Don't blame the refs for silly mistakes by players, coaches

When Butler lost to Pitt before it beat Pitt a split-second later Saturday, the immediate reaction centered on the conduct of that game's officiating crew.

A pair of crucial foul calls -- one against each squad -- in the last 2.5 seconds ultimately led to Matt Howard's winning free throw and another Bulldogs postseason victory.

"Let the kids play," critics cried. "Refs shouldn't affect a tight game like that."

But officiating crews have incurred too much blame in the early rounds of the NCAA tournament. Players and coaches are mostly responsible for this year's early drama in a fascinating edition of March Madness.

The foul calls on Butler's Shelvin Mack and Pitt's Nasir Robinson -- the latter put Howard on the line with .8 seconds to go -- were justifiable.

The decisions made by Mack and Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon were not.

With 2.5 seconds to go and Butler up 70-69, what's with the aggressive pressure on the ballhandler? Sure, Mack might have stuffed a last-second shot, but the risk seemed far greater than the reward. The result? Gilbert Brown on the free-throw line with 1.4 seconds to go, following Mack's ridiculous foul near midcourt.

And what's with Dixon, one of the premier coaches in college basketball, keeping players on the block during Brown's potentially game-winning free-throw attempts? Why not force Butler to make a crazy, full-court shot with a fraction of a second on the clock and keep your players out of danger? With the score tied at 70-70, Robinson hacked Howard on the rebound after Brown missed his second shot. Robinson shouldn't have been in position to be called for a foul.

At the end of North Carolina's 86-83 victory over Washington on Sunday, Tar Heels sophomore John Henson stuck his rake in the air and appeared to goaltend when he swatted Isaiah Thomas' buzzer-beating attempt away from the rim.

The truth is that any goaltend was irrelevant; Thomas was inside the arc, and his shot wouldn't have sent the game into overtime.

Critics attacked officials for that no-call and their refusal to put more time on the clock after Venoy Overton's three-point attempt ricocheted off Henson's hand, leaving Thomas with 0.5 seconds -- it appeared he had more time --to pull off a miracle.

C'mon.

Take a look at the Overton shot that preceded the messy sequence. A runner near midcourt by a 25 percent three-point shooter? It didn't make sense. Thomas should have had the ball for that shot.

Texas' Jordan Hamilton held up his arms when officials refused to blow the whistle in the closing seconds after the Longhorns appeared to draw multiple fouls in their scramble for a victory over Arizona on Sunday (they lost 70-69 in a freaky finish). Despite their disappointment, the Longhorns shouldn't spend the offseason pondering the possibilities or questioning a no-call. They should analyze the film and seal the holes in a usually stubborn Texas defense that allowed the Wildcats to shoot 57 percent from three-point range.

And if they are honest with themselves, they will also acknowledge that they squandered the victory via a costly turnover with nine seconds to play. That's the story of the game, not a missed foul call or two.

Officials, like the players and coaches they monitor, are imperfect. It's easy to focus on their decisions when seeking answers for unlikely victories or stunning losses.

"If we get it right, we're good," crew chief John Higgins said in a postgame statement after the Butler-Pitt game. "If we get it wrong, we're deadbeats, and we're all over 'SportsCenter.' We did what we think is correct."

There's always more to the final score that what the refs call. And if you really take a look at the mistakes made by players and coaches throughout the course of 40 minutes, you'll discover that one whistle doesn't decide most games.

One bad shot, foul or coaching blunder, however, can.

Myron P. Medcalf • mmedcalf@startribune.com