Alabama Officiating Blunder

[campbest]

Given the board's disdain for officials, surprised no one has brought this up or mentioned it. I watched the game last night and have to admit, it was one of the worst, late-second half calls I have ever seen. Have to agree with the article below, if I am Anthony Grant, I absolutely lose it at that point.

Tim Higgins is too old to be doing major college basketball, it's a joke that he will probably do 70-something games this year.

http://college-basketball-blog.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/27477279

 

[stoops4pres]

He was about to give a technical to Grant to, but held it in. I don't know if Higgins realized he blew the call, or just simply decided not to give the T. Maybe a little bit of both.

And Higgins isn't even among one of the most over-worked officials; saw a stat where he's worked like 39 games thus far, compared to his colleague Mike Kitts last night who has worked 73 games. Pretty obvious with this discrepancy and poor officiating that Higgins is too old to be officiating.

 

[campbest]

You want to know Tim Higgins' worst officiated game ever?

November 2008, Madison Square Garden in the NIT Championship, OU vs. Purdue.

We shot 45 free throws compared to Purdue's 5!!!

lol.

 

[Section31]

The "no-call" is what bothers me most. How often do you see a situation like this. The official, maybe trying to not affect the outcome of the game, overlooks an obvious foul that a few steps later leads to a turnover.

In a Thunder game a few nights ago, Collison is blocking out on a FT with a few seconds left in the game and the Thunder down 1 or 2. The defender is pulling him down from behind with no call. The ball bounces around and goes out of bounds. The officials give the ball to the Thunder (under the circumstances, the right call). BUT WAIT...the rules allow them to go look at the replay to see who touched it last. YEP, you guessed it...Collison DID touch it last...AS HE WAS BEING PULLED DOWN FROM BEHIND. Of course, there's little they can do about that now. The call is reversed...game over.

 

[stoops4pres]

The "no-call" is what bothers me most. How often do you see a situation like this. The official, maybe trying to not affect the outcome of the game, overlooks an obvious foul that a few steps later leads to a turnover.

Yeah, can't remember the Bama forward's name, but it was clear he got hammered and the officials didn't call anything. What exacerbated the situation was right after that when Vandy hit that and-1 shot on the elbow, and that "foul" was nowhere near as obvious or on the level of what should have been called a few moments before.

 

[campbest]

The "no-call" is what bothers me most. How often do you see a situation like this. The official, maybe trying to not affect the outcome of the game, overlooks an obvious foul that a few steps later leads to a turnover.

In a Thunder game a few nights ago, Collison is blocking out on a FT with a few seconds left in the game and the Thunder down 1 or 2. The defender is pulling him down from behind with no call. The ball bounces around and goes out of bounds. The officials give the ball to the Thunder (under the circumstances, the right call). BUT WAIT...the rules allow them to go look at the replay to see who touched it last. YEP, you guessed it...Collison DID touch it last...AS HE WAS BEING PULLED DOWN FROM BEHIND. Of course, there's little they can do about that now. The call is reversed...game over.

That was against the Heat right? Yeah, you could of busted the Heat player for a foul...on the other hand that happens on every play so you would be blowing your horn all night. It was a lose-lose situation for the Thunder...they would have gotten Collison on the line shooting two, but down three, which means the Thunder had to make the free throws, foul Miami, then get a shot off without advancing the ball (no timeouts left)...all in under 9 seconds. Referee did them a favor by giving the ball to the Thunder, but his partner ran in, they discussed and went to the monitor (as is the right thing to do per the rule)

Bottom line, didn't feel bad for the Thunder though, they forced D-Wade into a tough shot...and surprise!...they give up an offensive rebound and House drains a three.

 

[MsProudSooner]

I never saw a replay of the 4 point play in the Villanova game earlier this week. Was that a correct call?

 

[Section31]

That was against the Heat right? Yeah, you could of busted the Heat player for a foul...on the other hand that happens on every play so you would be blowing your horn all night. It was a lose-lose situation for the Thunder...they would have gotten Collison on the line shooting two, but down three, which means the Thunder had to make the free throws, foul Miami, then get a shot off without advancing the ball (no timeouts left)...all in under 9 seconds. Referee did them a favor by giving the ball to the Thunder, but his partner ran in, they discussed and went to the monitor (as is the right thing to do per the rule)

Bottom line, didn't feel bad for the Thunder though, they forced D-Wade into a tough shot...and surprise!...they give up an offensive rebound and House drains a three.

Yes, it WAS the Heat game. Thanks for the reminder.

I'm not totally disagreeing with you, but the point still stands. If you are gonna let them review a call like that, they should be able to go to the other coach and say, "yep, it was off of Collison, but your player was dragging him down from behind...Thunder ball..."

 

[Section31]

BTW, the replay of a game from the Laker/Celtic finals series from last year was on yesterday and the exact same thing happened. Gasol took a shot, a Celtic CLEARLY fouled him and the ball went off of Gasol out of bounds. They awarded the ball to the Lakers, but reviewed it and gave it back to the Celtics. It COULD have cost the Lakers that game. It didn't, but I still contend they need some flexibility in that rule.

 

[campbest]

I never saw a replay of the 4 point play in the Villanova game earlier this week. Was that a correct call?

I didn't think it was a foul...was really close though.

 

[AdaSooner]

Referee Tim Higgins, working his fifth game in five states in seven nights, did blow his whistle, but not to call a foul. Instead, he waddled two steps forward into plain view of the television cameras (all big calls must be seen by the masses), pointed at the ground and called Green out of bounds. Vanderbilt ball...game essentially over.

Love the "waddled two steps forward" description. I think that's a nice way to say that Higgins needs to lose a few pounds if he is going to call five games in seven days. :ez-laugh:

The part that gripes my butt more than anything is an official who sees himself as part of the show, and then makes a special effort, like Higgins did, to make sure he's noticed by showboating when he makes a call. Officials are taught to "sell a call." But guys like Higgins and our favorite referee :ed, carry it way too far.

Having said that, though, I'm not sure this photo is proof positive that Higgins blew the call. When you draw an imaginary line from where the sideline would be in that shot, it certainly appears that he did. The only thing we don't know is if the player's foot slipped in pushing off to make his move, or did the weight shift caused his foot to roll over and touch the line?

I think the real issue here is if an official like Higgins, who is obviously out of shape and getting up in years for someone who works as many games in different cities as he does, should be forced to rest between assignments? No one will ever convince me that, he, or anyone else for that matter, can call five games in seven days and be at their best in all of them. That is not fair to the players or coaches, and it needs to be stopped!

 

[campbest]

I think the real issue here is if an official like Higgins, who is obviously out of shape and getting up in years for someone who works as many games in different cities as he does, should be forced to rest between assignments? No one will ever convince me that, he, or anyone else for that matter, can call five games in seven days and be at their best in all of them. That is not fair to the players or coaches, and it needs to be stopped!

It won't stop until the coaches and ADs make it stop. All of these officials are contractors, therefore, they can work as much as they want. All of these guys...including Higgins...are still in demand so some will work as long as administrations will let them.

 

[AdaSooner]

It won't stop until the coaches and ADs make it stop. All of these officials are contractors, therefore, they can work as much as they want. All of these guys...including Higgins...are still in demand so some will work as long as administrations will let them.

You're right, of course. It's just a shame that players and coaches have to suffer, because greedy officials like Higgins refuse to step away from the game when it's time to retire and let someone else do it. That's not meant as a knock on old people. I'm there myself. But I know my limitations, and it's time that Higgins faced the reality of what age does to one's body.

 

[campbest]

You're right, of course. It's just a shame that players and coaches have to suffer, because greedy officials like Higgins refuse to step away from the game when it's time to retire and let someone else do it. That's not meant as a knock on old people. I'm there myself. But I know my limitations, and it's time that Higgins faced the reality of what age does to one's body.

See I take the opposite approach, I believe it is the coaches fault, they request the officials. If you're going to pay me up to $1,000/game plus travel expenses, why would I step aside? Players are suffering because their administrations are "comfortable" with the current crews. If they wanted to go out and contract younger officials (usually from the smaller conferences) they could. But they choose the older officials they are familiar with and feel they might have more of an advantage over a younger official.

As for the article above, watched the video at lunch and Higgins definitely did not "step into the camera" he was already standing pretty close to the baseline. The blog writer is completely wrong.