Big Ten Doing the Soft-Shoe

Is the Big Ten becoming a Big Softie?

The conference used to have a rugged image, but several coaches say that physical play is being phased out because of tighter officiating.

“The Big Ten is no longer a rough league based on the way games are being called,” Illinois Coach Bill Self said.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo points out that there have been a lot of quick whistles this season.

“What made the Big Ten so good in the past was that [officials] talked guys through some things,” Izzo said. “Now I think they are being threatened to call everything.”

Big Ten officials acknowledge there has been a change in philosophy to clean up rough play. Associate commissioner Rich Falk said the conference is only following a directive from the NCAA.

The original directive came last season. This season, coaches and conferences were sent a reminder after Christmas because, Falk said, officials stopped making close calls once the conference season began.

“Since Christmas, they’ve tried to tighten things up,” Self said. “They’ve been making more calls on what I call touch fouls.”

Self’s concern is understandable. Illinois, which has shared each of the last two Big Ten titles, leads the conference in fouls at 23 a game. The Illini were called for a total of 50 fouls in recent road losses to Iowa and Indiana.

There are other examples. There were 52 fouls in Saturday’s Ohio State-Iowa game at Iowa City. Each of the Hawkeye starters had at least four fouls in an 83-72 loss. In the Michigan State-Minnesota game at Minneapolis last Saturday, the teams combined for 57 fouls and 70 free throws.

“You saw it called both ways, but there were so many calls that it made it no fun to play that game,” Izzo said.

Some coaches don’t mind the tighter officiating. Purdue’s Gene Keady and Indiana’s Mike Davis have said that officials are making the proper calls, and Northwestern’s Bill Carmody thinks the conference actually is getting more physical.

“Sometimes guys are pushing our guys with two hands,” Davis said. “A foul is a foul, and I want it called close.”

The differing opinions can be explained by the styles that teams prefer. Teams that lack front-court depth, such as Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern, want the rules strictly enforced. Teams with stronger inside games, such as Michigan State, Illinois and Ohio State, would rather officials allow some pushing and shoving.

Rough-and-tumble tactics have long been a part of Big Ten basketball. Izzo upped the ante in the late 1990s, when he started having his players wear shoulder pads in practice to put more emphasis on physical play. Michigan State won four consecutive conference titles and won the national championship in 2000.

Self took over at Illinois the next season and adopted a similar style of play.

The dramatic shift in officiating has favored athleticism over ruggedness, and some coaches complain that it has led to an inconsistency in rule interpretations.

Three days after playing a closely called game against Michigan, Ohio State Coach Jim O’Brien couldn’t believe that Wisconsin was called for only two fouls in the first half when it visited Columbus.

“Against Michigan, every touch, every little bump was called,” O’Brien said. “Then against Wisconsin, nothing gets called.”

Self and other coaches believe that physical play has helped the Big Ten during the postseason, when fewer fouls are called. In the last four seasons, the Big Ten had six teams reach the Final Four, including last year’s runner-up, Indiana.

But the days of anything goes appear to be gone.

The Good, Bad and Ugly

Indiana’s Davis had bigger problems than rough play Saturday.

After watching Purdue dismantle the Hoosiers, 69-47, at West Lafayette, Ind., a livid Davis lambasted his team in the locker room.

“I’m going to have to ask God to forgive me for a lot of the things I said in there,” he said.

Davis said he knew the Hoosiers were in trouble when forward George Leach walked instead of running out during pregame introductions. Davis said he should have benched him for setting a poor example.

“You make sure you hustle out,” Davis said. “You better be a bad man to do that. That set the tone for us.”

Leach was anything but a “bad man” -- going scoreless.

Expert Analysis

Coaches say the darnedest things.

Rick Pitino of Louisville was in a giddy mood after the Cardinals rallied to defeat Tennessee, 72-69, at Knoxville, Tenn. Reese Gaines looked off one teammate before passing to Kendall Dartez for the decisive basket with 54.2 seconds left.

“That’s why he’s such a great point guard,” Pitino said. “I’ve never seen a play like that.”

That means Pitino, a former NBA coach, never saw Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, John Stockton, Steve Nash or any number of other skilled point guards who have made that pass. Remarkable.

Equally intriguing was Missouri Coach Quin Snyder’s assessment of his team’s 76-55 loss at Texas, in which the Tigers trailed by 14 at halftime.

“It gets really hard when you spot someone 20 yards in the 100-yard dash,” Snyder said. “After a while, you keep banging and you still find yourself down by eight or 10.”

We’re not sure which game, or sport, Snyder was watching, but it sounds exciting.

Block Party

Iowa State set a Big 12 Conference record by blocking 17 shots in a 71-61 victory over Nebraska at Ames, Iowa.

Six-foot-10 Jackson Vroman had eight blocks to lead the Cyclones, who had 14 blocks in the second half when Nebraska made only eight of 31 shots.

Vroman is the son of Brett Vroman, a 7-0 center who played on John Wooden’s last UCLA national championship team in 1974-75.

Home at Last

After two months of road games, St. Francis of New York finally played at home and defeated Mount St. Mary’s, 73-54, to end a losing streak at six.

The Terriers (4-11) played their first 14 games on the road as Pope Physical Education Center in Brooklyn was being renovated. They practiced at a high school.

Associated Press contributed to this report.