Blaming officials isn’t wise under current circumstances
Connor McCaffery and Jordan Bohannon both criticize recent officiating
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Some Iowa fans might disagree with this take, and at least two of the Iowa players almost certainly would disagree with it, but to call out Big Ten officiating under the current circumstances just looks bad.
I’m not necessarily blaming Iowa players Connor McCaffery and Jordan Bohannon for criticizing officials during a Tuesday zoom conference because for one, they were asked to address the topic, and because they certainly are entitled to their opinion.
It just doesn’t look good when your team has lost four of five games.
Neither player seemed to be using it as an excuse for Iowa’s current skid, but some will interpret it that way.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery is prohibited from commenting on the officials, but there isn’t a rule that prohibits his players form sharing their feelings.
Connor McCaffery, who is Fran McCaffery’s son, was asked Tuesday if he has to play differently based on who is officiating the game.
The question came in the wake of Iowa’s 67-65 loss at Indiana on Sunday in which star center Luka Garza picked up two early fouls, and in which Fran McCaffery was called for a controversial technical foul.
“There’s a lot of different ways I could go with that question,” Connor McCaffery said. “At least for me, there’s one guy in particular that we’ve had in a couple of these games where I felt like we haven’t had things go our way. And I know pretty much everybody else feels the same way. I don’t want to say any names, but there are a lot of things that could go differently in every game that we’ve played.”
“There were just some insane foul calls going back to the Illinois game, ridiculous foul calls and non-foul calls,” Connor McCaffery said. “I didn’t think Ohio State was nearly as bad with the refs at all for the record.
“But the Indiana game was pretty nuts in my opinion.”
It makes sense that Connor McCaffery would want to defend his father, and he certainly did on Tuesday, saying the technical foul on his father was ridiculous.
“That is what I will say to defend my dad,” Connor McCaffery said. “That was one of the more insane technicals I’ve ever seen. It was a horrible call. It was a charge. The kid pushed me down, I’ll say that. It was a charge.”
Connor McCaffery didn’t mention any officials by name, but he said his father, whose temper is no secret, did nothing to deserve a technical foul.
“To turn around and call a technical when he didn’t swear, he didn’t run out on the court,” Connor McCaffery said of his father. “All I heard him saying was like ‘no way’ because it was my second foul. He was mad about that. He didn’t need to call anything. He called it late in the first place, and then it was an awful technical foul.”
If Connor McCaffery’s description of what happened leading up to the technical is accurate, then he has every right to disagree with the call because it does seem to be an overreaction by the unidentified official in question.
It also makes sense why Connor McCaffery would want to defend his father because his father can’t defend himself without risk of being fined or reprimanded.
But on the flipside, it might be perceived as whining and making excuses with Iowa struggling.
And remember, officials are human, and humans, sometimes, hold grudges.
Officials also get protected and are shielded from the media, which is unfortunate.
The media should’ve had the opportunity to ask the official in question about some of his calls, but officials are off limits to the media.
Maybe it’s time to change that rule and make officials more accountable.
The Iowa players are frustrated and feel that the officials, and one in particular, are making it harder for them to win games.
“I think there is definitely some background bias going on with some refs and coach McCaffery,” Jordan Bohannon said. “And it’s unfortunate.
“Coach McCaffery literally said, ‘are you kidding me’ and he gets T-ed up for that. If that’s what you’re getting T-ed up for now, I want to see what basketball is going to be like in a couple years if that’s the case.”
I admire the Iowa players for defending their head coach, and Connor McCaffery for defending his father.
My concern is the message it sends, and how those not loyal to Hawkeye basketball will perceive it.
I’ve never focused much attention on the officials, and rarely even pay attention to who is working the Iowa games.
But if Fran McCaffery is being singled out and treated differently because of his reputation, that’s a serious problem for the Big Ten, and for college basketball.
I’m not ready to go that far because it’s not as if Fran McCaffery routinely gets called for technical fouls.
And again, neither Connor McCaffery nor Jordan Bohannon brought up the officials on Tuesday. They were asked to comment and sort of took the bait.
My concern with players speaking out under the circumstances is the message it sends, the image it creates, how it will be perceived and what could be the fallout from speaking out.