Lights go out during close play

[Camron Rust]

The reality is that this is a situation that is clearly not covered in the rules. This is precisely what rule 2-3 was created for. Even so, to say there is a single right answer to the situation and to criticize the officials for how they handled it is unfair. There is simply nothing in the rules that says how this should be handled and to expect them to know what the league office might want when they had merely seconds to make a decision when others had hours to consider it is.

I think you could justify just about any ruling within the actual rules. And, the lights didn't go completely out. You could still see the entire time, albeit only with red lights.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

And, the lights didn't go completely out. You could still see the entire time, albeit only with red lights.

Cameras are notoriously bad with low lighting. How many times has one used a camera thinking that it was bright enough to take a photo with no flash, when a flash was actually needed?

The first time I worked a game at the Hartford Civic Center (now the XL Center), home of NHL Whalers, University of Connecticut basketball, and home away from home of the NBA Boston Celtics, I was in awe of how (too bright) the court was.

I'm guessing that in real life, it was actually a little brighter on the court than what we've seen on the video replay.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

...

I'm guessing that in real life, it was actually a little brighter on the court than what we've seen on the video replay.

The way the players on the court kept on playing as if they could see fine, leads me to think the same.




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[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Raymond

The way the players on the court kept on playing as if they could see fine, leads me to think the same.

I'm sure it was a distraction, but it wasn't "dark". Who's to say the other team didn't have the offense forced to an area they were happy with and a restart would let them set up a new designed play. Stopping the game and restarting at 5 seconds has as many problems as not stopping it. Either way, this was a bad situation and someone was going to complain.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

I'm sure it was a distraction ...

Yes it certainly was, but is was only for moment and all players, both offense and defense, seemed to almost immediately regain their sense of concentration, with nobody "giving up" (as we've occasionally observed where free throw rebounders get the wrong instructions (or get confused) from the lead, and for situations like that we have specific casebook interpretations.

Back when we were players (as most of us were at one time), how often did our coaches tell us ignore an "odd time" horn and to play until we heard a whistle.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Fan10

https://www.google.com/amp/s/ftw.usa...t-bad-beat/amp

Disclaimer: Below is not a NFHS interpretation, it's only an IAABO International interpretation which obviously doesn't mean a hill of beans to most members of this Forum.

IAABO International Play Commentary
The house lights go down and red lights turn on for a few seconds before the ending of Little Rock's game at Louisiana. After the Trojans' last-second 3-pointer is no good, coach Darrell Walker is livid at the officials.

IAABO International Correct Answer: The officials should have stopped the game and re-administered the play from the point of interruption. This is certainly a challenging play for officials. Officials should be aware; they have the authority to stop the game whenever unusual circumstances present themselves, especially if there is a safety concern. (Rule 5-8-2d) At times, officials may ignore some circumstances (such as an inadvertent horn) and allow play to continue if it has no impact on play. (Casebook 2.11.3). Unusual circumstances often lead to the referee to need to make decisions on any points not specifically covered in the rules. (Rule 2-3) In this situation, because of the time left in the game when the incident occurred, the best course of action would be for officials is to stop play immediately when the lights became an issue. When situations like this occur, officials should be quick to note the time remaining on the clock when play was stopped and identify where the throw-in spot should be when play resumes. In this situation, 5 seconds should be placed on the clock, and play should be resumed on the sideline in front of the scorer's table.

Note: About 80% of IAABO members that commented on the video thought that the officials should have stopped the game and re-administered the play from the point of interruption.

5-8-2-D: Time-out occurs and the clock, if running, must be stopped when an official: Stops play: For any other situations or any emergency.

2.11.3 Situation: When may the scorer signal? Ruling: If the scorer desires to call attention to a player who is illegally in the game, he/she may signal the official when the ball is in control of that player’s team. If it is for a substitution, the scorer may signal when the ball next becomes dead and the clock is stopped. If it is for conferring with an official, he/she may signal when the ball is dead. If the scorer signals while the ball is live, the official should ignore the signal if a scoring play is in progress. Otherwise, the official may stop play to determine the reason for the scorer’s signal.

2-3: The referee must make decisions on any points not specifically covered in the rules.

Personal note: I'm interpreting this to mean that the officials should not have re-administered the play after the game had "ended", but rather they should have whistled to stop the game when the lights went out. Since they didn't do anything at five seconds, it was too late to do anything at zero (horn and light) seconds.