Dazz
Years ago
The Reffing on Nate Jawai?
Rather than the inevitable "he sukks cos he plays for Perf," I'd like to hear some impartial views from people who watched the game, perhaps on Foxtel.
(Or at the game, although that mostly dispels impartiality.)
I'll qualify my remarks again by pointing out that I sit close to the Southern baseline, so a great view of what happens there, but a lot further from the other end. I'm sure those watching on TV had a better view.
However you look at it, Jawai had a big problem with the reffing. He gave up soft fouls early, and was clearly not getting the calls he expected at the other end.
He DID get a couple of calls in the first half (and completely butchered the free-throws.) Not making excuses, but he seemed rattled the whole game.
So the QUESTION is whether the fault lies with him, and he just needs to adapt to the NBL calls? Or whether the reffing has some kind of inherent bias against BIG guys?
Jawai is certainly not the fastest or the smoothest guy out there. There's no doubt a lot of his "ability" stems from his size, not his skill. Is that a legitimate reason for enforcing a different standard?
If you have looked forward to Jawai returning to the NBL, then presumably you have looked forward to him throwing his weight around, crashing some boards, and generally imposing himself in the paint. At the moment he seems reluctant to do so, and its not hard to see why.
One of the fouls he was called for in the 1st half, was the worst flop I have seen in a LONG time. The message the refs seem to be sending is that if you weigh 140+kg and you so much as TOUCH an opponent you will be pinged.
Then in the 2nd half, going for the basket, he looked like a Christmas Tree, with Breakers hanging all over him.