Timing Error - To Correct or Not to Correct

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by cford

This happened in a Division 2 game yesterday.

Team B (Visitors) is winning by 1 point. Player A1 drives to the basket and the ball goes out of bounds. The clock operator did not stop the clock on time and the Lead determines that 0.5 seconds should be on the game clock. The official tells the timer to put 0.5 seconds on the clock which the timer complies with. The clock shows __:_5 after the timer resets the clock. A1 throws the ball in from the end line into the middle of the paint to A2. A2 catches and shoots very quickly. The officials counted the basket and left the floor. The problem was that the LED lights & horn did not go off right after the shot. The LED lights & horn went off 5 SECONDS after she caught the ball. The timer had put 5 seconds by accident instead of 0.5 seconds!

There was NO monitor at the table. I couldn't find an AR ruling specific to this play. The rules for fixing timing errors refer to "the failure to start or stop the game clock properly". It doesn't say failure to put the correct time on the clock. Could this be considered not "starting" the game clock properly?

What could the officials do BY RULE to fix this mess?
1) Count the basket and declare the game over. (What they did and what seems to be the correct ruling.)
2) Disallow the basket and declare the game over.
3) Disallow the basket, put 0.5 seconds on the clock and redo the play. (Seems like the fair thing to do but I don't think this is supported by a rule.)


Section 6. Officials Duties in games without Replay/
Television Equipment
Art. 1. When an obvious timing mistake has occurred because of the failure
to start or stop the game clock properly, the mistake shall be corrected only
when the referee has definite information relative to the time involved.
After the ball is in play, such a mistake, shall be corrected during the first
dead ball or during the next live ball before the ball is touched inbounds or
out of bounds by a player. When the clock should have been continuously
running, the mistake shall be corrected before the second live ball is touched
inbounds or out of bounds by a player.

Originally Posted by All_Heart

The problem is I got to see the game film of the play and the catch and shoot happened in .6-.7 seconds (with my stop watch).

It is next to impossible for officials to know if the shot happened in 0.5 or 0.6 seconds with out a clock. In this case where 5 seconds was erroneously put on the game clock I feel that a redo would be the fair thing to do. I'm not saying that I'm justified by rule or that I would do that in the same situation but that I had never seen or heard of this and wanted to talk about the correct way to handle it.

All Heart,

By your own measurement, the shot was away in .6 - .7 seconds. You knew exactly what was going to happen with the play. It was still within 1/10 to 2/10s of a second. There is no way that the human eye can decipher the difference between .5 and .6 seconds. The officials knew that there was only 1/2 of one second remaining -- time enough for a catch and shoot, but not enough for a catch, dribble and shoot. The player caught it, the timer started the clock, the shot was released, the shot went in.

A very improbable ending -- happening once is rare, enough. To ask the team to redo the play would be grossly unfair to the offensive team. Had the player caught, dribbled and shot or caught, head-n-ball faked and shot, (if you had gotten to say 1.2 to 1.5 seconds prior to the release), I could see waving the shot off. In this case, it was close enough that I am going to count the basket. The ball could not have reasonably been ruled dead before the time would have expired. I believe that I would have ruled as the officials did in this case. Good basket, no time remaining, game over.

Of course, the moral in this situation is ALWAYS double check to ensure that the clock is set correctly. When in doubt, have the timer set the clock, start the clock and see if the horn goes off when you expect it.