[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I am joining the thread late and I will address all of the three plays in the order that they occurred.

Play #1: First, some of the posts in this thread questioned the use of PST. I thought that PST was used all throught the Tournament becuase it is used in just about every Division I game played during the regular season; and I think that the use or non-use of PST in this game has a bearing of how this play is handled. As an example: Let us assume that the Shot Clock is not a factor and only the Game Clock is a factor. If a player is fouled in the Act of Shooting before the Game Clock expires but the ball is not released before the Game Clock expires then the FG if successful will not count, and the Shooter will be awarded two or three FTs depending upon the type of FGA.

I just watched APG's video post of the play at the end of the first half. That said, my take from watching APG's video post is this: The foul occurred as the Syracuse player was starting his Act of Shooting and well before he released the ball and it also occured before the the Shot Clock expired.

If PST was being used the Game and Shot Clocks should have stopped on the whistle (It is my learned opinion that this play is a perfect example of why the Shot Clock should not stop with the game clock and another reason why I am not in favor of a Shot Clock but that it the subject matter for another thread.). If PST was not used, one question that can be asked is was there too much lag time between the time whistle sounded and the clock stopped.

From my viewing of the video was that the Official's whistle sounded and the Shot Clock expired at the same time which appeared to have happened just before the ball left the Syracuse player's hand. It is my opinion that the foul in the Act of Shooting definitely occurred before the Shot Clock expired. Since the ball was not released before the Shot Clock expired, then the basket should not count and two FTs should have been awarded.


Play #2: The FT Violation. I do not know what the big deal is. I thought the L missed the defensive violation on the low block opposite of him, but the C got the "really" obvious one by the defender outside the three-point arc.


Play #3: This is either a foul by the Asheville Player or OOB off the Syracuse Player. My call is a CF by the Asheville Player because the contact was before the ball had touched OOB.


MTD, Sr.