Technicals are on rise in WNBA
One player thinks ‘referees are trying to soften game’
NEW YORK — Technical fouls are up this year in the WNBA with more already called this season than in 2017.
There were 92 technical fouls given to players before the All-Star break, 11 more than all of last season. Coaches have picked up another 30 technical fouls already with nearly 20 percent of the season left to play.
WNBA head of officiating Monty McCutchen said in a phone call Wednesday that it certainly wasn’t a leaguewide initiative to increase technicals this year.
“We haven’t messaged a single time this year that we want more technicals or we have a problem that we have to take care of,” McCutchen said. “I love the passion that our players in the WNBA provide their franchises, the fan base, and the basketball world at large.”
McCutchen said he was at the Atlanta Dream game Tuesday night and there were three-to-five technicals that could have been called that weren’t. He also said the officials did a good job of calming situations in that game to avoid calling more technicals. McCutchen, who is in his first season in charge of WNBA officiating, said in May that communication between officials and players was a major point of emphasis. He also said that quelling situations before they escalate was an important part of the officials’ job.
“Our officials are doing their best,” McCutchen said. “I do believe it’s important that standards that have long been upheld, and created by our competition committee in past years, are indeed upheld. Officials aren’t just out there punitively handing [technicals] out. ... We want to maintain good game decorum so the focus is on the players. There is no desire to adjudicate passion out of our game.”
Some players have a different viewpoint on that.
“Right now in the league I just see referees trying to soften the game,” Dallas Wings center Liz Cambage said recently. “And you would never tech an NBA player up for flexing after making a move. I got a technical last week for a look at a referee. I don’t understand why our emotion and our passion is being suppressed. We are women we are passionate and we are playing hard. Let us play our game and don’t try to soften it.”
The players union has taken notice of the increase in technicals. The league is playing a more compact schedule because of the FIBA women’s basketball World Cup in September, so the WNBA regular-season schedule is 19 days shorter than a year ago. The level of play is up and there is parity across the league, with few games separating teams in the playoff race. It seems every game matters more and that’s led to heightened tension and intensity in most games.
“I haven’t looked at the data, but I can feel [a difference]. I’m curious to know maybe if there’s a correlation,” said WNBA players union president Nneka Ogwumike of the tighter schedule. “When it comes to the league, it sets itself apart as far as the frequency of games of course. It comes with the added frequency of other things like travel, recovery and all that stuff.”
Ogwumike also noted that a few of the technical fouls have been rescinded by the league after they were called.
“It’s one thing to get a tech, but for them to be rescinded and how that affected the game is very frustrating,” she said.
With the schedule more compact this season, the league hired four more officials this year knowing it would need an extra referee or two. Their schedule isn’t nearly as hectic as the players’ path this season. The league did lose one official when it announced Sue Blauch had been promoted to head of WNBA referee performanceand development.
“It’s a position created this year as part of a process to fully consolidate the evaluation and management of officials in the NBA, WNBA and G League,” said McCutchen, who holds the same role in the NBA.