Arizona and Duke, a Varied Background

The University of Arizona and Duke University are two of the elite programs in college basketball, but they are seen and treated much differently.

Both schools have some similarities. They both rose to national prominence due to Hall of Fame coaches. They both have had more than their share of tournament appearances and success. Duke has won more titles, and is favored by most media outlets since their talking heads have allegiances there. Dick Vitale, possibly the most passionate college basketball fan ever (unfortunately), also falls into that category. While most people remember Christian Laettner hitting big shots against Kentucky and upsetting UNLV and disrupting their perfect season. Fewer people remember him stomping on a player’s chest.

As a counter example, Eugene Edgerson set a legal pick during a game on an unsuspecting player. It wasn’t dirty, put the player was knocked out. Even though the league said there was no punishment, Lute Olsen suspended his player for the rest of that game, and the next one. In a similar situation, Grayson Allen, in a "dirty play" on multiple occasions lashed out at players by trying to trip players and Coach K suspended him indefinitely under he received therapy services. Duke lost the next game, and Allen was reasserted into the line-up for the next game. Either it was magical therapy, or Duke was more concerned about winning than personal development. The term magical is used here considering it takes people multiple weeks to develop new habits, not a loss.

Arizona met Duke in the finals the following year and Duke won, with numerous questionable calls, which is typical of college basketball, especially when Duke is involved. That seems more of a perspective issue when the wrong team won. Duke's success is based on doing whatever a player can get away with in order to win. This was a far cry from Lute Olson's philosophy which was based on letting his players go out and play good basketball and be better players, better people and a better team regardless of how the game is officiated.

Since there are two kinds of college basketball fans, those who hate Duke, and those who adore them, the various games that happened over the years will be skipped. What did have an increased significance was the reaction of the media to the reports that Arizona had paid a player, through Nike. The same reports included Duke for similar transgressions. Both Deandre Ayton and Zion Williamson had connections to Nike and their enrollment called both schools into question.

This came after a referee controversy where the head of the officials offered a trip to Cancun to any referee that assessed a technical foul on the Arizona head coach at the time, Sean Miller. The head of officials was fired, but not the referees that remained to call the games in the Pacific 12 Conference.

After negative media reports by talking heads like ESPN’s Jay Bilas, who condemned the actions of Sean Miller, Arizona lost its recruiting class and that led to the eventual parting ways of the coach. Bilas was quick to defend Coach K, even though both schools were listed in the report. It took time, but Arizona is getting back to its previous status with a new coach.

In their most recent game, there were four moments that caused concern. In the first half, Duke was called for a charging foul. Another official called it a block. In an unprecedented move, instead of making a decision, they called it a double foul, and rewarded the ball to Duke. The charge was from a push off, which seemed to be the only point of contact. If there was contact afterward, that would make the the charge foul, a dead ball foul and Arizona would get the ball. Unfortunately for Arizona, Duke was awarded the ball and subsequently hit a three, stopping Arizona’s momentum.

The second half had more issues. The most obvious was when the officials reviewed to plays, within minutes where a player from one team locked up a player by the arm and pulled them down. In those two separate incidents, both players did the same thing. The result, a flagrant foul on Arizona.

Then there were some moments that provided a bad look for the officials. One official had the Duke players on the court in a huddle as they discussed something. That was odd. The Duke player that grabbed an official by the shoulder and spun him around so he could complain about a call also was a bad look.

Other than the media, and the officiating, Arizona is also a victim of the East Coast Bias, in part because their games are televised too late for most fans.

It is possible that Arizona changing conferences may change their relationships with referees, time will tell. As for Duke, since the talking heads promote Duke as do the commercials that have aired during this year’s tournament, they will continue to get preferential treatment. Now that both Hall of Fame coaches are out of the picture, it is the bias that lingers on. Maybe it is time to retire those too.

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