MBB 5 pm Saturday DH: Riverside (8-19 & 3-10) @ the Aggies (18-9 & 9-4) The big problem with the Big West officials is that they are so inconsistent. Players have a tough time getting into a rhythm because they can't get a feel about how the game is being called.
There were 41 fouls called in the game against Riverside...21 on the Ags and 20 on the Highlanders but the Aggies had players with 2 and 3 early fouls which forced Coach Les to creative with his line up on the floor. It's maddening when a player gets hammered going up for a shot in the lane and there is no call and yet a player gets whistled for any slight contact on the perimeter. A bunch of the fouls yesterday were of the type where the offensive player would initiate the contact with his shoulder as he was trying to drive around the defender and the defender would end up with a quick, ticky-tack foul.
I think those are needless fouls since neither player is getting put at a disadvantage by the slight contact whereas getting mugged in the lane that results in players crashing to the floor should be called. It's almost as if the officials allow the big men to bang each other around but a touch of the jersey on the perimeter is a cardinal sin. Then to make it worse, one official may being calling the game that extremely close and his partners are not and then, after the half, they seem to change roles...ugh!
They were so many fouls yesterday that the game became a choppy affair which practically sucked the energy out of the players and the fans alike.