Quote:
Originally posted by JugglingReferee
the only consistent tool available to us to make the correct call is that the clock started correctly and that the contact with the ball ended before the buzzer sounded.
You might say that he touched the ball for less than 0.3s and the basket counts, but let's say that replay shows that that is not the case. Now you, the referee, has decided the game. And not anyone else. What tool did you use? Nothing consistent.
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Some good points have been made in this thread. Thanks BITS, JR, and others. I simply made my own case and stated my belief on the best way to handle this unfortunate situation. Of course, I am not the controlling word on the subject.
While I agree with the first statement above, I have to wonder why JugRef believes that the clock is so accurate?
Just as he states that different officials have different allowances on a tap, different timers have different reaction times when starting the clock when the ball is touched inbounds. Some are a little slow, some are quite quick, but likely very few are them are right on.
As he wrote, "Nothing consistent."
If comes down to it, I would rather have the referee decide than put the game in the hands of the timer ("minor official"). Afterall, the referee is the one getting paid the big bucks. This is one reason why D-1 has gone to the precision timing device, which allows the official on the court to start the clock.