ANAHEIM — In the wake of a contentious game rife with hard fouls and raised elbows, Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford and Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg found at least one thing on which they both could agree.
Neither is especially pleased with the NCAA demanding that referees assess harsher penalties for swinging elbows this season.
The rule change was in the spotlight during the second half of Virginia Tech's 56-51 victory over Oklahoma State on Friday afternoon because both Cowboys forward Matt Pilgrim and Hokies forward Victor Davila were whistled for swinging elbows. Officials ejected Pilgrim and assessed a flagrant foul after he cleared out Virginia Tech's Terrell Bell with an elbow to the face but allowed Davila to remain in the game with only an intentional foul after a similar elbow to Oklahoma State's Jean-Paul Olukemi on a defensive rebound.
"I don't quite understand the whole concept and I'm not sure anybody does, really," Ford said. "Tonight you had two occasions and our guy got thrown out and theirs didn't. I haven't seen the replay but both looked similar to me. How a referee can decide which one's intentional and which one's not, I don't know. If they can crawl up in somebody's head and do that, they're a lot smarter than I am."
The increased emphasis on flailing limbs this season comes in response to what the men's and women's basketball rules committee viewed as an increase in excessive swinging of elbows last year.
Under the new rule, a player who swings his elbow and makes contact with an opponent above the shoulders can no longer be assessed a common foul. Referees must decide whether to call either a flagrant or intentional foul depending on the severity or intent.
"The players have to understand they have to pivot away and I'm sure the officials have to get used to calling the foul before the elbow, which is hard," Greenberg said. "Victor's rebound, he rebounded above his head and the guy did a good job of jamming the outlet and he had nowhere to go. I asked Victor and he said, 'Coach I just put it above my head and I was afraid I was going to step out of bounds.' It's something we've got to get used to."
Judgment calls on elbows have influenced the outcomes of at least two prominent games so far this month.
In the second half of a hotly contested Maui Invitational semifinal between Kentucky and Washington, a Venoy Overton elbow to DeAndre Liggins' chest resulted in two free throws and the ball for the Wildcats. And in the final three minutes of a tense intra-state showdown between BYU and Utah State, referees whistled Tai Wesley for a game-changing elbowing call, giving the Cougars two foul shots and the ball in a three-point game.
The harsher penalties have led some to question whether players might intentionally put their face in the path of an elbow in order to draw a technical or an ejection.
Greenberg scoffed at that, saying, "I don't think that's going to happen."
Asked the same question, Ford wasn't so skeptical.
"You said it, not me," he said.
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