London 2012: Bad Officiating Could Derail Team USA Basketball
Team USA should be worried about Olympic officiating. In their final exhibition game before the London 2012 Olympics, FIBA officials were pretty quick to blow the whistle against the Americans. Team USA was the victim of some phantom travel calls, while the Spaniards got away with some pretty aggressive play.
This is not a new problem for Team USA, as Beijing’s gold medal game had the Americans facing numerous moving screens while refs’ whistles stayed silent.
Biased officiating could seriously harm Team USA this time around. With an undersized roster, smaller American players will be guarding larger international centers in the post. This will force the Americans to play the ball aggressively, and overzealous refs could put certain American forwards like LeBron James and Kevin Durant in foul trouble early.
Bogus travel calls should also be of serious concern to Coach K and his team. While NBA players, especially superstars, may get away with taking an extra step or two, in international play refs seem to call an aggressive American pivot as a travel. The Americans will face a lot of zone defense during these games, and if every time they slash through the lane, a travel is called, an early exit for Team USA would not be out of the question.
It is possible that the FIBA officials are ill-equipped to call games involving Team USA because they have never been exposed to such fast-paced athletic basketball. Tempting as this explanation is, it lacks factual evidence. International basketball is highly competitive. The Euro basketball championships feature teams loaded with NBA talent, yet the officiating is significantly better then during FIBA events involving Team USA.
What is really going on is “Robin Hood” officiating. Team USA is the greatest collection of talent on the planet. Everyone roots for the little guys, and it seems like the FIBA officials just cannot check their bias at the door.
While sympathy for an underdog is understandable, in a referee it is wholly inappropriate. While American basketball remains the best, the margin is closing. The medal rounds of these Olympics will assuredly result in more competitive games. For the results of any of these games to be tainted by prejudiced officiating would be shameful.
The IOC should rein in this clear favoritism among Olympic basketball officials. Americans, like any other Olympians, have the right to fair competition. This tacit anti-American understanding among the crews working the games violates not only the rules but also the spirit of the Olympics. If without this dastardly arrangement Team USA would be too dominant for the IOC’s taste, then the Euro-centric IOC should strike basketball from the Olympic slate. The Olympics without basketball, is better than farcical competition.
