NBA: Pistons' 3-pointer shouldn't have counted

[tlloyd34]

The Sentinel just posted an article saying the NBA said the 3 should not have counted. Thought it was interesting.

Mods, you can merge this if needed. I didn't know if there was an "official thread" for this.

The statement from Joel Litvin, NBA President of Basketball Operations, reads:

"After reviewing the video of last night's Pistons-Magic game, we determined that the play that concluded with Chauncey Billups' three-point field goal at the end of the third quarter took approximately 5.7 seconds. Because there were only 5.1 seconds remaining in the quarter when the play began, the shot would not have counted had the clock continued to run.

LINK

[mhectorgato]

Good to hear ... Now what ...

[Gerhalt11]

NBA: "We suck. Moving on..."

[heatwillbeback]

the problem is that the refs did nothing wrong

the rule states that the refs are not allowed to use outside sources, like a stop watch for example. And you try to figure out 5.1 from 5.7 by counting and estimating- its damn hard.

the rule is the problem. In these situations, they need to use the tape and compare it to an outside clock.

[mfishy]

Now if we can only get them to admit that Dwight was followed 14 more times than they called

[spinedoc]

I'll take a three point spot for tomorrow nights game thank you.

[surflawyer]

Good to hear ... Now what ...

Right? Yea OJ Simpson didnt kill his wife he just cut her throat in a negligent manner. Life sucks and the greenskeeper never puts the hole where I hit my golf ball. Shake your head and move on.

[Howard+Nelson]

the problem is that the refs did nothing wrong

the rule states that the refs are not allowed to use outside sources, like a stop watch for example. And you try to figure out 5.1 from 5.7 by counting and estimating- its damn hard.

the rule is the problem. In these situations, they need to use the tape and compare it to an outside clock.

they estimated the total time to take the shot..from first touch..3 passes, 2 dribbles..shot, ball in the air, going through hoop.. to be 4.6 seconds. in actuality the shot didnt even leave his hands till 5.7 secs. its over a sec. .. then factor in the ball in the air and going through hoop and it was over 6 secs. way off.

[thefranchise2k5]

No offense to the original poster cuz it's not their fault, but my first response to the title of this thread is.... NO SH*T!

[Train Wreck]

All they said is what we already knew... There's no disputing the fact it would have been late.

The Refs followed proper procedure however..

[y 2 a B]

Great, they admit it. Now what are they going to do about it? Nothing.

[Howard+Nelson]

what did the refs say about hedo getting the ball hit out of his hands at the end and giving the ball to the pistons.

[dariusl7]

the problem is that the refs did nothing wrong

the rule states that the refs are not allowed to use outside sources, like a stop watch for example. And you try to figure out 5.1 from 5.7 by counting and estimating- its damn hard.

the rule is the problem. In these situations, they need to use the tape and compare it to an outside clock.

Yes they did something wrong! Like not paying attention that clock is not running and not stopping the play before the shot was made. NBA did not address this at all. Their explanation is not acceptable.

[TheGlyde]

Yes the claim they did nothing wrong is simply not true.

Ok, so according to (ridiculous) league rules they apparently can't re-do the play, or go and look at the replay since the clock didn't run to zero (question, how on earth is the clock meant to run to zero if it doesn't run at all? Major FLAW in that rule) however, the referees could have still quite easily got together in the huddle and determined that the shot didn't come in time.

If they had done that, then they had done nothing wrong, but, they huddled, took a guess, and were wrong, not even close in fact.

The rule is flawed, common sense should have prevailed there because the clock was unable to run to zero, and the refs made a terrible error that could have drastically altered the outcome of a pivotal playoff game.

[taruky1]

the problem is that the refs did nothing wrong

the rule states that the refs are not allowed to use outside sources, like a stop watch for example. And you try to figure out 5.1 from 5.7 by counting and estimating- its damn hard.

the rule is the problem. In these situations, they need to use the tape and compare it to an outside clock.

OK, so on what basis did the refs decide that the shot was good, or that the whole thing took 4.7 seconds? Clearly, in their "estimation", they made a conscious decision to err on the side of the Pistons. I will be totally honest; while I was watching that play in real time and just before Billups shot I was thinking to myself "when is the horn going to sound"? I wasn't counting down, but there was just an innate understanding that "gee, this all shouldn't happen in 5.1 seconds".

[UCFJayBird]

yea, in my opinion the refs misinterpreted the rule. They know they're not allowed to review unless it runs to zero, but I'm betting that if they had gone to the tape and looked the league wouldn't have been furious with them for "breaking the rules". They probably would've applauded them for using better judgment and deciding that because the clock MAY have run to zero had it been running, it was worth reviewing.

How the refs were off by over a second is beyond me. It was quite obvious to everyone that the play was more than 5.1 seconds. By the time the ball went through the hoop it was almost 7.5 seconds, and they still found a way to give the Magic .5 left. So they were off by 3 seconds (4.6 is how long they thought it took, but it really took over 7 before the ball went through).

It's the refs job to watch the clock. What boggles my mind is how it malfunctioned TWICE. The guy started and stopped it instantly, that's understandable because he may have just slipped and hit the button twice in succession. But then he did it AGAIN. And the refs still didn't notice, despite people yelling at them about it. The refs almost always catch the clock not running, but they were too busy watching the players when one of them should've at least glanced at the clock to know approximately how close it was to running out.

[CourtsideTV]

lawls

[CourtsideTV]

they should redo game 2....and have it played in orlando.....

[mfishy]

Yes the claim they did nothing wrong is simply not true.

Ok, so according to (ridiculous) league rules they apparently can't re-do the play, or go and look at the replay since the clock didn't run to zero (question, how on earth is the clock meant to run to zero if it doesn't run at all? Major FLAW in that rule) however, the referees could have still quite easily got together in the huddle and determined that the shot didn't come in time.

If they had done that, then they had done nothing wrong, but, they huddled, took a guess, and were wrong, not even close in fact.

The rule is flawed, common sense should have prevailed there because the clock was unable to run to zero, and the refs made a terrible error that could have drastically altered the outcome of a pivotal playoff game.

Correct.

To say the refs did nothing wrong is simply false. What they did wrong was a) Not notice that the clock had not started and/or b) estimate the wrong amount of time elapsed

What do you guys think would have happened if that were the Magic in the same situation and Jameer took that shot? I would bet serious money we would have got screwed.

[dariusl7]

instead of blaming the clock system and their stupid rule the NBA should admit that their refs made two mistakes on that one play:
1. Not seeing the clock not running
2. inncorectly estimating time on that play
Also, they should add that the performance of the three refs will be evaluated emediatly.
Coaches loose jobs, reputations, players get cut, traded and blamed for their poor performances, refs should be held accountable too.