Defending without fouling is a coaching thing.
I mean, sort of. There's a long list of things that have led to Illinois getting called for so many fouls this year, including a lack of athleticism, a lack of talent, a lack of experience, and a lack of whatever the opposite of the 'halo effect' MSU enjoys that allows them to go in with helmets and shoulder pads and not get called for any fouls is.
I think that the biggest thing, though, is that you can basically make an unlimited amount of contact off the ball if you're inside the arc and B1G refs will ignore it. You can contest a shot inside the arc and make contact and if you're the more athletic player, B1G refs will ignore it. But if you lay a finger on the ballhandler outside of the arc, you will be called for a foul.
That makes life really difficult for Illinois, as they play 94-foot D and rely on spreading the floor and moving players on offense. And it is certainly related to coaching that Illinois has made these stylistic choices. Most teams avoid foul trouble by simply not playing defense in areas where you can be called for a foul, and we don't follow that script.
Maybe Underwood shouldn't run a pressure defense. But I will tell you this: if you can't get a fair shake from the refs unless you run a pack-line defense, college basketball will be really, really boring, and is really, really broken.
Hopefully the B1G refs will become accustomed to the pace and style of play that we employ, but maybe they won't. I just hope that Underwood continues on with it, because basketball could use the breath of fresh air.
Am not sure I would risk hanging out for a year as a transfer based on that.
