I've heard the philosophy of "not determining the outcome of a game," and I think there is a fine line between what you should call and what you should pass on.

I was watching the Lakers and Heat play the other night. The score was tied with just a few seconds left in regulation. Kobe drives to the hoop and plows over player from the Heat. Watching the reply, it looked to me like it could have been called either way, as the defender moved into Kobe. Both of the players hit the floor. No call. Good no call IMO, because that call truely would have determined the outcome of the game.

lol this is completly different -- i would expect game management to come here and get him the heck off the court. you are comparing apples to cucumbers here.

I spoke with the head official who gave both technicals. He is a friend. He stated that he was hit with an elbow in the face by his own teammate. However there was body contact on the shot that could have been called, they said it didn't warrant a foul in the final 3 seconds. This was a game where for the most part the officals let them play, it was a physical game. However they would call blatent and excessive contact. However it was not as tightly called as I have seen out of some officials. I prefer to let them play a little.

Your right that it would not be dictating the outcome. However how many times have you seen officials not call anything in a last second play like that. Frankly the way I do it is based on judgement. If it is clearly a blatent foul/hack I will blow the whistle. But if you flop on the ground trying to draw a charge or you slide under for a block, I'm letting that go. I am not rewarding a team with freethrows for a handcheck on the last play either.

what is completely different?

That philosophy is pretty dangerous. The no-call may also determine the outcome of the game, to use your words, if a foul is truly warranted. Remember, it's never the officials who determine the outcome, even if it's a foul at the last second. It's the player's action that determines the outcome. Too many times I've seen refs sit on their whistle in the last few seconds because they want to "get in get out get done" and not make the difficult call. If you see it, call it.

That's OK if the same type of foul also hasn't been called consistently all game long too. If they were calling that type of foul though, and then let one go just because it was the end of the game, then the officials might need a <i>cojones</i> transplant. Sometimes saying that "I don't want to dictate the outcome of the game" is just code for saying "I'm afraid to make a tough call".

Jmo.

I thought that was Rita's game....did I miss something..:eek:

A-freaking-(wo)men!

Think I covered all the bases that time....:D :D :D

Agree. I learned somewhere along the way to stay away from those last second fouls, especially if there was no chance at the shot. Then one day, I saw a 8th grader try a 70 foot baseball style shot as time was about to expire in the first half. He got mugged. One of the dumbest fouls I've ever seen. I blew the whiste simultaneous with the horn, and did not decide to back off on the call. He got three shots. I'm sure some refs will disagree with me, but just because time is expiring and the shot has no chance does not give the defense a free mugging. And if the coach doesn't like it, suggest that he take it up with his player.

WOW, the scary thing for me is their "last second" attitude. You HAVE to call the game. It sounds to me like them NOT calling fouls actually did cause the outcome of the game. Granted the coach was out of line, but they obviously decided if there was a foul that wasn't "excessive" they were putting their whistles on ice. This type of attitude really pi$$es me off

It's one thing if the game is a 40 pt blow-out and you are just protecting the players. It's entirely different if you have a close game and pass on a legitimate foul because you don't want to decide the game - that's crap.

In my opinion, swallowing the whistle in the last whatever of the game is bad policy, and often results in bad situations.

This is not necessarily swallowing the whistle. This might have been what was not called the entire game. As JR stated, this might not have been called all game long and you do not want to call for the first time you did not call in the first few minutes of the game. Also what should and should not be called is ultimately a judgment call anyway. I was not there I cannot say it was the right thing to do or not.

Peace

A vet once told me. If the player is stupid enough to commit a foul in that situation. I will be stupid enough to make the call. How much time that is left in the game has no bearing.:cool:

Good thread.

While I agree that it is bad to swallow the whistle on last second plays, I also think you have to look at the fact that this game was called loosely and they let them play. It was not inconsistant with what they called all night.

As far as I am concerned that is all that is required. You do not want to make a key call like that unless there were similar plays called earlier. Also if the kid got elbowed by his own player, I think it took balls not to just make a call because of the aftermath.

Peace