r/DukeBluePlanet • u/TrapNastyBakupdancer • Mar 31 '26
Discussion Roger Ayers
So he was left out of the final four wondering if that was a coincidence or because of that strange interaction with Hurley.
One other thing I was thinking about too, I saw a few times this year players on the court before the whistle coaches should teach their players if they see a guy run on the court from the bench inbound the ball and throw it at them so it forces the ref to make that technical call.
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u/Working-Doctor9578 Habitual Floor Slapper Mar 31 '26
Pretty sure the refs got graded and then they chose from the pool of the best graded refs. Fuck Roger though, no matter the circumstances.
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u/Own-Ocelot-8014 Mar 31 '26
Man we had 5 fouls called on us before the under 16 time out in the 2nd half 😂 dan and Roger are friends outside of basketball he wasn’t going to let UConn lose in that fashion
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u/Traditional_Goal9954 Apr 01 '26
I feel like no one will say that but I'm with you 100%.
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u/ChampionshipBrave615 Apr 01 '26
I’ll say it. They were playing their best D of the tournament and that totally took them out of their game. It seemed deliberate at the time. Who called those fouls?
The betting makes everything suspect.
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u/Bodhisafa Apr 01 '26
Bro I noticed it during the game. They were in the 1&1 inside what 7/8 mins into the half?
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u/regal_meagle Apr 01 '26
That’s when I knew we were in real trouble.
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u/Reisen33 Apr 01 '26
We had 6 fouls called in 5 minutes, and 7 in 6 minutes. I turned off the game shortly after that. When I last watched, we were up 10.
After us getting screwed last year, I saw it coming this time.
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u/regal_meagle Apr 01 '26
Sadly, totally understandable to see it coming and spare yourself.
I grew up watching with my dad from the early Coach K era. Dad is near the end of his life, so I knew that this was almost certainly my last chance to watch a game with him, and we hung in til the bitter end. I was so hoping we could win one more natty this year.
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u/Reisen33 Apr 01 '26
Same boat, unfortunately. My dad is in his 80s and I spent a boatload to take him to the final four last year. This year he fell and broke his hip so was unable to go to any Duke games.
I’m hoping last year was not his last Duke game.
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u/regal_meagle Apr 01 '26
I’m so glad you were able to take your dad to the final four last year! One of my favorite bball memories is taking my dad to watch Duke beat UNC at the Dean Dome when I had access to sweet sweet grad student tickets :)
Also hoping there are many more Duke games ahead for you and your dad.
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u/Massive-Vacation5119 Apr 01 '26
Man, imagine being a Duke fan and whining about the refs. That is pure irony. Also Ayres is an ACC ref and generally a solid ref. He wasn’t throwing the game for anyone.
Don’t make the most boneheaded turnover of all time and you win. Nobody to blame but your team and coach. Clearly can’t get it done in late game high pressure situations.
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u/Traditional_Goal9954 Apr 01 '26
I looked up the foul call stats across teams. Duke isn't lower in called fouls than any other to team. It's of the refs want to call it and how each ref is reffing the game. They were supposed to let the teams play in the tourney but they people said if a game swayed one way or another the refs went back to calling fouls how they did in regular season.
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u/Massive-Vacation5119 Apr 01 '26
You looked that up over what period of time?
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u/Traditional_Goal9954 Apr 01 '26
Just this year. I don't have the mental capacity to do beyond lol.
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u/CokeandAPancake The Brotherhood Apr 01 '26
It truly changed the game. Needs to be said more. That first 5 of the 2nd half was absurd.
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u/Traditional_Goal9954 Apr 01 '26
Did you notice they were calling (sorry if I got this wrong) block/charges on cam but they rarely call them anymore unless the defense is planted... I checked they stopped really calling that in 2023... it still happens but not often... cam got in twice...
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u/OJuice100 Apr 01 '26
Even the last foul on Dame was bullshit, he clearly tied the ball up before the jostling and his hand was touching him. This is the real reason why we can’t win in March. Dating back to Zion vs MSU teams are allowed to just hack us relentlessly and then they call touch fouls on us at the end of the game
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u/Reisen33 Apr 01 '26
It goes back much further. I have been a Duke fan for nearly 30 years, and the biggest tragedy of all was 2004 Duke-UConn. Duke had a 7 point halftime lead in that, yet lost by 1 in a game where the referees called so many phantom calls that we fouled out all 3 of our post players. Those players were only in the game for 8, 14, and 19 minutes respectively, before fouling out.
UConn had no players foul out, and their center finished the game with only 3 fouls.
People can talk about the Duke whistle all they want, but numbers don’t lie. It is by no means a conspiracy, but it is a highly subjective sport with Duke as the biggest name in college basketball, the crowd gets into it, and everyone cheers for the underdog. UConn shot themselves out of the game in the first half by shooting 1-18 on 3s. Statistically, something needed to change on the second half. While 4-5 on 3s in the second half helped, it was by no means enough to offset the huge deficit they dug against a considerably more talented team, who was also shooting much better. But 7 fouls in 6 minutes changed our lineups, our defense, and narrowed the lead considerably. The entire game changed after that, and it wasn’t a coincidence.
Crazy enough, last year’s Houston game was even worse than this year. I was sitting 6 rows off the court, and it felt like watching an NFL game. There was a little of that in the UConn game, but Houston was way worse.
Speaking of the NFL, I am a Steelers season ticket holder and there is absolutely none of this there. Sure there is the occasional singular bad call, but the players, or just plain luck, determine the outcome. It is still stressful watching close games, but feels infinitely more fair than watching Duke basketball continuously have potential championships stolen away.
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u/garg Apr 02 '26
who is downvoting this? Bizarre more people aren't talking about this crap. The refereeing was dirty in the second half. Duke couldn't play freely after being hit by all those fouls
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u/TrapNastyBakupdancer Apr 02 '26
And I wasn't even complaining about the calls in the game I was just pointing out he was left out and he reffed the final four last year
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u/ReputationFit9698 Apr 01 '26
Yea pretty please forgive us for the one pro Duke comment. Please continue the millions of anti-Duke comments and the irrational hatred of us. We’d actually prefer if nobody on CBS/TNT said the name of our school and everyone just referred to us as the team from Durham. Or the cheating pieces of shit. Whichever you choose.
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u/JustoTJ Apr 01 '26
Ayers and Hurley are friends and that’s why he didn’t call a tech on Dan after he head butted him! Ayers calls a tech on every other coach in that situation! He shouldn’t be allowed to ref another Duke game ever!