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Well, I spoke with the trail on the play this past week and here what he had to say:
In summary, he still believes that while he was on the court, the ball definitely hit the rim and came straight down to the offensive player. He said that they angle he had when the shot was taken, he couldn't have come out with anything on this play as to him it looked like the ball did hit the rim. He then said that after that happened, they let the game continue and finish with the basket being counted to end the game. After the final horn sounded, he (along with the other two officials) noticed that there was great confusion going on between the benches and players, so they had to get together to have a little conversation.
The L on the play (who was also the R), lead the discussion and asked about two things: did the first shot hit the rim, and did the last shot leave the shooter's hand prior to the final horn sounding. While on the court, all three believed that the first shot did hit the rim, so they thought they solved that problem easily. Then they discussed the final shot. Most of the discussion in the pow wow was about the final shot. When they made their decision about the final shot, they got the coaches together, discussed what they were going to rule, and counted the basket. Game over.
After they got into the locker room, the C on the play started to rethink how things had played out on the floor. She said that she, "thinks [she] let them down." This is in regards to the original shot not hitting the rim. The T on the play confirmed to her that they made the right call, and that there was nothing to worry about. However, a fellow official (who had seen the video) called the T on the play on his way home and told him that they missed the call. S*** happens.
Then, he pulled out 8 8X12 still pictures of the video, and he showed me that the ball did in fact miss the rim. He said that he's carried them in his bag since he's been able to see the video. Definitely misses the rim by no less than 3" on the pictures. He definitely has spent some time thinking about this play.
He then brought something to my attention which I hadn't noticed before. If you watch the video, you will see that the C on the play never signals the final shot good or no good, and she doesn't even have a whistle to end the half/game. Basically, the T on the play said that she got, "caught up in the moment" and failed to keep her concentration at that point of the game. Needless to say, this is one play that was badly missed, and all three of them now know it. However, its time to learn from it and move on.
Bottom line, you have to have high concentration, and make high certainty calls near the end of games... especially if it is a close game.
If anyone has anymore questions about this play, let me know and I'll give you more information if I have it.
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