The sad thing is that if it had gone in, it would've counted. Refs can't do anything about the scorekeeper starting the clock late. They need to do 2 things to fix this issues: 1. Simple, instant replay. Like the other guy said. 2. Just turn the clock off and say straight forward what is allowable with under a second left. At .8 seconds, perhaps a catch, turn and shoot. At .4 seconds, a quick shot. At .2 seconds, a tip in. They do that now, but they keep the clock on so that afterwards people go "well, he didn't shoot it in .3 seconds". Just turn the clock off and go "this is what you can do in this ammount of time". The first one is the most fair, but the NBA seems to be anti-instant replay so #2 is probably the more practical solution.
If I recall correctly, it was exactly 0.3 seconds left when Hakeem made his famous tip in against the Magic in game one of the 1995 NBA finals. Walton followed with an infamous statement. "There's still a ton of time left." In that case, it was clear that only a tip-in or deflection would be allowed. The rule change you guys referenced must have come later.
I'll post this again, straight from NBA.com's rule book... If less than :00.3 remain on the game clock when this situation (catch and shoot) occurs, the period is over, and the field goal attempt will be disallowed immediately whether successful or unsuccessful. This guideline shall apply to any field goal attempted by a player after he receives an inbounds pass, OTHER THAN what will be called, for this purpose, a "tip-in" or "alley oop." What happened in our game is that the clock was NOT at LESS than :00.3, so a catch and shoot was not automatically disallowed. Had Bonner's shot gone in, the refs would have reviewed the play and seen that the ball was out of his hand in time. Unfortunately, I don't think the clock starting late would have been up to them to decide, as I believe there is a small margin of error allowed to compensate for human reaction time. I'm really not sure what would have happened, aside from a league office review and perhaps an overturning of the decision.
Wanna know what would happen? Luis Scola would be the laughing stock of the league for making his 2nd free throw. That's what.
True. I really wonder what the players would have done. As Battier said, they would have stood at center court and protested. Ron went over to the scorer's table and kept saying "Start the clock, start the clock!" after the game was over. I also think I saw Mutombo march over there immediately and start pointing at someone. All that and the shot didn't even go in.
Makes you wonder about the refs particularly Bavetta who is supposed to be one of the best in the league if he told Battier all they can do legally us tip it in with .3 left. If it had gone in and counted, what would he have done, tell Battier "Did you get it in writing". I looked at the play again and no way did he get the shot off in .3, Bonner caught the ball and had it in his hands for a full second or more before he shot it. If you look at Fishers shot against SA when he had .4 left, he caught the ball and tossed it up in one motion. Difference was Fisher was 17 ft. from the basket and could get enough distance by tossing it up. Bonner was like 25 ft away and had to get his legs into the shot.
Another rule question here: When Scola was at the line at the end of the game, Clyde said that Luis should have just bounced his second free throw off the backboard in order to miss it purposely. Isn't it a technical foul if the ball does not hit the RIM on a free throw attempt?
Man, I knew scola was gonna make that second free throw...I told my uncle, before he eeven shot it...Scola finds a way to f**k at the free throw line.....He did that earlier in the season. He was suppose to miss a free throw, but made it instead.
In a way, maybe making the 2nd free throw is a blessing in disguise. Makes the win better cuz we had to stop 'em one more time? ah, screw the speculation. we Won. Phew...and About TIME. I'm glad I got 2 experience this win. It's one of the best wins in recent years...regular season wise.
