Matt Howard shoots the winning free throw for Butler
As fans of the game, the collective consensus regarding referee involvement in late game situations is “the refs shouldn’t determine the outcome of the game.” On the surface, that seems like what may have been the case in Saturday night’s Butler vs. Pitt game in the Southeast region, but it definitely wasn’t.
With 1.4 seconds remaining in regulation and with his team up 70 – 69, Butler’s Shelvin Mack inexplicably forced Pitt’s Gilbert Brown towards the sideline near half court. A foul is called, sending Brown to the line. There’s really no excuse for Mack to be anywhere near Brown, given the fact that it would take a lucky, desperation heave from near mid-court in order for Pitt to prevail.
Brown goes to the line and makes the first one. Tie ballgame. He then missed the next free throw, which is grabbed by Butler’s Matt Howard. As Howard grabs the rebound, for some reason unbeknonwnst to me, Pitt’s Nasir Robinson is draped all over Howard and even clearly grabs Howard’s left arm. Wisely, Howard tries a full-court shot as he gives Robinson a piggy-back ride. A foul is called.
Howard goes to the line with the score tied at 70 and with 0.8 seconds remaining. Wisely, Butler coach Brad Stevens doesn’t send any of his players to line up for the free throw so that nothing crazy can happen again. Howard makes the first and intentionally misses the second. Game over. Butler advances. Pitt goes home.
Here’s how it went down:
In both instances, fouls were clearly committed and absolutely had to be called. It’s just that they each happened with under two seconds remaining in a very close ball game which makes it more interesting. The refs had to call both fouls. They didn’t have a choice. Late in the game, naturally you’d like the refs to swallow the whistle but it wasn’t their fault. Shelvin Mack and Nasir Robinson are at fault for making bone-head (sorry, I’ve been listening to Charles Barkley all weekend) plays, so don’t blame the refs. If the refs didn’t make those calls, they’d be under much more scrutiny than they are now. They were just doing their job, which is to call fouls when they happen no matter what juncture of the game in which they occur. And it’s not as if they were questionable calls. Each were blatant fouls.
I thought that Mack’s foul was the dumbest I had ever seen in the NCAA tournament. Luckily for him, Robinson bailed him out and Mack’s is now the second dumbest I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure we’ll ever see a more ridiculous foul than the one Robinson committed.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
