I look so forward to the day that NC State can garner the kind of home court officiating advantage that can literally displace time and space.
Check out the following video of the ending of last night’s squeaker in Tucson, Arizona.
When I watched the video at live speed and then in slow motion it is almost impossible to tell if the ball had left Wise’s hand in time. I think I am built to innately want the ball to be heading for a last second basket so I tended to think he got it off.
THEN, the power of modern technology steps in.
Before you even wonder if the last second shot was released in time, go back to the beginning of the video and watch the clock fail to start when the Arizona player bobbles the rebound of the missed free throw that starts the play. The clock sits at 4.7 seconds for far too long after the Arizona rebounded initially touches the ball and taps it in the air and ultimately comes down with possession. So, anything after this point should be inconsequential. Unfortunately for Lipscomb…it is not.
If you watch the video around the 1:15 – 2:00 mark you start to see that the ball was actually in Wise’s hands when the buzzer sounded. You hear the announcers realize that the ball didn’t make it out in time; and then their hometown bias is introduced and they talk themselves out of the truth supposedly because “it depends on which angle you use”.
I guess they are right — if you use the side angle that makes it impossible to see, then you can lie to yourself and pretend he gets the ball out. If you use the back angle that makes it much more clear the answer is obvious. At one point the announcer tries to say that you can’t tell when the ball leaves his hand from the back angle. Hogwash.
The fact that this is actually a fantastic shot from a fundamental perspective makes it even more clear that the ball was still in Wise’s hand when the buzzer sounded. You can tell from the video that Wise has excellent follow-through and rotation on the shot which means that the ball stays in Wise’s hands for the maximum time it can because it has to roll off the extended tips of fingers at the very end of his shot. There is no way he can launch the shot like a shot-put without the ball rolling off the tips of his fingers well after the red light buzzes.
Something that you must recognize in college basketball is that nothing matters except the buzzer, that is represented by the red lights around the basket. The clock can most definitely read 0.00 before the buzzer sounds. That doesn’t matter. Only the buzzer/red light matters.
Take a look at the tape around the 2:35 mark. The announcers are so dumb and so ill-informed that they don’t realize that angle is perfect to view the shot because – despite their claim that no clock is in the shot – the buzzer can clearly be seen in the background of the other basket. The announcer definitively stakes his case while proclaiming “NOW” when the ball leaves Wise’s hand and, unfortunately for him, the red light in the back ground had already illuminated a couple of frames earlier.
Gotta love homers.
I took one of the following screen shots from the video and the second one was provided on the internet. The results are clear and cannot be argued. And, one can’t help but wonder how four or five officials (including scorer’s officials) can miss this with the power of technology.
Another one from a better angle clearly shows the buzzer sounding while the ball is still in Wise’s right hand.
You must be logged in to post a comment.