Refs Blatantly Steal Game From Clemson (Update: ACC “Handles Internally”)

06-07 Basketball General Headscratchers NCS Basketball95

SFN commentary: Just yesterday Duke Basketball Report took a shot at SFN for daring to discuss officiating in Duke games. LOL! and kiss our ass.

January 26 Update: The ACC does acknowledge the mistake, but nonsensically, it appears no discipline is forthcoming. Quote from Clueless Clougherty:

“At this point, as with most league officiating matters, this situation has been handled and resolved internally.”

I shouldn’t be shocked, but I am. This was no run of the mill judgment error. A strong statement needed to be made for the integrity of the league…and we didn’t get that. I can only imagine how incensed the Tiger faithful must be. Oh, and hat tip to one of my rare work colleagues who is a fellow Wolfpack fan (and SFN lurker).

(Original post follows.)

I don’t know how many of you saw what I just saw. The ESPN announcers (Mike Patrick and Len Elmore, I think) completely soft-pedaled it. The game recap doesn’t even mention the clock change as questionable! But Clemson just got screwed worse than any team since Missouri lost to Colorado on the infamous “5th down” play.

Watch the video on YouTube.com

Here’s the scene – Duke inbounding the ball, up 3, with 5.0 seconds to play. McRoberts throws the ball directly to Tiger guard Vernon Hamilton. Hamilton steps one foot back and nails a 3 to tie the game. However, there is a delay in both starting and stopping the game clock. The teams go to timeout with 1.8 seconds on the clock. However, the officials look at the replay and either stupidly or crookedly decide that there was a timing error and the previous play really only took 0.6 seconds total – laws of physics be damned. Given 4.4 seconds, Duke runs a play to get McClure a runner in the lane, released with 0.2 seconds on the clock.

I’m serious – if you are a Duke fan, you should be ashamed to call that a win. If you are Oliver Purnell, you had better complain as loudly and publicly as you can – to hell with fines and the league office. If you are ACC Commissioner John Swofford, you must suspend the official who made that decision for at least the rest of the season. Otherwise, the credibility of the entire league should come into question. It’s one thing not to call the perpetually hand-checking Devils for any fouls (Paulus had to foul intentionally in the last minute to ensure that Clemson would be in the bonus should Duke need to foul later), but to give them at least 2 extra seconds for a final shot in a tie game? You are entering the 1970s USA/USSR Olympic gold medal game territory.

As a departing shot, thanks to 850TheBuzz for reminding us all that ‘Duke is too good to be celebrating like that’. I wonder how Coach K justifies the hypocrisy?

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

06-07 Basketball General Headscratchers NCS Basketball

95 Responses to Refs Blatantly Steal Game From Clemson (Update: ACC “Handles Internally”)

  1. jhmd2000 01/26/2007 at 9:40 AM #

    If somebody bumps into your car in the parking lot once, it is an honest mistake. If the same dude does it two days in a row, it is life. At three times it becomes “one of those darned things.” If it happens so often that it becomes predictable, you can call it a lot of things, but please don’t call it an honest mistake.

    SSDD. It is no wonder Dook players falter in the NCAA tournament (non-ACC refs), and fizzle out in the NBA (ditto).

  2. choppack1 01/26/2007 at 9:41 AM #

    “So, the relevant question: Is the ref in question grossly incompetent (and unfit to call games at this level) or crooked (and unfit to call games at ANY level)?”

    I ask that question every ACC game I watch us play. The people who sat beside me at the Duke game had to think I was insane. I got so sick of seeing Paulus’ rag-a-muffin arm handchecking our guards.

    I’ll never forget the most awful foul call I’ve ever seen:

    Gerald Henderson is hand-checking Googs. Googs does the swipe move to remove Henderson’s hand – swiping at his arm, not his body mind you…Offensive foul on Googs.

    I’m w/ you – I don’t know whether they are just corrupt or idiots, but it’s a good thing airline pilots aren’t as bad at their job. Here’s another thought, we’ve heard Swofford wax poetic about how the ACC is better when the Tarheels are better, maybe the front office feels that way about Duke too?

  3. CarnifeX 01/26/2007 at 9:42 AM #

    not basketball related, but Pack related:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2742630&campaign=rss&source=NCFHeadlines

  4. statered 01/26/2007 at 10:00 AM #

    The ACC is at its best when there is fair competition. Bias like this turns everyone off after a while.

  5. Pack Laddie 01/26/2007 at 10:14 AM #

    On of the refs involved last night, Tom Lopes, is also in some trouble in the SEC due to his performance in the Alabama-Georgia game last week.

    It will be interesting to see if the ACC issues a statement on this. If they do, it will be along the lines of —-there was a clock error, sorry, by the way Clemson, you still lose.

  6. Trout 01/26/2007 at 10:14 AM #

    Ga Tech, Vandy, Maimi, Florida State and West Virginia are not Land Grant institutions.

    Suppposedly, one of the officials, Lopes, had some problems during the UGa/Alabama game last Saturday.

  7. WTNY 01/26/2007 at 10:20 AM #

    What did the vaunted DBR have to say about the game?

    From Laettner’s two legendary game winners to Jeff Capel’s amazing near half-court shot to keep the Carolina game alive to Sean Dockery’s miracle last season, Duke fans have a lifetime of memories. Now we can add Scheyer-to-McClure to the list as well.Because the end of the game was so dramatic, people, including us, will start at the end. And the end was spectacular: Clemson rushed back from a 66-61 deficit to tie the game on a clutch three pointer after a miscommunication between Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus. That was when Jon Scheyer took the ball and headed down court to deliver a brilliant pass to a streaking Dave McClure for the buzzer-beating winner.

    Aren’t you missing something there DBR? They did finally manage to talk about what everyone else except I guess Duke fans are talking about. Some 869 words into the article they finally manage to, uh, mention it:

    … we’re sure there’s going to be some controversy about clock management. We haven’t really gone back to look at the play, but we know there will be some discussion of it.

    Ah, Duke (and UNC-Ch) fans.

  8. BoKnowsNCS71 01/26/2007 at 10:26 AM #

    jhmd2000 — While watching a recent BB game, the announcers were playing with the question “Which school’s players are making the most money in the NBA right now.” I was shocked to learn that Duke was #1 followed by UNX.

    So if Duke’s players are fizzling, they must have learned something special from the Businesss curriculum to get the better salaries.

    Not sure which announcer was making the statement — most likely Dickie V.

  9. chris92heel 01/26/2007 at 10:50 AM #

    Clemson board saying that, per the clemson radio network, the clemson staff didn’t know there were 4.4 secs put on the clock left until after the ball was inbounded – hence the defense they played.

    Unreal.

  10. gopack968 01/26/2007 at 10:51 AM #

    The 850 blog is worth checking as it has a link to Jay Bilas’ sidebar discussion on ESPN:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=270250150

    “Now, I have seen many teams score in a full-court situation with approximately 2.4 seconds left and win. In fact, I was an assistant coach on the bench in 1992 when Duke scored from a similar situation with about the same amount of time remaining to survive against Kentucky in overtime in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.”

    One problem with this rationale – this 2007 Duke team is not the 92 team. Bilas is as biased as a human can be on this issue.

  11. choppack1 01/26/2007 at 10:51 AM #

    WTNY – They don’t care – they expect not a fair game, but a game dictated by their own officials. It’s sad that the games would be fairer if the players had to call the fouls themselves.

  12. Mr O 01/26/2007 at 10:52 AM #

    I don’t see how the officials can get away with this. Unbelievable. They weren’t even close.

  13. doatesjr 01/26/2007 at 10:57 AM #

    gopack968,

    In all fairness to Bilas (which hurts my soul to say), the very next sentence of his discussion reads “I have also seen many teams fail to score in a full-court situation with much more time remaining.” If you read the ENTIRE statement, it is clear that he disagreed with the way it was handled by the officials, even saying they made a mistake.

  14. Mike 01/26/2007 at 10:58 AM #

    Was it a bad call? No doubt about it. Should they have pulled time off the clock? Maybe – I know they can review the clock for stoppage, but can they review and ACCURATELY guess how much time should be knocked off? There may be a rule about this but I dont know.

    Did Clempson get screwed? Not necessarily. The game was tied, so even if there were only a few seconds left, worst case is OT.

    Looking at this more closely, maybe the clock operator fell asleep. Clock operator starts the clock at the officials signal. Clock is supposed to stop at the whistle – officials have a gadget that connects to the clock to stop it when they blow the whistle. Start still has to be manual. Also, on a bucket in the last minute, no whistle blows to stop it, so dependant on the clock operator for that too. Are the clock operators still volunteers from the school? Or are paid officials doing this now? Either way, Duke had no reason to delay the start at the steal. If an official, he was probably celebrating knowing his paycheck would be bigger since Dookie was ready to win.

  15. Pack Laddie 01/26/2007 at 10:58 AM #

    Wonder what Bilas would say if the situation was reversed?

    Everybody has seen plays made in 2.4 seconds. The play he referenced required an accurate 3/4 court length pass from Grant Hill to Christian Laettner, who then hit a turnaround jumper from 17 feet. I would have liked to have seen Duke duplicate that last night.

    Making a play like that is much more difficult than what Duke had to do yesterday. The extra time enabled them to have a couple of dribbles and a pass, plus the shot.

    At the end of the day, Clemson took one up the ass. Period.

  16. Gene 01/26/2007 at 11:00 AM #

    One obvious no-call was in the first half. Clemson player took a shot, ball was bouncing on the rim, and a Duke player just smacked it off the rim. No interefence call. Elmore couldn’t believe the refs would miss something so obvious.

    Oh well…Duke gets all the calls and non-calls (more importantly, I think).

  17. Mike 01/26/2007 at 11:01 AM #

    Speaking of Bilas, how about the ESPN commercial with Bilas in the cafeteria? Classic! Probably Woody’s idea. Last I heard Woody was lobbying for some more forfeits against Knight.

  18. Woof Wolf 01/26/2007 at 11:10 AM #

    I watched it live and I’ve watched the replays. Their is no way a group of competent officials could have accidentally gotten it that wrong. We have clocks that measure tenths of a scond and use of replay to help them get it right in these end of game situations. It is their job to know exactly how much time was on the clock at the beginning of the play. They have as much authority to take time off the clock as they do to put time bsck on.

    There is no way that anyone who knows anything about basketball could believe that play could be completed in less than two seconds. 0.6 seconds is absolutely ridiculous. I agree they should be suspended or even terminated.

    But Pernell is just as responsible. I would have gotten both of my technicals and then have to be physically removed from the court, before that game could have restarted with 4.4 seconds on the clock. Yeah I know the technicals would have cost me the game anyway, but at least I would have gotten my say.

  19. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 01/26/2007 at 11:15 AM #

    Was K massaging the Rosary Beads at the time?

    I think the Duke is Duke comment explains it all. Had that been State instead of the Clemson there would of been a phantom foul (probably intentional) on State away from the ball prior to the shot eliminating the 3, giving Duke the ball back with 1.8 seconds left. No telling what could of happened if Lenny Wertz was involved.

  20. partialqualifier 01/26/2007 at 11:32 AM #

    To me the last play…as bad as it was….wasnt even as bad as the 10 – 12 times a post player for Clemson went strong to the basket only to get clobbered by a Dookie…and no call! Top to bottom that was the worst officiated game I have seen in a long time! Hats off to the ACC for having one or two of these games every year. In contrast I watched Tex. Tech – Kansas game the other night and the officiating was superb. It is time the ACC starting outsourcing officiating cause these guys are a joke!

  21. nycfan 01/26/2007 at 11:36 AM #

    Clemson played poorly and had not business tying the game, but they did. And the timing mistake was egregious. But where was Oliver and Purnell and his staff? Why didn’t they protest and demand a review? I know since the advent of review I’ve seen end-of-game situations take forever b/c the refs review and re-review the timing situation, including counting when the clock should have started versus when it did (I’ve seen that in ACC games this season).

    Do I think Clemson would have lost in OT? Yes, I’m nearly certain of it. But, geez, this was just an awful error and not the first time in recent memory that Dook has benefited from one — didn’t they get more time against VPI last year than most observers thought warranted (ending with the long 3 by Dockery)? It was less egregious and widely dismissed b/c the shot was so miraculous, but it was another game winner Dook wouldn’t have gotten off had the clock been properly re-set. Then this season, also against VPI, as regulation was winding down, there was also a clock controversy that seemed to go Dook’s way (VPI lost over 2 seconds on the final possession of regulation with the game tied and a chance to get off a game-winning shot).

  22. Texpack 01/26/2007 at 11:42 AM #

    If Lenny Wertz were involved the foul would have been on Cozell McQueen.

  23. cpwolfpackfan 01/26/2007 at 11:48 AM #

    honestly guys did you expect anything else. I knew something like this is coming. It is never going to change. As long as the game is close, the calls will always go the way of Duke and UNC. It is simple business. No one out there wants to watch the ACC if duke and unc are bad. John swofford will not allow it so you better get use to it. I knew something rotten was us when I think it was UNC playing VA a couple of weeks ago when VA had 40 MOTHER *&^%$&* founls called on them to UNC’s 13 no way there is that big of a differenc. So just get use to it guys, thats the way its going to be. like it or not.

  24. highstick 01/26/2007 at 12:19 PM #

    I watched it over and over this morning. The announcers said that there was 1/10 of a second left when the Duke player shot the game winning goal. Therefore, the margin of error was only 1/10 of a second. There is no way they should have put that much time back on the clock and that 1/10 of a second error by the refs cost Clemson a shot in OT.

    No one wants to watch an ACC game except for idiots when you got referees determining the outcome of the game either! I hope Purnell goes ballistic today

  25. doatesjr 01/26/2007 at 12:19 PM #

    I hope the 40 MOTHER &^%$& fouls to 13 in the UNC-VA game was an exaggeration. The box score said 27-15. Yes, a disparity to be sure, but not too much when you consider UVA’s guard oriented offense and UNC’s inside oriented attack. Jump shooting teams rarely get a lot of fouls, and three of UVA’s starters are in the top 15 in the ACC in fouls committed.

    At any rate, everyone always complains that there team is getting ripped off by refs. Opinions on #’s of fouls called are subjective and depend on an individual bias towards one team, that’s called being a fan. However, clock discrepancies are not subjective and are easily remedied with replay. There was no excuse for what happened in Cameron last night. I can’t believe how little time the refs spent reviewing the play. Normally those guys would be sitting there for 5 minutes, but these guys took about 20 seconds. Again, no excuse, you HAVE TO get the easy calls right if you are an official.

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