Then I suggest, in the future, either respond to whomever you were addressing or clarify in your post.
You are a fine contributor on this board. Nearly all of us appreciate your illuminating analyses. Some of us - myself included - look forward to them and wish for even more. But (you knew there would be a but, didn't you?) you also seem to get into more pissing matches than almost anyone here. I don't think anyone looks forward to those. Which is not to say that you aren't sometimes right.
In this case - to get it back to what was under discussion - my point wasn't whether the refs cost us a game but the tendency I think we all have to more easily spot the bad calls against our side.
Fair enough, but with all due respect, I'd also suggest not amplifying the narratives that distract from more substantial stuff, which is ultimately what precipitates the aforementioned "pissing matches". I responded to
your post instead of one of those to avoid just that outcome. In other words, there are a few here that enter these threads for the very purpose of starting sh**, and I'd rather debunk a narrative by talking
with someone (you, for example) who's interested in talking hoops and who isn't here for the nonsense.
Anyway, back to the substance of that topic, fact is, refs are an existential factor in any given game and coaches know enough to scout them as much as the opponent's sets. And I don't talk about them here through a fan's eye or just bad calls against us. Hell, I even gave TV Teddy a shoutout last week for doing us a big solid during the FSU game. And a couple games before that I was very complimentary of Higgins & Co.
Speaking of that, I'll give you an example. Higgins is one of the best but you hafta know he'll definitely blow the whistle, so the staff's job is to tell our guys (especially the Bigs) to be careful with the extracurricular stuff because you WILL get popped (one reason that calipari has issues with him). In direct contrast, Ayers isn't one-sided BUT he has become a notorious whistle-swallower over the years, so with him the guys (again, especially the Bigs) need to be aware they ain't gonna get any help so be extra-strong with the ball and assume uncalled contact.
Granted, with some guys there's just nothing UNC can do but assume the worst outcome (e.g., Stephens/Luckie/Dorsey) and so the guys just hafta suck it up and take care of their own business, but the deal is that you have to be aware and/or
adjust to the crew --- it's part of coaching and playing --- and hopefully the above examples ring true. Remember how the Cuse game went? We started out dominating them in the paint, but as someone pointed out above, after a timeout Boeheim told his guys to start getting physical, gambling that the zebras would let them get away with enough to change the game and/or our guys wouldn't respond. He definitely got his wish on both counts