Big West Conference Tournament semifinal game between Utah State and CS-Northridge in which Northridge led by one with 7 seconds left. Utah State misses a shot and Northridge rebounds. However the rebounder grabs the rebound and starts running with the basketball in celebration as time expires. Referee quickly calls traveling as the players celebrate. The officials go to the monitor and put .8 seconds on the clock. Utah State fails to score in the remaining time.

I thought it was a really gutsy call by that official as he could have easily let time run out. The replay shows he made the right call. Thought that referee deserved some recognition for making the right call in some tough circumstances.

Good job!
 

Probably one of those terrible PAC-10 officials we're always hearing about. ;)

Same thing happened in a Big XII tournament game last year between Kansas State and Colorado. In this game, however, Colorado took advantage of the mistake and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win. I remember that last year's call was made by Paul Janssen. Both calls were 100% correct.

I remember that play, seeing it on ESPN. The player was rightly critized for costing his team the game.
This is interesting, because Janssen was at the center of the Correctable Error controversy in the ISU-Kansas game down in Kansas this past season.

i have been to clinics the past few years where paul jannsen is the head clinician. he is a great official and even a better man. i really respect the man.

later,

mighty

Let me see if I understand this. A player traveled with time remaining and the official called it. This is "gutsy"? I would expect any official to do the same.

I didn't see the Utah State vs CS-Northridge game. But I did see the KS VS Colo. game and it really was an easy call.

I agree with you mark!

If it is a travel with 4:00 minutes to go, then it is a travel with 0:08 seconds to go. It has nothing to do with guts. Maybe instead it has to do with integrity. You know, making the right call not the call that everyone wants.

First of all is was 0.8 seconds not 8. Next, the official did not have a very good angle and still made the correct call as time expired. It was a bang, bang play and the official made the right call. What I am saying is that it was definitely not routine and he made it look easy. An official with integrity and guts sounds like a reasonable assesment to me.

This is basketball. How many bang bang plays are there every game at every level? This is what officiating basketball is. It isn't football, no offense, where you can think, think, think and throw a flag. He is a NCAA official who got a big game so he should be capable of making this call.

Yeah, he's a NCAA official and yes he did have a big game. But he is also still a human being that made a call that wasn't the easiest in a very big game. You can't tell me that the top officials don't ever make mistakes in the closing seconds of a big game. It evens happen to the best of them in the NBA. This official made a good, solid call in a big game, and he made it look routine. I will admit that most big game officials make the right call in this situation just as this referee did. Nonetheless, this game was huge for these kids looking for an automatic birth and this official did not make a mistake. Yes, it may happen that most officials make this call, but that does not mean it should ever be taken for granted.

No calls
 

Quite frankly in my humble opnion I see more no calls that are costing teams games than I see calls at the end that are in my opinion properly called. I think that officials and coaches are so afraid of that one game deciding call that they have let no calls be the norm and it leads to inconsistancy during the last few seconds of a close game.

Re: No calls
 

I do agree with you about the no calls at the end of the game. And I think its good game mgmt. I think Afraid is a little strong of a word to use. For me, its more like, I want to make sure the call I make is a solid call. No guessing, No ticky tack, and No bailing out a player. If we are at the end of the game and the game is on the line. All parties involved want the ending to be correct. Earlier in the game teams have a chance to recover from a boarderline call.

I agree!!