Anybody watching the 4th quarter of US vs. Spain? From an officiating standpoint, all I can say is. . . ouch!

Looks like a high school philosophy of officiating is being used.

Gasol and Marbury are sure large today.

"Don't point your finger at me."

You tell 'em Larry.

It definitely confirms that hanging out in the "quicksand" rarely gives a good angle to make the right call.

The thing that stood out to me was that after a couple of dicey calls (OOB), the officials looked truly rattled. They didn't seem to know what to call, given that things had gotten a little loose. It looked to me like they were thinking: "Oo, missed that one. And that one wasn't really too much worse than the first one. There's some contact, but I just let the last one go. . ." and so on while the contact was obviously affecting the plays.

About halfway through the 4th quarter, they forgot the time-tested adage: "Call the obvious."

Just my impressions.

I thought the US staff was extremely classy in trying to be gracious, Popovich in particular. But once you get gestures right up in somebody's face, it's hard to de-escalate, and Larry finally had enough, which is absolutely understandable.

The officials got an earful from the Spanish coach, too. Yet another good reason to get off the court instead of hanging around.

Somebody on Spain's staff should've done a better job of getting the head coach off the floor.

IMO, the players are not spending quite as much time complaining to the refs as they do back home to NBA refs. I know the International refs are prob quicker to T and it only take 5 fould to sit, but that is 1 of the few things I can offer USA Basketball a compliment on.

(1)I didn't see the game, so I can't agree or disagree, and
(2) Chuck is a pretty positive and encouraging person, not given to quick or harsh criticism, and
(3) the folks who would defend the refs if a fan came on the board and criticized aren't defending here ,

....so....

I've gotta assume Chuck has made some valid criticism here. My question is, when a know-nothing fan criticizes the refs, what would be an appropriate response?

I do now know on which network you guys saw the game, but my sons and I were watching it on the CBC and I was ticked off by the announcers' comments concerning the USA timeout with just under thirty seconds left in the game.

The announcers that that Larry Brown was trying to embarass the Spaniards. As officials, the two things we do not want to see is a team that is down by ten or more points and less that one minute fouling every chance it gets, just to prolong the game; we also do not want to see the team that is leading in this situation call a timeout.

BUT, Spain was fouling, the officials were calling the fouls, and the USA called the timeout to settle its own players and to discuss ball handling strategy. As an official I can accept the USA timeout under the circumstances of this game.

The one announcer went so far as to say that the timeout is the reason we are considered the ugly Americans.

MTD, Sr.

Mark T.,
I, too, watched the Canadian Broadcasting telecast.
Those commentators sure do call a spade a spade. ;)

Yes, they were brutal, but you left out the part where one of them said something similar to, "I apologize if I have offended anyone, but I sure would like to know what Larry Brown was thinking."

I, too, wonder about the thought process. Although a frequent NBA TV fan would assume that if the losing team would quit playing defense, the end of the game would happen.

Who knows? Maybe the coach of Spain had just told his team to refrain from fouling and Larry Brown thought he said to regain by fouling. :rolleyes:
mick

I thought the US staff was extremely classy in trying to be gracious, Popovich in particular.

[/B][/QUOTE]From what I've been reading, the rest of the world REALLY disagrees with you- i.e. calling that TO with 23 seconds left and a 10-point lead. Hope it don't get ugly in the next game.

Btw- re: Olympic officiating:
I don't know:
a) FIBA rules
b) FIBA mechanics
c) FIBA philosophy
d) What instructions the officials were given before this game.

Iow, I got no comment on the officiating in this game. Don't know enough.

BushRef's explanation is also exactly what I heard during commentary after the game on the radio.

On a completely different note, the US v Brazil women's soccer Gold Medal match is ready to start their OT period, except that none of the officials is on the field. OOPS!!

:D

To add to that-Larry Brown says he requested the timeout with a minute or so left and an 8 point lead. He tried to cancel the request but was not allowed. What's CBC and the Spanish coach getting so pissed off about?
-I play ball under FIBA rules in a rec league and know that it can take a long time to get a timeout after one's been requested.

By Fiba rules you are allowed to cancel your requested time-out anytime before the scorer's signal is sounded for such a request. If he was not allowed to do so it would be have been a mistake by the scorebench personnel.