State championship games played on non-regulation baskets
 

Per the article, it would take about 1hr to move the baskets closer to the court?....What!?! Arena staff must be union!

This is an embarrassment. The administrators should be ashamed.

In fact, everyone involved with the setup of the facility and the state governing board running the event should not receive any pay for the days of the tournament. The money should be donated to the schools or a charity.

They certainly should have taken the time to reconfigure the baskets to be in the correct spots.

Better Late Then Never ...
 

Agree. An hour? What's the big deal? Wait. Get it right. We had a state tournament game delayed thirty minutes the other night to accommodate a bus stuck in traffic. It wasn't a big deal. It was announced to the crowd and the concession stand made a fortune. Most in the crowd spent the extra time messing around with their smart phones.

Agree. VERY poor decision by the state. To know about it before the game and not make it right is unacceptable.

I wonder if any officials were aware or noticed it? If it were me and I noticed, as part of my Rule 2 duties I'd insist the problem be corrected before the game started.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Paradise By The Dashboard Light (Meatloaf, 1977)
 

And, after your well intentioned, rational, and correct, insistence, what if the Georgia High School Association executive director, or president, or basketball tournament coordinator, tapped you on the shoulder, and told you to officiate the game as is? What's your next move?

What's it gonna be, boy?

Fish, or cut bait?

When the boss says work, I'll work. But there's an element of poetic justice in knowing that they know that I know. [emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Poetic Justice Mentioned On The Forum ??? Pretty High Brow Stuff ...
 

Good answer. Now where's that darn like button? Wait? I'm being told ... The Forum? Not Facebook? Then I'll just make my own like button.
https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.Ma4...=0&w=300&h=300

There is a Like button on the smart phone app.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

Now I Have To Go And Yell At The Neighborhood Kids To Get Off My Front Lawn ...
 

What's a smart phone? How can anything be smarter than my good old flip phone? I can call anybody in the world with my flip phone. It even takes low definition photos. And, I'm told that my flip phone can text, if somebody can just show me how this texting thing works. How can a phone be any better than that?

I would not officiate the contest. They can find someone else if they wish to play with incorrect placement of the baskets. Those are fundamental to the game.

What If ???
 

Strong answer. Nice job sticking up to your high principles.

But what if it was only a one inch error on the court? Or, it was discovered that both baskets were a half an inch too high? And that it would take twenty four hours to make the adjustment? And that there were 12,000 fans in the Macon Centreplex waiting for the game to begin? And then the Georgia High School Association executive director, or president, or basketball tournament coordinator, tapped you on the shoulder, and told you to officiate the game as is?

A one foot difference? A one hour wait? I believe that I would be as insistent as Nevadaref under those parameters, but what about lesser problems that couldn't be fixed in a short time frame? Both rims one quarter of an inch too short? Can't be fixed for a week? We're probably playing basketball. Rims eleven feet high? Forty-five minute delay? We'll wait. Rims eleven feet high? Twenty-four hour delay? No way we're playing tonight.

The smaller the error the less likely that anyone is to notice.
However, to take your hypothetical to the extreme, if the baskets are an inch off and for whatever reason they cannot be fixed until the next day, I would think that consulting with the teams would be the right thing to do. Either one of them should have the right to protest playing under improper conditions. I would honor such.

Of course, Billy, you realize that what you are asking is like saying that the only ball which can be found for the boys State Championship game is a girls basketball. It's not going to happen. Somehow, someway, the issue will get fixed.

I'm shocked that the directors, officials, and teams all knew that the baskets were a full foot out of place and that it wouldn't take that long too fix it, yet did nothing about it for the kids. These were games that they will remember for the rest of their lives. You know what they will remember most now? Yep, that the adminstrators didn't care enough to get the damn baskets properly placed. What a shame.

What The Hell Were They Thinking ???
 

Agree. And I'm as shocked as you.

https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.Mfc...=0&w=300&h=300

What struck me as particularly shocking was the cavalier attitude of the executive director. Not a word of explanation why the hour delay was unavoidable. And to essentially ignore the shooting percentages?

What is the point of the referee's responsibility, under 2-4-1, to "inspect and approve all equipment, including court"?

Ha,
we waited for 30 minutes yesterday for a goal to be hand cranked for a middle school basketball game after the motor broke. The concession lady treated us nice!

I've even been one to help crank the silly thing or to grab a rake in softball to try to get a game in or get it finished. Seems very odd they couldn't take an hour to get this corrected.

Yet no one thought of an obvious solution, put tape down a foot inside the normal ft line

That's not a good solution.
Are you also going to move all of the marked lane spaces? Are you also going to move the 3pt line?

Sure why not

I can either move everyone down a space or tape em too

same with 3...either play with as is or tape it

EVERY FT is shot at 15...not every three is shot at 19'9

In fact i would say a large percentage of 3pt shots in hs games on college courts are shot behind the college 3 anyway

While your solution has some merit, if you are going to go through this trouble, then just use the time to move the darn baskets!

I actually think that's true. The 20'9" line is usually much more distinct/dark, and it seems like that's what the players focus on when setting up around the perimeter. I don't even think they realize they're putting themselves at a disadvantage most of the time. That, or they like the macho aspect of nailing a 3 on a college court from behind the college line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I assume that these baskets are the moveable stanchion type of baskets? If so, then these baskets are always anchored to the floor in the back, as well as two large pins that drop down into bored out holes on the floor in the front. The only safe way to have a basket set up and be used in game play is like this. When a movable stanchion is simply set up without securing it to the floor, it is usually only for practice or something like that where there are "No dunking" restrictions. For the Georgia 6A (by the way, I like how the article couldn't just say 6A, but rather AAAAAA. I don't like counting while I read.) state championships, you can't tell me there aren't kids that are going to be throwing it down.

So now that I've wrote that, I think I'm convinced that the baskets were NOT of this type, otherwise it would be both unsafe, and the 1 hour claim would be ridiculous. Anyone actually see or have a picture of the court setup?

http://www.maconcentreplex.com/photos/Coliseum.jpg

Ok, upon further review, there are so many more questions/comments I have.

1) 1 hour is ridiculous. 1 person could literally do this in under 10 minutes. Only possible explanation is that the padlock generally on the pin to lower the backboard down was missing the key, or someone not there had it, or something like that. Bolt cutters would be the solution.

2) The casual fan or even player might not notice anything weird on first glance, but if this court is ever used for college games (I can't tell from the picture) then there is also the RA arc under the hoop, wouldn't that absolutely obviously give it away that something was wrong?

3) 1 hour is ridiculous. See #1.

4) Why would coaches not be informed about this? Why keep it a secret and then acknowledge afterwards that you knew but thought everything was fair?

5) If team A shoots 90% from the line, and they play team B who has other strengths, but only shoots 50%, you think that doesn't put team A at a huge disadvantage to change the one thing they're the best at?

6) Thank God this didn't occur in Indiana, or the point made by Gene Hackman as Norman Dale would've been rendered completely moot.

7) 1 hour is ridiculous. Again, see #1....

The really odd thing is the GHSA has held the basketball championships in the Macon Centerplex for decades. I attended the finals one year in the late 90s when I lived in GA. It's not as though anyone should have been surprised the games would be played at the site.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

Here are a couple of screen shots from one of the games...


http://i64.tinypic.com/35idp3k.jpg


http://i64.tinypic.com/10ct17c.jpg


Again, GHSA's handling of the situation doesn't make sense.

Wow, actually seeing the photo during FTs makes it all the more insane. You'd have to be nearly out of bounds to even attempt a layup!

This seems like a story I would read in the Onion.

Yeah, that HAD to have been noticeable when shooting FTs in warm-ups. You can tell when you're heaving it an extra foot from what your arms and brain are used to.

And yet the players and coaches appeared to say nothing. Or so the article would lead you to believe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One Picture Is Worth ...
 

Kinda late to this thread...I just read the AJC news article about this situation. All I can say is I'm amazed...Amazed at how it was allowed to occur, amazed at the indifference of the state officials despite what a profound affect it would have on the game, amazed that they were more concerned about the schedule than the integrity of the playing court, amazed that some coaches knew while others didn't, amazed at how it was so poorly handled all around. All I can say is I'm glad I don't work in Georgia. This just looks bad.