Gregg Doyel

gregg.doyel@indystar.com

MILWAUKEE – It’s hard to watch Purdue center Isaac Haas play basketball. Hard, because he rarely gets to play basketball. He goes on the court, a whistle blows, and he goes off the court.

It’s the referees. They don’t know how to officiate a guy this big, this strong. Isaac Haas is every inch of 7-2, every ounce of 290 pounds. He wears size 22 shoes. He moves, and somebody goes flying.

“Isaac has to be one of the toughest guys in the country to officiate,” says Purdue coach Matt Painter.

Back home in Alabama, Rachel Haas tries not to watch. She fails, of course. She can’t not watch her son play, especially in the NCAA tournament, but she tries not to see what she knows she’s going to see.

“I don’t like to be angry,” she’s telling me by phone from Gadsden, Ala., where she works at Jacksonville State as an advisor for the school of business. “So I try to avoid it. Me watching and getting frustrated is not helpful for Isaac. By the time the game’s over, I’m in a complete and utter frenzy of anger. He’s looking for support, and all I can be is angry. So what I try to do is wander in and out of the (TV) room, and try my best to watch as much as I can and still control my feelings.”

I ask: How’s that working out for you?

“I’ll be honest,” she says. “I cry a lot.”

* * *

OK, rewind a little bit. That last comment. The crying:

Parents will understand. The dad in me was assuring Rachel Haas: Yes. I get it. That’s your baby, and …

“He is my baby! And it’s frustrating,” she says. “He works very hard. He works very hard and he loves Purdue and he loves playing in the Big Ten and he loves his teammates. But his frustration level is off the charts.”

Most recent example: Purdue’s most recent game, Thursday against Vermont in the NCAA tournament. The fourth-seeded Boilermakers won 80-70. This happened late in the first half:

Haas comes in. He gets the ball, makes a move, and a Vermont defender goes flying. Foul on Haas. Not much later, Purdue’s Biggie Swanigan misses a shot. Haas reaches for the ball and a Vermont defender goes flying. Foul on Haas.

Haas goes out. Less than 2 minutes have passed.

On Friday I’m asking him about it. I use the word frustration.

“It is frustrating,” Haas says. “This is not something you can lie about. If you’re a big guy, sometimes you get penalized because you’re big. But that’s how it goes sometimes in life, and you’ve just got to put up with it.”

I’m telling him: You’re bigger than everyone else on the court. A basketball game is full of contact, shoulders and chests colliding, but when you come into contact with people, it’s different. People go flying.

Now I’m asking him: What are your options?

“Usually,” he says, “when you’re playing against smaller guys …"

I’m interrupting: Which is everybody.

“Yeah,” he says, “yeah. But when you’re going against 6-10, 7-footers, they’re going to have more pride to hold their ground, so it’s easier to go up against them and use your strength to score.

“When you’re playing against guys that are 6-8 and smaller, they usually flop because they hope the refs are going to be a little sympathetic of their cause: They’re having to fight somebody 7-2 on the block. Which, you know, that’s life and you’ve just got to get through it.”

Purdue plays fifth-seeded Iowa State on Saturday. And for Haas, the news is bad. Iowa State played no centers and just two forwards in its opener against Nevada. One is 6-8, 240 pounds. The other is 6-8, 218.

Another game, I’m thinking. Another one where it’s going to be hard to watch Isaac Haas.

And now I’m thinking about a woman in Gadsden, Ala.

***

Big as he is, there are times Haas fouls a guy and doesn’t know it. There are times he doesn’t feel it. He’ll watch film, and there it is.

“Yeah,” he’ll say. “I crushed that dude.”

But not every foul on Haas is a foul on Haas, if you know what I’m saying. And more than that, Painter is telling me, Haas gets fouled at least once a game but it goes uncalled. This is a topic in the coaching offices at Mackey Arena, a topic that has spilled over into the Big Ten offices outside Chicago.

“I’ve never talked to the coordinator of officials more about one person, ever, than I do with Isaac,” Painter says. “Because I think if they go by the letter of the law of what they say a guy can’t do, everybody would foul out against him.”

Painter isn’t simply complaining. Here are the calls, he’ll say to someone at the Big Ten. What’s legal, what’s not legal, what can I say to him here to help?

“I try to stay in my lane and coach him,” Painter says, “and he needs to stay in his lane and play.”

This topic, it’s an enormous one. With Haas on the court, Purdue has an almost unstoppable weapon. He’s seventh on the team in minutes at 19.6 per game, but second in scoring at 12.6 ppg. He shoots one free throw every 3.8 minutes, and he shoots 71.4 percent. Isaac Haas on the court is a dangerous proposition for any opponent.

He just doesn’t stay on the court for long. The Indiana game Feb. 28 was the most absurd example. Haas played six minutes. Scored six points.

Was called for four fouls.

So I’m asking Purdue teammate Ryan Cline about it.

“Look at him,” Cline says, looking at Haas sitting to his left. “He’s a monster. He doesn’t know his strength sometimes, and referees don’t know what he’s capable of. One conclusion I can come to is: Referees don’t always see 7-2, 300-pound guys. They’re not used to it.”

Next game is Saturday. Iowa State has small post players. In Alabama, Rachel Haas has seen this movie before. God help her, she can’t help herself. She’s seen it.

“We’ll see how these officials call it,” she says. “There will be times he’s out there 4 seconds and his hands are straight up — foul.

“And that’s when mom walks out of the room.”

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at@GreggDoyelStar or atfacebook.com/gregg.doyel