Olympic Basketball

[cford]

I figured I'd start a new thread on this topic. The following was taken from the thread Good Grief...

Originally posted by Nevadaref

I thought so too. Labron James took about 5 steps before one dunk (apparently legal in the NBA) and they called a proper travel on him. Labron couldn't believe it.

Z

I assume your talking about Walton's comment that Labron made a legal move . I replayed the tape in slow motion and counted 5 steps. He's so used to watching the NBA that he probably wouldn't call a travel on a star even if he picked up the ball at half court and took 10 steps to dunk it.

I do think that they were being a little harsh on the USA team with the traveling calls (Even though I was loving the fact that NBA players had to play by the rules ). There were a number of travels committed by the Italian team that were not called. One that stuck in my mind was when there center received a pass around mid court and his momentum caused him to travel a couple of times. I don't understand how they can miss that one but they called the USA team for lifting their pivot foot before starting their dribble (no advantage gained) a couple of times.

The travel calls made were no excuse for their lack of defense! They need a couple of pure shooters on the team that can hit the 3 which would open up the middle.

Did anyone see the time the ball went over the backboard and there was no whistle?

Overall I think the refs did a good job considering they were doing 2 man!

I think FIBA rules allow the ball to go over the backboard and not be a violation. Any FIBA officials out there that can confirm or deny that? Thanks.

[mtbabo]

Just a comment on over the backboard. In FIBA rules the ball can go over the backboard as long as it does not touch any supports. I was at the under 21 tournament of Americas in Halifax last week and it happened on three occasions. The first time I was surprised that there was no whistle but then a friend of mine who officiates FIBA told me the rule.

[cford]

Originally posted by mtbabo
Just a comment on over the backboard. In FIBA rules the ball can go over the backboard as long as it does not touch any supports. I was at the under 21 tournament of Americas in Halifax last week and it happened on three occasions. The first time I was surprised that there was no whistle but then a friend of mine who officiates FIBA told me the rule.

I was wondering if that was the case but I thought I saw them call it earlier in the game. It must have touched a support then.

[Jay R]

I am bewildered how FIBA can continue to use the Two-Man system in this day and age. I am not knocking the FIBA referees, they don't decide such matters. I heard that the Olympics and World Championships are supposed to be Three-Person from now on, but obviously not these tune up games.

[cford]

How about this idea? They should take the team that won the NBA Championship (for that year) and have them represent the US. This way you are ensured a team that can play together, with just the right amount of role players. Do you think the Pistions would have let Italy score 95 pts in 40 mins.....I don't think so.

I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why this wouldn't work but it's an idea.

[Adam]

There are two problems with this solution that I can see.

First, too many NBA players don't want to play in the Olympics.
Second, there are going to be more and more of these important roles on championship teams filled by foreign players. Imagine if the Mavericks had this honor, for example.

Adam

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by cford
I do think that they were being a little harsh on the USA team with the traveling calls

Agreed. Dwayne Wade was called for traveling twice in the first half where I didn't think he traveled. (I don't even think he lifted the pivot foot.) And then in the second half, before it became a blow out, a USA layup was waved off with a traveling call that was obviously not a travel. And then in the 3rd quarter, an Italian guard cut through the lane along the endline, caught the pass, shuffled both feet, then dribbled. No call.

There was only one contact play (that I saw) that I thought was called incorrectly. (A layup by Duncan that was waved off for a ticky-tack call as he pivoted. Yes, there was contact, but you penalized the offense by calling it when it obviously didn't affect the play.)But the travel call was very poorly officiated.

[ChuckElias]

Just to be a fan for a second. . . USA vs. Germany tips off in a little more than an hour. Any predictions? Was yesterday a sign of things to come for the US team; or a wake-up call? It should be a wake-up call, but I have a bad feeling that it's an omen.

[Jay R]

I watched an international game between Canada and Argentina (Under 21) in Moncton two weeks ago. There was not one single travel call made all game. There was only one that I thought could have been called. A few instances of shuffling the feet with no advantage. I thought these two officials did a good job.

[TravelinMan]

Originally posted by ChuckElias
Just to be a fan for a second. . . USA vs. Germany tips off in a little more than an hour. Any predictions? Was yesterday a sign of things to come for the US team; or a wake-up call? It should be a wake-up call, but I have a bad feeling that it's an omen.

Watched most of the game. Saw the winning shot. Or actually didn't see it real well because ESPN did such a terrible job with their cameras. Iverson caught everybody off guard. Nowitzki was unconscious all day with his shooting. Man he can shoot the rock!

[Nevadaref]

For those of us on the west coast the US v. Germany game will be reshown at 10PM on ESPN.

[cford]

Originally posted by ChuckElias

Dwayne Wade was called for traveling twice in the first half where I didn't think he traveled. (I don't even think he lifted the pivot foot.)

I actually played these travels over in slow motion and they were in fact travels. One of them was were he picked up his pivot foot and started a dribble (very slight). The other one he actually traveled twice because when he caught the ball he landed on his back foot first hence establishing it as his pivot. When watching it live it didn't seem like travels but upon replay they definitely were. BUT, I don't think they should have been called because there was no real advantage gained.

There was only one contact play (that I saw) that I thought was called incorrectly. (A layup by Duncan that was waved off for a ticky-tack call as he pivoted. Yes, there was contact, but you penalized the offense by calling it when it obviously didn't affect the play.)

I completely agree that this was a horrible call which should have not been called or the basket should have counted since he was habitually starting his shot.

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by cford

I actually played these travels over in slow motion and they were in fact travels. One of them was were he picked up his pivot foot and started a dribble (very slight).

Ok, I can live with that. I didn't have the benefit of replay and I thought that he put it down before lifting the pivot.

The other one he actually traveled twice because when he caught the ball he landed on his back foot first hence establishing it as his pivot.

And the problem here is that it's legal in the NBA with the 2-count for establishing your pivot. The NBA players (most US players, for that matter) just aren't familiar with the int'l rules.

[cford]

Originally posted by ChuckElias
And the problem here is that it's legal in the NBA with the 2-count for establishing your pivot. The NBA players (most US players, for that matter) just aren't familiar with the int'l rules.

Interesting, I didn't know that the NBA had this rule.