Interesting thread to read...... I'll offer my perspective as both a fan and as an official.
I thought it was a foul and was an easy one to call. Crocker was beaten on the play and out of position when he reached across and slapped the ball, but at the same time came across the shooter's arm and ripped it away. It's hard not to get the arm when you're reaching from behind to strip the ball...... As I watched the replay during the game I wondered why Tony protested as much as he did because it was obviously the right call...... and I'm as much a homer fan for OU as anyone.
Now for the position of the officials...... I'm speaking from the perspective of being an official. Like Ada and some others (e.g. campbest), I've been in their shoes. I've called 1000's of games at the HS and JH level (not college) so I've experienced the subtle issues, gone through the training, made mistakes, etc.
First, the trail official wasn't 50 feet away. The court is 94 feet long and I promise he was on the right side of the half court line. In a 3-person crew the trail official is generally at about the top of the extended circle which is 25 feet from the baseline, whereas the trail on the weak side is generally around the free throw line extended which is 19 feet from the baseline.
There is also a strong side and a weak side, and it can change several times during a half court set as the offense passes the ball. What that means is as the baseline official moves to the side of the ball (imagine the baseline official isn't supposed to stay in the paint longer than 3 seconds, too, so he rotates to the side of the lane), the trail on that side moves up to the top of the circle and the other official on the weak side drops down to the free throw line extended.
It looked to me as if the play was happening as the officials weren't finished with a switch .... no big deal, but the baseline official was on the weak side so Singletary was between the baseline official and Crocker. Tony did slap the ball, but it was an easy call for the trail to see him reaching for the ball and pulling the arm out from behind..... especially as campbest pointed out he was following the ball because the drive initiated from his coverage area so it was his responsibility to follow the ball until Singletary gave up possession. I think it was an easier call to see Tony pull the arm than to see a hand in the back..... he was blocked from that call IMHO.
Maybe the ref was a split second late because officials try not to double whistle a play and he was deferring to the baseline official ...... but officials are often criticized for anticipating a call so he waited for it to play out. I'm only guessing.
As for the one-and-one call Tony fouled him on the drive. He wasn't shooting. I would have called it on the floor, too. The only reason he got 2 shots is they were in the double bonus. The ref may have signaled it was on the floor so initially he signaled one-on-one but the scorekeeper told the ref they were over the 10 foul limit.
Mixing up numbers is easy to do. The ref is concentrating on calling the play and then has to pick up the number of the shooter (I suspect he did that first) and then the number of the defender (by then the players are mixed together). I often screw up early in a half when calling a foul on the floor and not getting the number of the offensive player, and then being told it's the 7th foul so they shoot the bonus ..... and having to check with the other officials to get the offensive player's number. I'd bet $10 the ref was getting Singletary's number right before trying to pick up Tony's number. You have to report both numbers to the scorekeeper when reporting the foul.
I'm just giving you my perspective .... in the end I thought it was the right call. Sorry if it's too much information.
