Controversy in Big East Tournament

[Bravesfan]

Might be a little harsh. These guys seemed to have a good reputation and just screwed up..... BIG TIME. Even the coaches and players seemed fooled about the ending as there was no immediate protest and everyone went to shake hands.

Okay, maybe a little harsh if it was an honest mistake. But something just seems more than a little off about the way things played out at the end of this game. I sincerely hope something fishy does not come out of this.

[Future Walk-On]

What are these bad officials doing in a conference like the Big East? They should be here in the Missouri Valley.

ok ok let's all settle down here. maybe the OVC or horizon league.....

[BradleyJD]

Believe me, this was no mistake! Someone got paid off, at least IMO.

Even if nothing fishy happened, just walking off without even looking at the replay wreaks of laziness at the very least!

They were paid off?!?!?! WOW, I think that is a bit much.

Second, there was no replay to watch. Since no ref called anything, they are not allowed to check the replay, according to the analysts.

[Da Coach]

I have never seen an entire crew botch the end of game situation like this 3-man crew did. It appeared they were satisfied to let St. John's win, and had a lunch date and really wanted to get out of there in a hurry.

In tournament game situations like this, I am sure the conference commissioner and conference director of officiating are in attendance at the game. They need to allow for instant appeal and overrule power by the higher authorities.

[BradleyJD]

Fran Frischilla(sp?) was just on Mike and Mike and he said he really felt like the crew thought it was over.

Neither coach even realized what happened with the clock, travel, or out-of-bounds until the post-game.

Lavin was already walking to shake hands. Rutgers' coach was not even looking at the play, he was yelling to one ref about the no-call on the inbounds.

It's just crazy

[tornado]

Even if you let the play stand -- there's two other violations....
..hurling the ball into the crowd while there was still a tick on the clock (1.2 seconds when this happened) is the EXACT same violation that the Louisville cheerleader committed...
it should have been a technical foul, Rutgers should have gotten 2 FT and the ball out of bounds with 1.7 remaining.
Plus with time still on the clock, the game is STILL going, Lavin walks 20 feet out of his coaching box, onto the playing floor..

[BradleyJD]

hurling the ball into the crowd while there was still a tick on the clock is the EXACT same violation that the Louisville cheerleader committed...
it should have been a technical foul, Rutgers should have gotten 2 FT and the ball out of bounds with 1.7 remaining.

But a player could do that. It should be a turnover. Rutgers ball.

Problem is the coaches did not see it. If the Rutgers coach had, then maybe you get the refs to review something.

[wily coyote]

clearly the refs were derelict at the end of that game-- they have an obligation to review since the ball clearly went out of bounds with 1.7 seconds left!

They also have the obligation to stay on the court until time expires, but they did NOT -- they were leaving the court with time remaining and thus there was no ref to blow the whistle on the guy's traveling and stepping out of bounds!

Jim Burr, Tim Higgins, Carl Walton -- they need to give their paychecks back and be suspended.

T I'm NOT sticking up for the officials in anyway shape or form. I agree with your first paragraph 100%. Your second paragraph is also partially factual. They do have an obligation to stay on the court till time expires and they DID. That call was one persons reponsibility and that guy is Jim Burr. It was his sideline and only his responsibilty to call the out of bounds. Any of the three could have called the travel but The travel and him stepping out of bounds were done in unison. So only one violation. Jim was there and where he could have made the call he just chose not to for whatever reason. We'll never know. There is going to be some explaining to do.

[tornado]

But a player could do that. ...

physically he could do that but it is a violation -- at a minimum a delay of game but the ref likely would call a "T"..
I have seen it called a "T" - even when a player flips the ball after a made basket in a driection other than the player attempting to inbounds...

[BradleyJD]

physically he could do that but it is a violation -- at a minimum a delay of game but the ref likely would call a "T"..
I have seen it called a "T" - even when a player flips the ball after a made basket in a driection other than the player attempting to inbounds...

If you go for delay of game, it is possible.

I agree with Digger. These refs work way too many games. Most are getting too old. They need limits on how much they work and how often. They also need to be "punished" when they get stuff wrong.

[TheAsianSensation]

I think the rule is, if the game is going on and the clock is running, a player can throw the ball halfway to the moon and the clock still runs. We've seen end-of-game scenarios where players throw the ball up in the air to let the clock run out while it's airborne.

But when it's flung into the stands, it's another story.

All that said, this isn't the same as the Louisville situation. That was an off-court person interfering. This was a player messing up.

[tornado]

I think the rule is, if the game is going on and the clock is running, a player can throw the ball halfway to the moon and the clock still runs. We've seen end-of-game scenarios where players throw the ball up in the air to let the clock run out while it's airborne.

But when it's flung into the stands, it's another story.

All that said, this isn't the same as the Louisville situation. That was an off-court person interfering. This was a player messing up.

99% of "T's" are whistled on players and coaches...less than 1% on cheerleaders or off-court personnel. If the player commits an act that deserves a T he will get it -- the refs actually have NO obligation to explani not follow any specific rules...it is a purely judgement call.

recall NOBODY but a few nearby heard what JT Durley said that got him T'ed up last Friday but the ref didn't hesitate a second and slapped him for it.


read the actual press release from the Big East Commissioner -- his exact statement was that the player did not get a technical for throwing the ball into the stands "because he thought the game was over". (it was definitely NOT over -- there was over a second remaining)

BUT -- how can that possibly be an excuse or an alibi - as we just saw last week -- the reason the cheerleader got the "T" was for the act of throwing the ball while time was still on the clock
Had the game actually been over -- the cheerleader also would not have gotten a "T" - so mistakenly thinking the game was over CLEARLY cannot be used as a defense yet that's exactly the defense this Commissioner grants the St. John's player!!! Terrible hypocrisy!!

[BUBraves2006]

Was it Dave Snell or somebody on this board that has constantly said that Tim Higgins is a "great" ref? I've never thought that and it seems like this is the icing on the cake.

[tornado]

Tim Higgins HAS NEVER done a Bradley game...and has only done 6 games in the Missouri Valley total in the past 15 years...none involving Bradley
and NONE at all in the MVC since 2008...

http://statsheet.com/mcb/referees/tim-higgins

We do often get John Higgins..the blond guy...

http://statsheet.com/mcb/referees/john-higgins

I found this comment by someone on an officiating board saying John Higgins is the son of Tim Higgins...

http://forum.officiating.com/394878-post4.html

[TheAsianSensation]

BUT -- how can that possibly be an excuse or an alibi - as we just saw last week -- the reason the cheerleader got the "T" was for the act of throwing the ball while time was still on the clock
Had the game actually been over -- the cheerleader also would not have gotten a "T" - so mistakenly thinking the game was over CLEARLY cannot be used as a defense yet that's exactly the defense this Commissioner grants the St. John's player!!! Terrible hypocrisy!!

This part I'll defend the Big East on: there is a difference between a player on the court chucking the ball with time still on the clock, and a cheerleader grabbing the ball and chucking it. If you're playing in the game, and the clock is running, you can chuck the ball halfway to the moon and it's legal. If you're not in the game, you can't do something with the ball to potentially interrupt the game.

There's plenty of other missed calls by the refs to get mad about than this potential technical.