Is Duke favored more by referees?

Question

It appears to me that Duke is recieves more fouls and no calls in their favor than the opposing teams. Examples: Paulus' obvious intentential foul not called in the game against UVA, McRoberts' no call on palming while on the perimeter in almost every game played, clock "malfunction" in the Clemson game. Those are just a few examples just this season alone, but it appears to me that referees show favoritism towards Duke.

I am a Carolina fan, but I'm not saying that Duke isn't (hasn't been) a great team and have won the majority of their games due to favoritism. I have all the respect for Krzyzewski and his coaching abilities (I may not like him, but I still respect him as a coach). I'm just stating that they appear to be favored in their games.

Answer 1

Duke won those titles not because of referees, but because they have great teams. I'm sick and tired of hearing about favorability in the games, seems to me your an anti-Duke fan youself! Well let me tell you something - if they favor Duke, well then good!

Answer 2

When you are the best you get the calls. This doens't just apply to Duke. Anyways, how is this news to you?

Michael Jordan held the refs in his back pocket for most of his career. Does that make him any less great? No, it doesn't.

It's the same way for Duke. When a team wins 75% of its games and its coach has 10 Final Fours, 3 Titles and near 800 wins then you tend to get the calls over say Virginia or anybody else for that matter.

Answer 3

Duke as we know is a very popular and succesful basketball program with a rich tradition committed to winning.I think its because of this reputation and the expectations of the people,especially the fans that they would win every given game that they would play,would affect the ability of the referees to make the right calls and think twice about their decisions in the game.

Answer 4

It is so obvious Duke gets favored by the refs.

Answer 5

Yes. But not any more than other good teams.
First, there are problems with figuring out, statistically (so no bias), free throw (FT) stats: 1. up-tempo teams are likely to draw/commit more fouls (how do you compare a Princeton style, slow-down to a run-n-gun); 2. better teams will draw more fouls because they have better athletes, with better body control, who are more likely to NOT foul when they go for a steal/block, and more likely
A statistical analysis will show that UConn and UNC (among others) get more calls than Duke when compared to teams of relative records. I'm not talking about getting "unfair" calls, just total calls per game, etc.
This year, Duke is ranked 88th (out of 336 teams) in FTA (attempts) -- hard to argue Duke is getting "too many" calls. In FTA, Duke ranks well behind #6Wisc, 11UConn (who is having an off year and should be getting fewer calls than normal), 17OkSt, 20UNC, 21NotreDame, 24Az, 28UVa, 29Boston Coll, etc. (These #s are not adjusted for tempo of the game. Additionally, they show that some pretty bad teams still get a large number of calls - Wake Forest (10-12, 2-8) is ranked #39 in FTA.)
In a similar stat, Free Throw Rate (# of times you get a foul shots per # of times you take a shot), Duke ranks #54, well behind #3UVa, 9Wisc, 10Az, 11OkSt, 12BC, and about even with UConn. This stat has limitations -- teams that score in a half-court set (Wisc) will rank higher, teams dependent on break-aways (UNC) will make a lot of uncontested shots.
A full analysis was done of ACC games (eliminating probs with non-conf scheds, different conf. styles) for the ten seasons 1995-2004 (years Duke finished 1st six times, 2nd twice), and UNC was up and down (including going .500 in ACC play in the 5 years '00-'04): it figured FT differential (FTs taken minus opponents FTs taken), then charted the FTDifferential for teams based on record and place-finish (showing, logically, that the better teams got more calls, regardless of who they were). It then compared each school's FTDiff per year and compared that to the ACC average for teams finishing with the same record (or in the same place). This showed that Duke finished above the average 3 times, below the average 7 times. So, no bias for Duke. The team finishing with above average FTDiff for its relative record was UNC (above avg 7 of 10 yrs).
A shorter answer is that winners face this criticism. People complained about Dean Smith's UNC teams for years. In the SEC they complain about Ky. No one complained about calls going for Duke in the late 80s-early 90s, before the "dynasty." The real anti-Duke sentiment took off in the 2001 Final Four. Billy Packer (Wake grad, was not recruited by Duke and chose Wake without a visit "because they play Duke") went off on getting calls early in the Final Four game aginst Md, when all of 4 fouls had been called, none controversial, and the calls were even, 2-2. He kept it up and the reputation was born. ESPN picked up on it after a bad call went Duke's way in 2006, doing three whole segments on it, letting the talking heads go at it with no statistical analysis at all. Duke "shoots more FTs than its opponents attempt" is interesting, but only if compared to other teams - like UNC, UConn, Az, etc. Each of those schools routinely has as good as or better FT stats than Duke.
Finally, Duke has its share of calls go against it -- but no one rants about it -- non-call against Jeffreys on Boozer in the 2000 Tourney, non-call on Emeka Okafor's shove of Luol Deng and the non-call on Redick’s drive with 21 seconds left in the 2004 semis vs. UConn, etc. Those cost Duke shots at titles, not a regular season road-game.
If there was really a bias -- where were the pro-Duke calls in recent last second losses to UVa, FSU and VaTech?

Answer 6

without a doubt.. every ref wants duke to win.. THey may have won an extra 15% of their games cause of refs.

Answer 7

Go back to all the close games at Cameron in your mind. OK you there. Remember now? Every close game at Cameron the refs and k try their hardest to throw the game.

Answer 8

DUKE GETS MORE CALLS THAN THE MOST POPULAR GIRL IN HIGH SCHOOL.

Answer 9

Clemson. Obvious enough. Nothing is done at all.

Answer 10

yes it was crazy they cheated clemson