Detroit-Miami Game 2
 

Detroit gets called for a 5 sec. violation on an inbounds during a critical last minute possession. Dick Bavetta was the new T official administering the count.

So I just listened to Tayshaun Prince's post-game interview and he said that he called timeout and that Bavetta didn't hear him because of the noise and that he apologized for it (very classy on Bavetta's part). They also showed a replay of the incident and IF Prince called a timeout, then it wasn't obvious.

I hate stupid players who blame officials for their mental mistakes. The crowd was obviously incredibly loud, so knowing that Prince needs to turn to the official and make a visual signal for a timeout. He makes a grade school mistake and makes it look like it was the official's fault for not acknowledging the TO. Incidences like this make officials the scapegoat for bad player decision.

Bavetta couldn't hear him because his hearing aid was turned off.:p

Hey it's the NBA anyway and I don't give an asterisk. :D

"From Dick's point of view, he was so caught up in watching for the inbounds pass that he wasn't paying any attention to me," said Prince, who said Bavetta apologized to him afterward. "That upset me. He has to be looking in my area."

I hate it when I make mental mistakes.
Forget "classy" and do not make that error.
mick

I don't see any error on Bavetta's part. If the administering official is zoned in on the inbounder, he isn't helping his two partners out much. Looking through the inbounder to see other matchups is good officiating. With a loud crowd, the inbounder needs to make the time-out obvious.

Z

Z,
I see nothing wrong with what you say.
But if Bavetta didn't screw up, he had no need to apologize for not covering his primary. ;)
mick

Someone has to be watching the inbounder and the defender guarding the pass. With 3 officials, there is no reason for the administering official not to be watching this. How can he see if the inbounder has stepped over the line if he's not watching the inbounder, among other things? Especially when the count is nearing 5, he should anticipate the time out and look for it, as it is a common play - 1-2-3-4-timeout.

He's got to trust his partners. The two non-administering officials ought to be able to handle all the other action. After all, for most of the NBA's history, there were only two officials.

Z, forget about "helping your partners". The administering official has to be aware enough to anticipate a time out request in this sitch while continuing to referee the action on the floor. Obviously Bavetta believes this, if he didn't he would not have apologized.

Has Bavetta said that he apologized for "missing" the TO? I don't put any credence in the player's story until I hear the official's story.

Good point.

I didn't see the game & assumed the apology was made in a statement to the press.

In any event I know I would have been upset with myself if I didn't catch a TO request in that sitch.

When Tayshaun Prince finally talks, he don't blow smoke.

Kinda like EF Hutton, eh?

I'm sure he is telling what he really thinks happened. But maybe his TO request was not visible and was not directed at Bavetta. Maybe Bavetta said something that Prince misunderstood. Or maybe the conversation went like this: "Dick, man, I asked for a time-out!" "Sorry, Tayshaun, but I didn't hear you say anything." Until Bavetta or Nunn comes out and says the request was missed, I withhold judgment.

Au, sure Chuck !
 

Au contraire !
Your judgement is clearly discernible.

"I don't put any credence in the player's story until I hear the official's story." - The Chuckster

Go watch the Celtics.

mick

I withhold judgment of the official. I don't judge players on officiating issues.

I haven't heard Dick Bavetta say that he screwed up yet. He may have said something to the inbounder like, "if you requested one, I'm sorry because I didn't hear or see a request."

When there were only two officials in the NBA, it was probably even more important for the administering official to not just focus on the inbound matchup. If he did, that would have left 8 players for his partner to watch!

When I say that the administering official "looks through" the inbounding matchup, I mean that they don't JUST focus on those two players. That would be a waste. They get wide enough to see their primary in addition to the inbounding action. You can't focus SOLELY on the inbounder, even if the count gets to 3 or 4 or you might miss something critical in your primary that your partners aren't going to get.

Z