Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Fired-up Adelaide coach Trevor Gleeson has claimed he was targeted by NBL referees in the 36ers’ 96-91 Ignite Cup loss to Melbourne United.
Gleeson was left flabbergasted with his arms out after being whistled for a technical foul during the second quarter of the Sixers’ third straight defeat by referee James Griguol, who made the call from the opposite corner of the court.
“I was talking to one referee (Andrew Goodman), because Whitey (Sixers guard Isaac White) got a backhand right in the face and the other referee on the other side of the floor gives me a technical foul, when I’m having a conversation with this (closer) referee,” Gleeson said after the 36ers crashed to second-last place on the ladder.
“I think I was targeted for that today.”
Then, with 7:17 left in the third quarter, Gleeson requested to challenge an offensive foul against centre Nick Rakocevic – who scored while colliding with Melbourne’s Fabijan Krslovic – only to be told, after a lengthy delay, that the decision would stand and the replay centre would not entertain his challenge.
“They already reviewed it (Rakocevic foul) – and you can’t challenge a review,” Gleeson explained.
“No one told me.”
“Again, I’ll talk to (NBL referees’ boss) Scott Butler and say ‘why?’, and send him clips again.”
A 23-16 disparity in free-throw attempts, favouring United, also earned Gleeson’s ire.That’s on the back of a similar 23-14 differential in foul shots favouring the New Zealand Breakers’ in Adelaide’s blowout home loss on Sunday.
“It’s frustrating when the opposition team comes here and they shoot more free throws than us both times,” Gleeson said.
“The guys deserve more than that.
“Coming back (to the NBL) after five years, I would have thought the referees would really go in front.
“I’ve got a good relationship with Scott, but it just seems that when the bright lights come on, something else happens.”
His disappointment with the umpiring aside, Gleeson said his team needs to shoulder the blame, accusing them of playing “scared” as they fell behind by 20 points against Melbourne.
“You can’t be scared of losing – and I thought we were scared in the first half of making mistakes,” he said.
“You’ve got to go at them.
“You don’t achieve anything in life if you’re worried about the result.
“Second half, we weren’t worried about the result – we just went out there and played.”
