Stupid Support

[GoZips]

I asked Zeke yesterday (Monday, Feb. 25) about the dunk. To paraphrase his response, Zeke did not hang on the rim.

What you see in the replay is the release of kinetic energy from his forward motion. It was, simply put, a hasty, bad call.

[GoZips88]

I didn't notice which official (trail, center or lead) made the call, but so much of officiating is position.

It was the lead official and he didn't hesitate. As I watched Zeke dunk the ball, my first thought was "He's going to get T'd." The official was standing near the baseline on the Gucci Row side of the court opposite the Akron bench.

The subjective nature of officiating (especially basketball?) is frustrating. Thank goodness I can retreat to downhill skiing, bobsled, and curling!

[Captain Kangaroo]

I couldn't imagine how the 5k Zips fans would have erupted in horror and disdain if the NDSU center had performed the identical dunk as Zeke.

[Zipmeister]

I asked Zeke yesterday (Monday, Feb. 25) about the dunk. To paraphrase his response, Zeke did not hang on the rim.

What you see in the replay is the release of kinetic energy from his forward motion. It was, simply put, a hasty, bad call.

I knew it.

All you guys who said he hung on the rim for a second are wrong.

He didn't hang on the rim at all.

He got T'ed for releasing kinetic energy.

[Hilltopper]

How many 7 foot centers know what kinetic energy is? Go Zeke!

[odhgibo]

It was the lead official and he didn't hesitate. As I watched Zeke dunk the ball, my first thought was "He's going to get T'd." The official was standing near the baseline on the Gucci Row side of the court opposite the Akron bench.

This makes it even worse, then.

Lead official should be looking essentially eye level downward. The mental picture we're given is that lead wears a baseball cap like Mike Fischlin, for you old Tribe fans, so that anything from the net upward is not in field of view. This is why basket interference, goaltending, ball over backboard, and shot clock violations are called by center or trail.

Lead would not have as good of a sense of momentum, speed, height of jump, defender's position, etc. it's not that he's prohibited from making the call; it's just not in his area of primary responsibility.

[Hilltopper]

Here's the guy who made the call. Notice something about his resume'?

John Yorkovich

John

Yorkovich 232 38.3 77 247 17 34.9 2 10 Summit League, Horizon

Guess which team he has called the most games for?

North Dakota State 20 386 19 8.5

[odhgibo]

Here's the guy who made the call. Notice something about his resume'?

John Yorkovich

Guess which team he has called the most games for?

Don't read too much into number of games with NDSU. Games are not assigned by schools.

Probably a more relevant factor is that he works a lot in the Summit and MAC, where the kind of play in question happens once in a blue moon. You're not expecting it and, when it happens, it looks wrong.

[Dave in Green]

@HS Stripes, thanks for your intelligent analysis. You appear to have some actual officiating experience or background. What I quoted from were NCAA official guidelines used to explain in more detail how officials are expected to enforce the rules under different circumstances. The key point from the NCAA perspective is that player safety is the primary concern. Had Zeke not grabbed on to the rim under those very specific circumstances, it's likely he may have been injured. Had he released any sooner than he did, it's likely he may have been injured. The rule was not applied correctly in this situation. But given that even some Zips fans believe that Zeke deserved a technical, it's easy to see how an official might also be fooled into thinking he saw something else.

The official who made the call was Pat Driscoll, who primarily officiates Big Ten and Big East games. He's a 17-year veteran with 12 years experience officiating in the NCAA tournament, so he's obviously well thought of by the NCAA. I don't believe that Driscoll was trying to screw Akron or that he's a dumb ref. It was a unique situation that none of us has ever seen before. I believe that if Driscoll reviewed the video at slow speed and judged it by the detailed NCAA officiating guidelines, he would agree that Zeke's actions were taken exclusively to protect his own safety, which the NCAA says is its primary concern. But incorrect judgment calls are made throughout every game. It's part of the game everyone has to live with.

[Dave in Green]

I'm almost positive it was Driscoll who made the call, not Yorkovich.

[FearTheRoo]

Also, as someone who wears the stripes, I was at the game. First, my position, and everyone else's on this forum, was not as advantageous as the lead official who made the call. That being said, I was surprised at the T. I felt what many hear feel is that momentum and size of the player was not taken into consideration. Holding the whistle a bit longer may have caused him to pass on the call. I can almost promise you this was discussed in their post game. Not sure if Driscoll would have changed his call after discussing it or watching the video, but I think all would admit that it was borderline.

The fact that we have two who wear the stripes with different calls is an example of how opinion and experience enter into the art of officiating at this level. Admittedly, I have not worked at the D-1 level, but I still think he could have passed on the call.

For the fans to celebrate and respond as the Maryland students did some one needs to put a muzzle on Akron pep band.

It is not only loud and overbearing it is much worse ... it it intrusive, The director fires up the band at the least sliver of

silence and bangs the band onward even into when play on the floor has resumed. It is ugly and not conducive to crowd

participation. Obviously the Maryland mosh was well co-ordinated and timed. Perhaps it can be tried at Akron. I hope so.

Um, isn't all that you complained about the core reason for a college pep band to exist?

[Dave in Green]

A close review of the video shows that Driscoll is the one who made the call. The other two refs have sandy colored, thinning hair, and both show up in the video at the other end of the court. Driscoll has a fuller head of hair that's darker. He's the one who ran down the far sideline and into the corner. His arms are moving into a T the moment Zeke's feet hit the floor, and Zeke only held the rim for 1 second. So that's how quick he made the call. It was pure reflex action.

[odhgibo]

Also, as someone who wears the stripes, I was at the game. First, my position, and everyone else's on this forum, was not as advantageous as the lead official who made the call.

This is my only point of disagreement. The worst place to see the whole play is floor level, looking up. (Actually, coaches have the worst vantage point, but they never realize it .) I wish fans understood how different the game looks when you're on the floor, without the advantage of a downward angle perspective.

If the lead did make the call, he had run with the play from the instant that the ball was stolen and, presumably, was officiating the defender (at least that's what's supposed to occur). When he saw that the defender was not going to make a play on the ball or on Zeke, his attention immediately had to switch to Zele.

Rather than the 3-4 seconds that fans watched Zeke matriculate down the floor (hat tip Hank Stram), the lead official had a second to focus on part of the jump and the throw down. In that same second, he also had to determine whether the defender now was under Zeke.

He didn't have the advantage of perspective that the fans or TV audience had, so it would be very difficult to gauge whether Zeke had hit "terminal velocity."

It's a very tough position to be in. If he doesn't call it and an evaluator later deems it to have been excessive, he's going to get dinged.

[Dave in Green]

@HS Stripes, every time I read anyone describing their view of what happened, I keep going back and looking at the video to see how that compares with the perception. In this case, the official had a clear view of the entire play from beginning to end. The official is standing right by the halfcourt line when Zeke makes the steal, and he takes off toward the other end ahead of Zeke, watching him every step of the way.

It just struck me that some folks may be watching different versions of the video. There's one on YouTube that shows only one angle and is a little blurry. I'll include a link to the good one, which is higher def and includes both side and front angle views. Watching the video in real time gives you one perspective. Stopping the video and dragging the slider a frame at a time gives a more detailed look at every element of the event. Obviously it also helps to view the video full screen and not in a small window.

[odhgibo]

@HS Stripes, every time I read anyone describing their view of what happened, I keep going back and looking at the video to see how that compares with the perception. In this case, the official had a clear view of the entire play from beginning to end. The official is standing right by the halfcourt line when Zeke makes the steal, and he takes off toward the other end ahead of Zeke, watching him every step of the way.

My earlier point is that "clear view" is not the same as a good perspective. Calling official (lead) is essentially even with play as it is happening. He's looking across the floor and up ... while running. (I watched twice but could not confirm that he was watching Zeke the entire way. He should have been focusing, in whole or part, on the defender until about the top of the key, when it became clear that no defensive play was going to be made. That point is not as important, however.)

The video is from a fixed position at an elevated angle: clear view AND good perspective.

Zeke acquired possession halfway between NDSU's 3-point arc and half-court line. I counted only 3 dribbles to get from there to a couple feet inside his own foul line, which is where he jumped. This is why, IMO, the amount of time his hands were on the rim was not excessive, which is how this rule is to be interpreted. (If anyone has access to a college size floor, see how far you can get with 3 dribbles, even with a running start.)

[Dave in Green]

@HS Stripes, I need to slow down when I read your posts, as they're packed with good points.

I'd like to take a swing at this from a slightly different perspective. Going back to the NCAA officiating guidelines, they talk about two problems with hanging on the rim -- player safety and game delays from damaged equipment. I started thinking about what might have happened to Zeke if the rim/backboard had failed when he was fully extended with his back to the floor. He would have fallen nearly 10 feet directly onto his back, which could have produced a serious injury.

Considering that, was it in fact the right thing for the official to give Zeke a T for putting himself in such a potentially dangerous position? Even though Zeke was not trying to end up in that awkward position, he has no game experience with steals and full-speed slams like that one. We all now know what can happen when a player of his size approaches the basket head-on for a slam at that speed and height. Was it a good warning to Zeke that if he ever finds himself in a similar situation that he should not run directly at the rim but perhaps approach more from the side and slam the ball through without needing to grab the rim to keep from hitting his head on the rim or backboard?

[Zipmeister]

@HS Stripes, I need to slow down when I read your posts, as they're packed with good points.

I'd like to take a swing at this from a slightly different perspective. Going back to the NCAA officiating guidelines, they talk about two problems with hanging on the rim -- player safety and game delays from damaged equipment. I started thinking about what might have happened to Zeke if the rim/backboard had failed when he was fully extended with his back to the floor. He would have fallen nearly 10 feet directly onto his back, which could have produced a serious injury.

Considering that, was it in fact the right thing for the official to give Zeke a T for putting himself in such a potentially dangerous position? Even though Zeke was not trying to end up in that awkward position, he has no game experience with steals and full-speed slams like that one. We all now know what can happen when a player of his size approaches the basket head-on for a slam at that speed and height. Was it a good warning to Zeke that if he ever finds himself in a similar situation that he should not run directly at the rim but perhaps approach more from the side and slam the ball through without needing to grab the rim to keep from hitting his head on the rim or backboard?

AH! The light begins to break.