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WNBA insider explains why she 'hates' refereeing rules as controversy rages about underqualified officials
WNBA insider Rachel Annamarie DeMita addressed one of the biggest topics in the league over the last couple of weeks on her podcast on Monday. She based her comments on an article by SB Nation reporter Noa Dalzell about how WNBA referees are scouted, trained and held accountable.
The article was written in January, but with the latest issues surrounding the topics, DeMita shared her take on it, specifically the interpretation of how calls are decided in the article.
“I think sometimes it’s misunderstood that referees make those decisions about the style of play and the interpretations of rules,” WNBA referee Monty McCutchen said. “That’s not true. What actually happens is that we have a competition committee for stakeholders, coaches, governors, and general managers — and that competition committee is the committee that dictates the state of the game.”
DeMita directed her take on this specific statement from McCutchen.
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"But this in itself I kind of hated the fact that it opens up with a competition committee for stakeholders. Stakeholders are the first group of people that this referee mentions," DeMita said.
"It can be this physical. Let it be this physical. The problem that a lot of us have with the referees is that it's either very physical and they're calling everything or they're missing calls. There seems to be inconsistencies in how the referees are calling certain games," DeMita added.
Officiating has been a popular subject since the WNBA's growth was spearheaded with the arrival of Caitlin Clark. It was also brought to the attention during the WNBA finals when Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve openly told reporters that the finals were stolen from them due to poor refereeing.
The issues have continued to be discussed this season, now most recently following the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty game in the first week of the season.
DeMita reacts to referees addressing illegal screens instead of fixing inconsistent calls
During her podcast, DeMita's significant point of emphasis was addressing the WNBA referees' goal to fix the volume of illegal screen calls in the league. The idea is to legislate screen-setting so that offensive players are not impeded.
"I am always dumbfounded by how many times they call fouls on screeners and how many illegal screens are set in the WNBA," DeMita said. "Essentially what the WNBA refs call is if you fall on a screen, I don't care, if you're a screener and you fall down, if you're the one running into the screener and you fall down they will call a foul on the opposite person."
The WNBA and its officiating will be a constant conversation going forward as more attention will be thrown towards the discussion. The league may have to publicly address the topic as the season goes on.
