Whether the WNBA actually has a problem with its referees is certainly up for debate, but it certainly has a perception problem with them.
When star players like Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Plum, Angel Reese, Natasha Cloud, Cameron Brink, and even rookie Azzi Fudd are consistently complaining about the quality of the officiating in the league, something needs to be addressed.
Well-respected coaches like Becky Hammon, Cheryl Reeve, and Stephanie White have also taken issue with the officiating in the WNBA over the past few years.
And now, after Monday’s 106-101 loss to the Phoenix Mercury, Tyler Marsh, Chicago Sky head coach, joins that ever-growing list.
The Chicago Sky coach doesn’t understand why his star center rarely shoots free throws
For some reason, his star center Kamilla Cardoso has played entire games multiple times throughout this WNBA season without getting a single free throw attempt. Monday was another one of those days, and Marsh has seen enough.
“It was a joke,” Marsh said. “It’s a f—— joke. How many more games does she need to go without getting a free throw? It makes no sense. Zero sense.
“Now, it didn’t come down to that. We fouled our a—– off today. We could have been more disciplined. Put them on the line 40 times. Not saying the officials made 40 wrong calls or 20 wrong calls or whatever it is. Not saying that at all.
“But for her to play as hard as she does consistently, she doesn’t give much pushback to the officials. I try to talk as calmly as I can to officials before it gets out of hand. It’s a joke.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Kamilla Cardoso shoots 3.9 free-throw attempts per game, 24th in the league, despite taking 9.7 shots per game in the paint, the 8th most in the WNBA. On Monday, she took 15 shots, had 16 points and 13 rebounds, yet somehow didn’t shoot a single free throw.
Last week, after Cardoso got 11 free throw attempts in a win over the Sun, Marsh said, “I can make a case that she should shoot close to 11 free throws every game. I think she gets held a ton. I think that, for someone who shoots the majority of shots in the paint, there’s just physically very little resistance that you can give without fouling her. She’s just that forceful.
“To go games where she has zero to five free throws, it just doesn’t make sense to me. And the film doesn’t lie either.”