Thabeet/Blair Play
 

I saw a highlight of the Pitt/UConn game and was wondering what was called on a particular play.

Blair for Pitt got a rebound and had Thabeet's arm trapped between his arm and his body. He then bent over and as a result pulled Thabeet over his back and Thabeet hit the floor.

What was called? My first inclination was to assume a foul on Thabeet but then I got to wondering what he did to warrant a foul.

Anyone?

If I recall nothing was called. They stopped the game because Thabeet was hurt.

Peace

They called an "over the back" foul on HT.

Was that the correct call? I guess I'm having trouble calling a foul when the player would not have been called for a foul had the opponent not clamped down on his arm and then caused him to go over the offensive player's back.

I think dsturdy5 was joking.

Egg on my face.

I think they did call a foul on the play, which the announcers called "over the back."

Thabeet/Blair Play
 

There was a foul called on Thabeet on the play, but Blair did not actually clamp down on his arm, by what I saw. The 2 players were more or less back to back, with both having a hand on the ball. When Blair went to control the ball, he is so strong, he just pulled Thabeet over his back and flipped him to the floor. I guess it could have been called a jump, but the refs called a foul on Thabeet, according to the announcers.

Thabeet would not have been flipped over Blair if Thabeet didn't reach his arm into Blair in an attempt to get the ball....foul on Thabeet - good call!

What advantage was there? Did the action displace Blair in any way?

I have to admit I had a lot of questions about his fourth foul; but he was a non-factor all game, even when he was in.

Just saw the replay again on ESPN, and it sure does look like Blair continued to pull Thabeet over his shoulder by leveraging-down on his (Thabeet's) wrist.
Blair initially had both hands on ball when Thabeet had stuck his hand in there.
But then as Blair leaned/crouched forward, his (Blair's) right hand comes off the ball and he arm-pulls Thabeet over his back.

The replay really makes Blair's tug look intentional.

Granted, lead-official was screened from this by Thabeet and center-official was already headed down court (eyes probably on mid-court group of transition players).

But, hey... I'm just some high school official who happened to be lying on the couch eating Doritos when he saw the replay...:D

Paul

Yeah, what was with that fourth foul? I kept my eye on those two for much of the game and watched them wrestle around, battle for position, and push and shove, etc. Thought foul number four was a bit ticky-tacky compared to some of the other contact they had......JMO