Fort Wayne Mad Ants: More Officials Mean More Fouls

The NBA added a fourth official for a Development League game and as expected, more fouls were called in the game.

Officials for Tuesday’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants-Long Island Nets game called 64 total fouls Tuesday in a game that used a four-referee team.

The game was a part of a NBA Development League 4- and 5-person officiating crew experiment. The D-League is conducting the experiment at Nets home games between Dec. 26 and Mar. 19. In addition to the Mad Ants’ 30 fouls and the Nets’ 34 fouls, Nets’ players J.J. Moore and R.J. Hunter and the Mad Ants’ Alex Poythress fouled out of the game.

The Mad Ants were 35-46 from the free-throw line, and the Nets went 26-34 from the charity stripe.

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As a comparison, the teams combined for 45 fouls on Nov. 25 and 43 fouls on Dec. 16 in games played in Fort Wayne. No player fouled out in either game.

Consequently, the Nov. 25 and Dec. 16 games had lower free-throw totals. The Mad Ants shot 31-38 from the charity stripe on Nov. 25, and the Nets went 19-28. On Dec. 16 both teams had 23 free throw attempts. The Mad Ants converted 17 of those into points, and the Nets made 13 of their free throws.

Both teams also had fouls, free throws and free-throw attempts in Tuesday’s game than their season averages. The Mad Ants average 23.9 personal fouls, 22.0 free throws, and 27.3 free throw attempts per contest. In comparison, the Nets boast 25.3 personal fouls, 17.9 free throws, and 24.6 free throw attempts per game.

Breaking Down The Numbers

The other games Nets games with four-official crews had mixed results. Four-official crews called a higher number of fouls in Nets’ games against the Westchester Knicks and the Delaware 87ers. However, the four officials for the Nets’ contests versus the Erie Bayhawks and Maine Red Claws called as many fouls that three-official crews called in other Nets games.

The following chart shows the fouls, foul outs, free throws and free throw attempts the Nets and their opponents had in games with three officials:

…and five games with four referees:

Source for both charts: Box scores from Long Island Nets website, last viewed Jan. 12, 2017.

More Officials, More Problems?

The mixed results of the trial aren’t the only reason that the jury should still be out on adding another official. When looking at the box for the all the Mad Ants-Nets games, I noticed that entirely different crews called all three games. Therefore, one can’t eliminate individual differences in the way the three different sets of officials call games.

A logistical issue I have with a four-referee crew is the placement of the fourth official. In video highlights featuring Mad Ants’ Stephan Hicks, one can see that the fourth official is on the floor behind the three-point line instead of the sidelines. That helps with catching fouls committed along the three-point line. However, I could see that official being in the way if a player made a steal in the three-point area. The official would have to backpedal quickly to get out of the way.

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The other part of the D-League referee experiment is having five referees in the game. Instead of being on the floor, the two additional referees would remain stationary along the baselines. That would eliminate having a referee on the floor.

While I expected the Nets’ game against the Greensboro Swarm on Thursday to have the first five-referee crew in the experiment, the game had only four referees. While the box score had five referees’ names, one referee’s name was on the box score twice. Video highlights from the game show only four referees as well.

Perhaps the next Nets game in the test will use a five-referee crew. That game will take place on Feb. 1 against the Windy City Bulls. It will be interesting to see how many fouls are called with two more referees officiating a game.

But thinking about additional fouls being called reminds me of a Lakers-Nuggets game I watched last year. Lou Williams got to the free throw line 19 times and made 16 of his 24 points from the free throw line. While he fascinated me with his ability to get to the free throw line, I’m not sure I want to watch game after game where significant scoring comes on from the charity stripe.

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I would hope those who decide whether or not to have additional referees at the NBA level will take game flow versus officiating accuracy into consideration when they make their final decision.