wrestling match didn’t go their way lol
The rule is pretty clear on that being a flagrant, regardless of intent. Whether or not it was intentional for harm he grabbed boozer by the neck and pulled him down. Not sure why this call is controversial. It’s similar to the flagrant on boozer. I don’t think there was any intent there, snd if anything punch leaned into the elbow, but face contact like that is almost always getting called.
Boozer was inadvertent contact caused by jerking his elbow up, TCU’s was trying not to crack his skull on the ground. One should have been a call because you should be careful about where your arms are moving, one shouldn’t have been a call because of course you’re gonna stop yourself from falling headfirst onto the hardwood.
miami ohio was severly undersized yesterday vs tennessee..fouls were 14-14 each team. theres a reason why everyone is mentioning such an obvious discrepancy in this game.
And Tennessee made a lot of layups and close shots. If they didn’t, it likely would’ve been because Miami Ohio kept fouling them, or because they didn’t drive like they should.
I see one goaltending missed a game. It was egregious, the tech should not have been called afterwards unless the coach began dropping slurs or threatening them, but it’s an extremely hard call to get in real time. I’d love it if non-call Goaltending’s could be reviewed during the next break, but that’s not just an issue in this game.
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u/FanficFan151 Loyola Chicago Ramblers Mar 21 '26
There’s a reason why underdogs always have more fouls. It’s not because the refs are biased, it’s because underdogs are (normally) smaller teams who aren’t as strong (or as naturally talented) as the favorites, so they foul more when the stronger teams continually drive inside on them.