I agree that they can try to figure out what time had moved, but they cannot use a clock or there is no device to tell them how much time should have gone off the clock. And the shot was attempted right at when the time would have expired according to the clock ESPN used.

Peace

I'm only saying they should have a provision allowing them to use replay and a stop watch. Forcing them to make a "best guess" without even the benefit of the replay is just stupid.

I agree, but that is something for the future. And you should know that most rules are not changed until something happens in a high profile moment.

Peace

I agree and that is why this will be changed in next year's rule book.

If I had to guesstimate I would say this is what happened in the conversation between Steve, Joe and Derrick. I would say they agreed that the shot was taken before the time would have expired and that they at least wanted to give Orlando a chance at a shot attempt so that would be the reason for the .5 that was put back on the clock.

True enough.

Got it. You guesstimated and they just guessed.

Nothing that happens anymore in the NBE surprises me.

Give it time. ;)

The official NBE response is that the officials guessed wrong. The play took 5.7 seconds and the shot shouldn't have counted.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playof...ory?id=3384577

There is nowayinhell that the officials should ever be faulted for this one.

I think that the problem was that the clock didn't count. ;)

Does the NBE have an official response on (non)traveling?

Well, as my sainted Grandfather useta say "Don't count your clocks until they're hatched."'

The old goof was a little loony.

Yes, M&M, Snaqs <i>et al</i>, , it is hereditary.

That's what they get for making the officials guess. Maybe they'll let them use replay next year.

http://www.referee.com/more/Samples/...508/javie.html

Agree completely with this. The refs had no recourse in the situation. The rules FORCE them to guess, and when you're dealing with tenths of a second, there's no way they can guess accurately.

The one thing they can be faulted for is not noticing sooner the the clock was stopped. One question I have is whether -- if they HAD noticed -- one of the officials could've started the clock with his PTS box on his waist.

The problem with this approach is that you're almost penalizing the offensive team. If the clock had been accurate, the player with the ball at the 0.4 mark would likely have shot the ball, instead of making the pass for the actual final shot.

So if you go to replay, you have to wipe off the final shot, obviously. But because of the bad information on the clock, you've sort of screwed them out of the chance to take a legitimate shot.

Maybe the NBA will go to do-overs, like when they replayed the end of the game where Shaq erroneously got fouled out.

Agreed, and this is the reason I don't like the idea of an official starting a silent/visible count when the end of the quarter is coming and the clock didn't start properly. Players go by what they see on the clock. I've done it, but I am increasingly uncomfortable with it.