What happened tonight in the Detroit Pistons-Orlando Magic playoff game wouldn’t be tolerated in a youth basketball game.
At any level of basketball, if there is a problem with the clock, and for whatever reason a play begins and the clock doesn’t, have you ever seen the play count? Never.
Until tonight. It is a disgrace.
There is no way of knowing how the fourth quarter would have played out, but this was a close game, a one possession game in the closing minutes. Those three points were crucial.
For those who did not see the play, at the end of the third quarter of the Pistons-Magic playoff game, with Orlando leading 76-75, Detroit had the ball with 5.2 seconds left. Chauncey Billups raced up court. Only problem, the clock froze at 4.8 seconds.
This allowed Billups to get the ball back and then toss in a key three-pointer. The Magic bench was going crazy, yet no official on the court noticed the clock stopped and halted play.
TNT was able to put a clock on the screen and show definitively that Billups' shot came after time should have expired. Only problem, according to Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, he was told by Steve Javie, the lead official, that there was not the technology at courtside in Detroit to figure out the time.
Let's see - game in Detroit, mistake helped Detroit, and the technology to look into the problem doesn't exist in Detroit. It is a good thing then that the officials rewarded the Pistons for this error.
Van Gundy said afterwards, "Steve Javie told me that with the technology they have, they should be able to go over and look at that. [But in Detroit], they did not have that available. He was frustrated by that -- probably not quite as much as us."
The clock worked all game before this play. The clock worked all game after the play. It just stopped working for this one play. It would have been easy to just start the play over at 5.2 seconds.
Instead, what did the officials do – once Javie saw there wasn't the technology to look at a clock, he threw his hands in the air and went with what he thought was the next best solution - guess how long the play took, and then count the basket. They did this even though they had no idea how much time expired, and were not paying any attention to the clock, evidenced by the fact none of the officials noticed while the play was going that it wasn’t moving. Three refs on the court, not one had the intelligence to notice the clock.
But don’t worry. The refs made it up to the Magic, by putting 0.5 seconds on the clock and giving Orlando the ball. Wow, officials, that sure was mighty nice of you.
Sticking with the standard referee arrogance, Steve Javie declined to be interviewed after the game. Referees and meteorologists, the two highest profile jobs with the least amount of accountability.
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8 months ago
great article. i agree with 99.9% of it. i do disagree with this comment: "Maybe that isn’t ideal, and it would have been a bad break for Detroit also considering points would come off the board."
it would have been a break for detroit. they should have gotten nothing. your scenario, which while not perfect was a better idea that what the officials did, would have given detroit a second chance to score when they should have been given nothing.
so funny that the clock worked afterwards and before. just those 5 seconds. great job, javie, great job, stern, great job, detroit.
NBA; it is fantastic.
8 months ago
Great article. I was so pissed off last night. The refs gave that game to Detroit even though Orlando outplayed the Pistons.
8 months ago
Good stuff. Can't say it cost the Magic the game or series, but it sure didn't help. It gave the Pistons three extra points and the crowd an extra boost. The way it was handled sucked.
8 months ago
I'm not gonna go as far as saying Orlando would have won had that shot not counted.
But a call like that is unacceptable.. They do these types of reviews in college, why shouldn't we do them in the NBA? Even if they had to estimate,(and I don't envy that position, especially IN Detroit) how did they come up with all of that happening in less than the time that was on the clock?
8 months ago
You know where I found this article? Foxsports.com...nice job Stew!
8 months ago
where on foxsports is it? do you have a link? i could not find it.
8 months ago
hey orlando got screwed out of a win, but at least there is this:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/specials/playoffs/2008/05/06/pistons.malfunction.ap/index.html
I am sure these comments made them feel better.
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