Poll: Does Dan Hurley arguing calls help or hurt the team?

[theblueram]

yup. Iona. Full on.

[ace]

Which game did Cox have to be restrained at half time?

VCU

[theblueram]

2 wars happen every game. The opposing team and the zebras. Fight your ass off against both.

[spar]

Bressler and Rod, I am in total agreement with you two. This is something I spoke to in an earlier post right at the end of the season. It's simply too much to be complaining about what seems to be almost every call in the game. You have to pick your spots or it dilutes the validity of your argument, and in my opinion comes off more as straight whining about every call. Yes, Dan is very animated, that's his personality and I don't see that changing and I'm ok with that. But you need to put a "cap" on the animation at some point. i.e. calling the refs a "f*cking clown" on national TV is not going to make you many friends in the officiating circle. The Deniro sneers and stare downs, that's simply too much in my opinion. Showing the animation in a more tasteful way and on fewer calls is what I would like to see. And again, this is in no way me bashing Hurley. I couldn't be happier he is our coach and love what he has done and is doing with the program. But just like players, coaches can have room for improvement too. So I definitely don't think this was a dumb poll and actually thought it brought out some good discussion.

[Blue Man]

Yeah it was the NIT game. That was when Hurley was talking to the other coach about how bad they sucked. That was certainly up there for worst ever.

[Ram1019]

I actually really don't understand how people feel that this behavior has 'no effect'. I don't mind coach's intensity and passion. I actually really like it and its great motivation for the players, however, the national TV NIT game was embarrassing. There is definitely a limit and you do have to pick your spots or else it just becomes white noise. I think spar is right on point with everything in his post. Other officials are not oblivious to this.

[RhowdyRam02]

A lot of people keep saying that Hurley complains so much it becomes white noise. Why is it that in pretty much every sports environment the home team gets more calls over time, wouldn't crowds just become white noise? And yet, home crowds tend to get more calls because referees are humans and things like coaches and crowds lobbying for calls does have an effect. There's literally no way to measure if Hurley has any kind of effect on the referees, positively or negatively.

[rjsuperfly66]

Refs are human. I bet some hold grudges, as unprofessional as that might be. Dan made a comment last year, "The bald guy sucks". I'm guessing this ref knows about this. I can't remember who the ref was, but do you think he gives Dan the benefit of the doubt next time he refs a URI game and there's a 50/50 call?

I believe it was Wally Rutecki (sp?). Dan clearly was all over this guy and led to some funny videos that appeared on Deadspin. However, I think some Buffalo fans were a bit P.O'd because I believe Rutecki was the ref for their NCAA Tournament game and he hit them with some tough calls late. Remember hearing (and can't remember where) where they thought there may have been a negative Hurley effect due to the NIT game a few days before. It would be completely unprofessional if that was the case but as someone who used to officiate, I can say there are people who stood out as those you wouldn't ever want to give the benefit of the doubt to.

[RhowdyRam02]

If Rutecki never reffed the URI-Iona game the Buffalo fans would have blamed those calls on a Power 5 school getting all the breaks over a MAC school. Just the NCAA trying to get a favored opponent to advance. As fans, we have an amazing capacity to believe the whole world is out to get us and we have an amazing arsenal of conspiracies to use when it's convenient.

[rambone 78]

It has become all too clear that there are certain refs out there who won't give URI the benefit of the doubt when it comes to close or crucial calls.

That is on Dan. I love the guy but he has to follow through with his promises to tone things down starting this coming season.

There is no doubt in my mind the constant sideline antics are wearing thin on some officials. If I was one of them, I would T Dan up early and toss him if it keeps up. Maybe that's what it will take to back off the constant complaining.

He's got a rep now, which will be hard to shake, good team or not. It's got to stop. Maybe my view is a little harsh, but that's what I'm seeing.

To add, a lot of calls that go against Rhody are on the defensive end, due to our aggressive man to man.

What's going to happen when the officials start cracking down even more on this type of defense next season, due to the new rules?

Will things get even worse with the refs? Let's hope not. Hopefully there is a concerted effort [on the teaching end] being made this offseason to keep this from happening.

[Da_Process_Survivor]

Chicken Little personified in this thread

[bressler3south]

Chicken Little personified in this thread

I don't quite understand your drift, process. Please explain.

[SGreenwell]

I actually really don't understand how people feel that this behavior has 'no effect'. I don't mind coach's intensity and passion. I actually really like it and its great motivation for the players, however, the national TV NIT game was embarrassing. There is definitely a limit and you do have to pick your spots or else it just becomes white noise. I think spar is right on point with everything in his post. Other officials are not oblivious to this.

I voted "no effect," but let me try to clarify my position - I think over the course of a season, it tends to even out and have no effect. Are individual refs influenced by complaining? I absolutely think so, but, it's probably both positively and negatively. We, as fans, probably tend to remember the negative more than the positive in all situations, so it sticks out in our mind that Dan picked up more techs than others and more bench warnings. However, it's harder to quantify if his complaining *did* cause a ref to call a game more in Rhody's favor.

The other reason I voted no effect is that a wide range of coaches, and their attitudes, have won championships. Absolute screamers, whiners and complainers like Bobby Knight and Larry Brown have won championships, along with more stoic and sarcastic guys who pick their spots, like Phil Jackson and Popovich. Ultimately, if ragging on officials has an effect on W's and L's, I think it's probably somewhere toward the bottom of the list.

[rambone 78]

Bressler, some on here have Chicken Little on the brain........it's a fixation issue.......and it's not me, contrary to what some might think......

[RAM67]

The officiating at Stanford was horrific. Was that on Dan or simply poor officiating?

[rambone 78]

The officials have never been worse, as far as I can see.

There are too many D1 teams, not enough qualified refs to cover them....even the so-called "better" refs miss a lot of calls....

Still, doesn't give coaches license to complain about every call.......have to pick your spots as best you can....

[SGreenwell]

The officials have never been worse, as far as I can see.

There are too many D1 teams, not enough qualified refs to cover them....even the so-called "better" refs miss a lot of calls...

I kind of brought this up at one point, but I think the incentive for getting into reffing is low. The salary / pay for the job seems OK, but it's work that even if you're doing a great job, you're still going to get 10,000 people screaming at you at times. You have to have incredible nerves to withstand that, and even if you have those, there are still some physical requirements that you'd need to hit to be very capable at the job.

Like I've done high school announcing and scoreboard work for about 15 years now, and I'm in OK shape, and I've never been tempted to get into reffing even though the money is better. Another guy I know who was a four-year HS starter, great HS ref and did some D3 college, he quit after a year or two once he got on a police force. For ex-players and athletes, who have the athleticism you'd really want in a ref, I imagine the incentive is even lower, given health / wear and tear issues they might have from their playing days, plus that many other, better jobs are available to them. To me, there are two avenues to pursue if you want to improve reffing - 1) Offer them even more money, which will get you a wider pool of interested candidates. 2) Make a more concerted effort to improve the technology and review aspects, and to integrate it into reffing more seamlessly to reduce delays.

[ace]

If Rutecki never reffed the URI-Iona game the Buffalo fans would have blamed those calls on a Power 5 school getting all the breaks over a MAC school. Just the NCAA trying to get a favored opponent to advance. As fans, we have an amazing capacity to believe the whole world is out to get us and we have an amazing arsenal of conspiracies to use when it's convenient.

Exactly. I don't know where rj is running into all these Buffalo fans to get their opinions, but a lot of them now hate Bobby, so now maybe they'll say it was his fault all along. Besides, my favorite Hurley coaching moment of this past season had nothing to do with Dan and was when Bobby got a technical 55 seconds into a game.

[theblueram]

I hope Rutecki refs another game at the RC next year.

[Rhody72]

Successful coaches develop a relationship with officials. This relationship can make the difference in close games. Moving picks, block or charge, touch fouls - there are a lot of discretionary calls in games that officials use to keep their calls even. When you win easily, there is little need to argue calls. URI has not been winning easily. Maybe this year will be different and Dan will be less argumentative.

[rambone 78]

72, good post. Agree.

Against good teams, close games are decided by the little things.

This coming season, we have to start winning the close ones against the other top teams, if we truly want to be thought of as one of those top teams.

Especially since most of our games against the best of the league, are on the road this time.