Why isn't this a reviewable play?

[Skerik]

Ok, everyone saw Devin Harris hit the halfcourt shot last night. But after watching the replay multiple times, there's obviously no way in hell that the entire play only took 1.8 seconds to occur. The clock operator started the clock way after Harris caught the inbounds pass and proceeded to put the ball on the floor.

But during the official review, the only thing that mattered was whether Harris got the shot off before the red light came on. Which he did....but....the fact remains that the ol' home court advantage clock operation gave the Nets the win because there's absolutely no question that they started the clock late.

Why isn't that reviewable on a play like that? It makes the whole thing kind of a sham if you're allowed to start the clock whenever you feel like it and the officials aren't on top of it.

[Brankles]

Re: Why isn't this a reviewable play?

That happens a lot it seems like.

One reason it probably isn't reviewable is that many times a player will look at the clock and decide when to shoot based on how much time is displayed. If there's 7 seconds left, the clock operator's finger slips and hits the timer 0.5 seconds late, and a game winner is hit between that 0.5 extra seconds of error... it would be unfair to call a shot no good, because the player would be thrown off by what the game clock shows.


I think that one rule of any legitimate jumper in 0.4 seconds or less doesn't count is as close as you'll get to what you're talking about.

[Tha_Kid]

Re: Why isn't this a reviewable play?

If they reviewed the whole play, they could also review that he was fouled. It's because of the NBA's position is to stand by the ref's calls. Only something like releasing the shot before the time is up is definitive enough to be reviewed and doesn't stop the game.

[WazzuRC]

Re: Why isn't this a reviewable play?

You can't say way past the time Harris caught the ball. I think it was pretty close...but there definitely was a small delay. Clock operators can't and shouldn't anticipate him touching the ball.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: Why isn't this a reviewable play?

I'd love to hear how there can be a better solution to this ongoing problem that's been going on for years?

[SpacemanSpiff]

Re: Why isn't this a reviewable play?

You can't say way past the time Harris caught the ball. I think it was pretty close...but there definitely was a small delay. Clock operators can't and shouldn't anticipate him touching the ball.

Yeah, to say "way" is the homer glasses coming out. They can't review to see if the clock was started late because it's unfair to the ballhandler because he looks at the clock and he's looking to shoot based on the clock. As long as the clock operator starts the clock within a reasonable amount of time, we just have to live with it and it was definitely around half a second yesterday. If the clock operator tries to anticipate when he touches the ball and starts the clock too early, that's probably a slightly more egregious error than starting it half a second too late due to reaction time.

Sixers blogs are saying around 3/10th of a second went by before the clock started. To me, that's acceptable because unless there is a sensor in the ball, it's hard to time it exactly.

[23]

Re: Why isn't this a reviewable play?

Ok, everyone saw Devin Harris hit the halfcourt shot last night. But after watching the replay multiple times, there's obviously no way in hell that the entire play only took 1.8 seconds to occur. The clock operator started the clock way after Harris caught the inbounds pass and proceeded to put the ball on the floor.

But during the official review, the only thing that mattered was whether Harris got the shot off before the red light came on. Which he did....but....the fact remains that the ol' home court advantage clock operation gave the Nets the win because there's absolutely no question that they started the clock late.

Why isn't that reviewable on a play like that? It makes the whole thing kind of a sham if you're allowed to start the clock whenever you feel like it and the officials aren't on top of it.

Whats worse is how they allowed certain teams to advance in the playoffs with this same issue.

David Stern doesnt care about the timekeeper