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Calling The Finals: A Clean Block, Or Goaltending?
The National Basketball Association Playoffs is one of the yearly anticipated sporting events. It showcases different players from different teams, all vying for that one prize: to be crowned NBA champions. During the NBA playoffs, superstars make names for themselves, rivalries are formed, and champions are dethroned.
Amidst all this excitement, the most pressure is perhaps, is not in the star players, not the coach's handsit's in the referee's hands. Refs do not have to make baskets for the team; they do not have to control the tempo of the ballgame. However, what they're tasked to do is call the game. They have to regulate contract between players. They have to validate actions on and off the court.
Making calls in basketball is simpler than it looks. Some plays are undoubtedly easy to see and subsequently call such as fouls and dribbling violations. However, assessing other plays can be challenging. The nature of some basketball plays can go both ways, for or against the team with ball possession. One such play on the ball is the blocked shot.
If the attempt happens early on the shot, provided that there is no unnecessary contact with the arm or body of the shooter, it is counted as a clean block. However, if the ball has passed its peak and is on its way down, it will count as a goal-tend. This rule is hard to call in real time because of the variety of shots that players can put up. Also, the use of the backboard makes it a bit complicated. If the ball has made contact with the backboard, any disruption of its motion, from players from both teams will result in a goal-tend. However, one can challenge and block a shot early in its trajectory, and drive it to the backboard.
This rule is simple enough, but it has been put to question quite recently during these NBA finals. Sherman Mazur predicted a Cleveland-Denver match up, at the same time acknowledging that Orlando could very well upset its opponents in the east. Los Angeles and Orlando have played the first two games of the series, with LA up 2-0. However, during the last play in regulation of the second game, as the game was tied, an Orlando player went up for a shot before time expired. Although it was way off, a player from the opposing team hit the rim and backboard. No goaltending was called, and rightfully so.
However, there was a clarification in the rules which explicitly stated that any disruption or contact with the backboard, rim or the net as a shot has been thrown up should be counted as goaltending. Had this happened, Orlando would have won. But since the shot was way off, and the contact seemed to have no effect on the trajectory of the shot, the refs did not call it.
This is just an example of the complications of refereeing big games. Refs are subject to so much decision making on the fly that most fans do not realize how hard it also is for them. At the end of the day, we should all just enjoy the game, watch the players play and show us not only talent, but heart as well.
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