We Interrupt This Recap One More Time
2009-12-30
Let’s just get the bad stuff out of the way first. On an absolutely crucial possession with the Hawks up a point with two minutes remaining, the shot clock at the Q didn’t reset, and the Hawks ended up turning the ball over with about one second left on a drive with one second left on the fake shot clock.
Whether or not Smith was conscious of the fake shot clock winding down, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was, and because of that the possession should’ve been started over with 1:57 left on the clock. (Kevin Arnovitz sums the situation up for TrueHoop here.)
The Hawks are planning to protest the game, and now somebody whose job I seriously do not want right now has to decide if the Hawks getting 10 less seconds than they were entitled to on a crucial possession is an important enough mishap to overturn the next two minutes of game action. Not a decision I would want to make by any stretch of the imagination.
My takeaway from this is that Mauer saw what had happened, saw there was a mistake, and (I’m assuming) had his hands tied by the rulebook, since there’s no concrete rule for taking away an opposing basket because of an earlier shot-clock mishap. (I found the 2004 edition of the rules, and there doesn’t seem to be a rule covering this situation, except for an extremely liberal interpretation of rule “j.”)
Now, what’s probably going to happen is that a rule governing this type of situation is going to be put into the rulebook very soon, or people will at least start clamoring for it.
But the greater issue here, in my opinion, is that crew chiefs need to have more discretion to use their common sense when there’s a strange situation like this with a completely obvious solution. It’s like theories on artificial intelligence; if you try to program a response for any and every situation, it doesn’t work, but if you give some guidelines that make sense and let behaviors emerge, then the program has a better chance of achieving its goals. If the goal is a fairly-officiated game, referees need to be able to use their common sense and actually make basic decisions in real-time instead of trying to predict everything that can possibly happen in an NBA game and planning a response.
So that’s unfortunate business, it does take away from the game, and Hawks fans are rightfully pissed. And of all the nights to have LeBron shoot more free throws than the opposing team, this was not the best one. Still, a great game did end up happening while the shot clock wasn’t malfunctioning, and the recap of it will be up in a little bit.
It was an unfortunate situation for sure, but Atlanta fans should really consider the fact that they blew a 17 point lead in the second half before trying to blame this loss on the refs.
In the NBA, it is not uncommon for players to be visibly frustrated/agitated by referee calls/noncalls or even their own teams poor decision making. Not a single Hawks player made the slightest gesture. The Hawks are claiming that Bibby SPED UP his play. If you watch the video he gets the ball and dribbles in one spot for 3 seconds. Then he runs a pick and roll. If he was really feeling SPED UP he would have created a shot himself. For two teams that were demonstratively arguing plenty of calls that night, not a single player on the court… Read more »
Human error runs through all sports … basketball is no exception. This one happened to be rather overt, but think of how many games are changed by a no call, blown call, etc. Granting a do-over on this sets a very large precedent. Looking at the replay (a clip can be found on TrueHoop), the Hawks did not appear to notice the shot clock: judging from the play and the lack of reaction from the players. I’d be very, very upset if I was a Hawks fan … but I’d be shocked if there was some kind of do-over. Woodson’s… Read more »
@Colin. True, but the refs never went to the video on that play. Gibson hit the three, it was ruled a three by the ref immediately after the shot, a few possessions later, it was ruled a two. There was no stoppage in play between the time he originally hit the shot and when it was shaved to a 2 pointer. I was watching the game, waiting for the point to be added back because I figured they’d surely look at the video, but they never did. I watched it 9 or 10 times on the DVR (from 1 angle,… Read more »
Relax, Jimbo. Sherdan is being sarcastic and overdramatic on purpose.
Someone should take a look at ESPN’s Daily Dime. Chris Sheridan is implying that this was done intentionally and LeBron James was part of it. He also paints the Hawks fans as poor victims and that LeBron and his friends as fat cats celebrating after the victory.
@Jarrod: The difference is the refs are given the opportunity to change that play later in the game. There is nothing in the rule book, I think, that gives the refs the ability to wipe away 2 minutes worth of possessions. In one case, they are modifying the score. In the other case, they are completely taking away what happened.
Can’t believe nobody is talking about the Daneil Gibson 3 that was ruled a two. They initially gave him 3 points and then ruled a two a few minutes later. The replay clearly showed him a foot behind the line. I’m guessing if the Hawks were given the choice, they’d rather have a possession with a 14-second shot clock than an entire point taken away, maybe I’m wrong.
As much as that play sucks for the Hawks, the shot clock not getting reset just makes up for Mo getting sent into the second row of the stands on the previous shot by Al Horford and not getting a call. As A.C. says, “The ball don’t lie.” And as far as the Hawks fans being pissed and Mike Woodson protesting the game, one possession does not a game make. They blew a 17 point third quarter lead.
Here’s my take on this, and if it comes off a little biased, know that was not on purpose… Watching the replay, it appears as if Bibby either doesn’t realize the clock is shortened (which would be understandable, I imagine he would assume the clock is right) and runs the play because Smith is already there, or he knows the clock is messed up and runs the play anyway knowing that he is likely to get a do over (similar to a football team continuing with a play after a flag is thrown on the defense. They know anything bad… Read more »
I think we can both agree that the situation sucks, especially since the Cavs ultimately won by more than a shot. What should have been a simple, great come-from-behind win is now a bit tainted by a questionable (and crucial) possession.
I see where you’re coming from, but I’d really rather not play blame the victim. It’s not on the onus of a coach to make sure the ref is doing his job right, no matter how much most of them try.
It was definitely a shame that this happened. That being said, why on earth did Woodson wait through a 14-second Hawks possession and a Cavs basket? He could have called a time-out or gotten an official’s attention and rectified the situation before the game had moved on. Mistakes happen. The officials should have caught it, sure, but it’s also a pretty poor reflection on the Hawks’ coach.