NZ Breakers coach Kevin Braswell is begging for consistency from NBL referees after his side was once again on the wrong side of a lop-sided foul count, this time against the Perth Wildcats.
The Breakers had five of their players foul out in their 98-93 overtime defeat to Perth in Auckland on Friday.
The match officials called 35 fouls on the Breakers, which led to Perth shooting 34/43 from the free-throw line compared to the Wildcats' 18 fouls, with the Breakers shooting 15/18 from the charity stripe.
Braswell has been vocal in the past about his comments towards match officials, and his recent tirade led to a $500 fine after last week's defeat to Melbourne United.
This time the American was more careful with his choice of words as he tried to avoid getting pinged for a second-straight week.
"It's so hard for me to do this press conference right now. My frustration is through the roof," said Braswell.
"You can't tell me we fouled 35 times and they fouled 18. You can't tell me you have a chance of beating a team when they shoot 43 free-throws and we shoot 18.
"There's no fun in basketball if you're going to constantly do this game after game. Every time I look at this, it's the same.
"And this is probably the ultimate worst … in America they let you play a little bit harder, in Europe they let you play a little bit harder. I don't know in my life if I have seen 35 fouls for one team and 18 for the next.
"In NBA games they play 48 minutes and they don't shoot 43 free-throws. They got 34 points from the line. I've never seen this in my life."
The plea for consistency is nothing new for the Breakers. Last season, former coach Paul Henare lashed out at officials for the same thing.
"You can't tell me the same thing is not happening on both ends," Braswell added. "I asked for consistency. I didn't say anything wrong and I got fined for it. All I asked for was consistency.
"I didn't say we weren't fouling, I said consistency. And that's what I feel like I'm not getting. That's where my frustration is. That's where our team's frustration is.
"You can't tell me my guys drive and don't get hit the same way most guys do. It happens. The only thing is one team shoots 43 free-throws and one team shoots 18. That's the reason Perth is 9-1."
Breakers import forward Armani Moore backed up his coach's comments, saying he's never seen anything like this before.
"As professionals, there are 13 of us on court as players and officials and we just got to know how to control the ball game. That's just absurd. I've never seen that many free-throws shot as well.
"There is going to be contact. It's not football but there is contact in basketball. There are people cutting through the lanes, you're guarding your goal, this is something we cherish, we don't want nobody putting the ball in our basket.
"But it's hard to guard that when it really matters when you have no other option but go sit on the bench like five of us did tonight.
I don't think we're the most aggressive team in the league but we somehow seem to be every single game on paper."
The NBL has since responded by saying.
"There is a forum for coaches raising these issues and it is directly with the NBL's Head Of Referees. We've invited Kevin to do this but so far he has declined that opportunity.
"The rules around coaches criticising referees publicly are clear. Last week we issued a fine against NZ. We will now review his latest comments post game and consider whether further sanctions are appropriate."
The two sides will meet again in Perth on Sunday, where the Breakers will look to snap their three-game losing streak.
Newshub.
