January 11, 2008

Heat awarded do-over against Hawks: The teams must replay the last 51.9 seconds due to a scoring error on number of fouls against Shaq.

posted by graymatters to basketball at 05:06 PM - 17 comments

Two questions: 1. With a Feb. 22 NBA trade deadline, will these even be the same teams when they meet in March? 2. Will the bookies give a do-over as well if the results change?

posted by graymatters at 05:22 PM on January 11, 2008

3. Has this ever happened before in the NBA? The article uses the word "unprecedented" to describe the event, so I'll guess they did their due diligence and the answer is "no". Pretty unreal. By overtime all of the players are warmed up and the action is typically very fast paced. The start of a game tends to have a slower pace. It'll be interesting to see them replay these last 52 seconds "immediately prior" to their next match-up. And the Vegas question is interesting. Anyone bet on the game?

posted by DudeDykstra at 05:55 PM on January 11, 2008

I'm not entirely convinced that this healthy for proffesional sports in general. With the current groundswell of criticism for pro officiating this may well open a can of worms that should remain sealed. I realize that it was not the officiating crew that made the mistake but most will not acknowledge the difference. I firmly believe that once a game is in the record books ...leave it well enough alone. 100% fairness and accuracy in anything of a competitive nature is impossible and we have managed to live with and accept that reality till now. Next thing you know we will be flying pro teams all over the country to reply the final seconds of controversially called games. Of course I could be overreacting a bit ;-) Acctually now that I've written this diatribe I realize that I probably don't really give a damn....

posted by Sprdave32 at 06:11 PM on January 11, 2008

3. Has this ever happened before in the NBA? Apparently not exactly. From the ESPN article, "The protest is the first granted by the NBA since December 1982, when then-NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien upheld a request for a replay by the San Antonio Spurs after their 137-132 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers the previous month." Actually, I also have NBA Shoutaround on in the background, and I'm hearing something about how there have been 4 "do-overs" before this.

posted by jmd82 at 06:31 PM on January 11, 2008

Yea, with only 82 games to play in a season this 52 seconds should be replayed. Come this post season we'll all look back on this as the pivotal point in the season.

posted by Familyman at 07:20 PM on January 11, 2008

question: 2. Will the bookies give a do-over as well if the results change? No, according to Bet365 Group, one of the leading betting and gaming companies in the United Kingdom. The results will stand as per the game on the originally played date.

posted by tommybiden at 07:36 PM on January 11, 2008

I'm not entirely convinced that this healthy for proffesional sports in general. With the current groundswell of criticism for pro officiating this may well open a can of worms that should remain sealed. I realize that it was not the officiating crew that made the mistake but most will not acknowledge the difference. I firmly believe that once a game is in the record books ...leave it well enough alone. 100% fairness and accuracy in anything of a competitive nature is impossible and we have managed to live with and accept that reality till now. Next thing you know we will be flying pro teams all over the country to reply the final seconds of controversially called games. Of course I could be overreacting a bit ;-) Acctually now that I've written this diatribe I realize that I probably don't really give a damn.... The result may be important. What happens if the Heat (who lost the game within the last minute) are one win from making the playoffs? You can say that they do not deserve to go having missed the 8th seed in their division and not being good enough to have a better record, but is that assessment fair?

posted by Cave_Man at 10:33 PM on January 11, 2008

The originally losing Spurs won the last replayed game over the Lakers. I would love to have heard Chick Hearn's call for that one.

posted by Newbie Walker at 01:19 AM on January 12, 2008

I agree that the result could definately effect the Heat's postseason chances and it is always a travesty when a technical or officiating error has season changing repercussions. On the other hand there is no possible way to recreate the dynamics surounding the last 52 seconds of that particular game, thus rendering the outcome of the do-over questionable. Again, I'm not a fan of either team ...in fact I'm not much of an NBA fan at all any more. I am a fan of Shaq's though; he and Duncan and a few others are the only ones left from pro basketballs glory days.

posted by Sprdave32 at 07:35 AM on January 12, 2008

I think we all seen some HORRIFIC calls late in a game and never seen a game result changed. I think of really, really, slow clock starts on home court. I wonder why those are not reviewable and this resulted in a do-over.

posted by jc at 02:53 PM on January 12, 2008

Yes, but when you take one team's starting center out of the game, it's hard to excuse that. A bad foul, a lousy spot, a blown strike call, they happen all the time, and there's usually some chance for a team to overcome them. When you take a player out of the game, though, I see that as a different circumstance altogether. That's a whole different kind of handicap.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:32 PM on January 12, 2008

I think you may be missing the "little picture" here. It was a error by the Hawks scoring table , who is provided by the home team. Makes you wonder how often this COULD happen and not be caught. Every edge helps, and I think the $50,000 fine was not enough. It needs to be enough that no team will even think about it. If it was just a 'mistake', then the Hawks should do an 8D triggering a root cause, with the hope of lowering their DPM. I agree with sprdave32.. I probably don't really give a damn....

posted by scuubie at 04:10 PM on January 12, 2008

Hmmm . . . Something sounds fishy here. We should, in keeping with the current fad, call this "foulgate."

posted by brainofdtrain at 05:36 PM on January 12, 2008

762* New England Patriots 16*-0 Atlanta Hawks 15*-21 Somehow the Hawks just don't fit in.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 06:45 PM on January 12, 2008

In the late '70s, there was a replay of the end of a game between Phl and NJ (I think). By the time of the replay, there had been a trade between the teams. A couple of players ended up scoring points for both teams in the 'same game'. But I wonder why the Heat coaching staff didn't make a stink at the time. Didn't anyone count Shaq's fouls? Couldn't they have checked the game log and found the error within a few minutes? Riley must be slipping.

posted by mike goodman at 08:50 AM on January 13, 2008

I was thinking the same thing, Mike. You'd think Shaq would know his own fouls, or the coach, or the bench guy, or the TV announcers, or at least some fan who yelled at the ref "Shaq's only got 5 fouls a** holes!"

posted by DudeDykstra at 05:54 PM on January 13, 2008

Yea, with only 82 games to play in a season this 52 seconds should be replayed. Come this post season we'll all look back on this as the pivotal point in the season. Ya, because ya know these teams will be fighting for the playoffs... I think it's rediculous and completely bizzare. I wonder how many guys lost their jobs over this one.. :p

posted by Kendall at 11:08 PM on January 13, 2008

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