If there was any doubt as to whether or not the way Steph/Warriors are officiated was a matter of “incompetence” or if it was intentional, officiating of CC & the Fever this season removed all doubt. What does one have to do with the other? Monty McCutchen oversees & trains both officiating pools.

The two plays shown in this post are from tonight's game. No foul was called in either case. Total foul count in the Fever's 87-81 loss? Fever called for 20 fouls, Sun called for just 11, resulting in a 23-9 FTA differential. In an elimination game that came down to 6 pts. This comes after CC was raked in the eye, to the point of it causing a literal black eye to form during the game, with not so much as a common foul called, despite it being a clear and obvious flagrant, in Game 1.

Watching the officiating in Fever and CC games this season compared to their opponents has been unnerving in how identically they're officiated to Steph/Warriors. The whistle is used as a weapon to keep them at bay in the exact same way it is against Steph and the Warriors, e.g. both teams thrive on pace, so in the same way that the easiest way that non-stop whistles is the easiest way to junk up the Warriors game, so it goes with the Fever. They'll get hammered with ticky tacky touch fouls when they're on defense to grind the pace of the game to a halt and then the other team can play Jordan Rules on Caitlin and the Fever on the other end.

And when I say it's eerily identical, I mean it's identical.

• Kelsey Mitchell is CC's Klay to a tee, which has led to Kelsey being defended off ball in the same way Klay has been all his career aka do whatever the hell you want to try to keep her from getting open.
• Aliyah Boston is their Loon aka will get called for fouls for attempting to rebound and legally contesting shots in the paint, but then get a call maybe once every 5 games on the other end despite getting shoved from behind and being the recipient of constant over the backs.
• Opposing teams can be in illegal defensive positioning on Fever drives whenever they want without consequence.
• The NBA refs' recent addition in the last year or so of calling moving screen calls on completely stationary screens right after Steph or Klay make 3 so it’s called off has also made its way to CC/Kelsey and the Fever, but just as it seemed to only happen with Steph/Klay and the Warriors so too it only seems to occur for CC/Kelsey and the Fever.

The NBA and WNBA’s officiating pools do not overlap and yet, the separate pool employ the exact same, eerily specific, officiating approach to Steph/Warriors & CC/Fever and only them within their respective leagues. When their one commonality is Monty McCutchen, whose job description is “oversees the day-to-day management and on-court performance of all officials,” the only conclusion to be made is that it’s an intentionally taught strategic approach that they’re told to use against those teams, specifically.