(Video via Awful Announcing) Musberger and Lavin are now facing heavy criticism for their seeming cluelessness about the controversial finish, which included a shot (maybe) going over the backboard, which would negate the fact that it then went through the rim.
Writes Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News:
That's the problem. Neither Musburger - who got involved in basketball shortly after Dr. Naismith invented it - nor Lavin, a former coach, even discussed the possibility Shipp's basket should not have counted. Considering ABC replayed the shot eight times, the voices had ample time to tackle the subject.
Writes Neil Best of Newsday:
What I find interesting is they did not discuss the potential illegality of the winning shot from behind the backboard, which was a major topic of conversation on SportsCenter.
I find it interesting, too. When Lavin exclaimed, "From behind the backboard, Brent," they should have addressed whether the shot was legal or not. They dropped the ball there.
But after the jump, see where I think they really dropped the ball.
What really bothered me is that Lavin repeatedly referred to "Jimmy Chitwood and the picket fence." As every Hoosiers fan knows, it wasn't Jimmy but Merle who hit the game-winning shot off the picket fence:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-11-2008 @ 10:46AM
Huh? said...
Don't get caught watching the paint dry
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3-11-2008 @ 10:48AM
Mike said...
They never said anything about the UCLA player punching the ball out of bounds at the end of the game. You are not allowed to strike the ball with a fist.
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3-11-2008 @ 12:13PM
bosordsjc said...
FYI, Lavin was on ESPN radio this weekend and explicitly said that it was legal for a shot to go over the backboard before going in and that this was the "Larry Bird special."
It's pretty remarkable that a coach doesn't know the rules.
And, of course, the one time Larry Bird hit a shot like that -- in a game against Atlanta -- it was waved off because it's not legal.
Lavin is an idiot.
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3-11-2008 @ 12:23PM
sal cunningham said...
Musburger all time worst announcer!!!!!!!!!!!!11
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3-11-2008 @ 12:37PM
ACE said...
THE SHOT IS TOTALLY LEGAL. If some of you actually played college ball you would know that if the ball touches the TOP OR BACK of the backboard it is therefore out of bounds. I don't know why they even let some of these individuals who never bounced a ball nor have any skill post these messages and reports.
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3-11-2008 @ 12:49PM
dpettey33 said...
Check out Rule Seven, Section One, Article Three. "The ball shall be out of bounds when it passes over the backboard
from any direction." Seems pretty clear to me.
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3-11-2008 @ 12:58PM
Corey in DC said...
ACE, apparently you forgot to read your rulebook?
NCAA Rule Book Rule 7, Section 1, Article 3:
"The ball shall be out of bounds when it passes over the backboard from any direction"
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3-11-2008 @ 2:56PM
shawn said...
Think about this. What if it was the other way around and a Cal player made that shot to win the game. You better believe Lavin would be screaming that the shot was illegal!
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3-11-2008 @ 1:07PM
ACE said...
ACE, you are SO RIGHT! I know what the rule book says but I played ball at Stanford in the 90's and this is something that happens all the time. The ball is not ruled out unless it touches. Its like the NCAA and NFL rule about pushing a runner with the ball. In football it is not called unless you literally pick the player up and push and in basketball this is not called unless the ball touches something.....SPEAK THE TRUTH MY NCAA HOOPS BROTHER
Corey i can see that you either never had fun in college or played any sport or your just a COMP GEEK or maybe a CAL FAN either way it sucks to be YOU ACE IS RIGHT
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3-11-2008 @ 1:56PM
Julian said...
Uh...ACE? You forget to log in as someone else when agreeing with your own idiotic comment?
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3-11-2008 @ 3:26PM
Coach Bobo said...
Ace just passed the ball to himself, which is totally illegal.
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3-11-2008 @ 4:02PM
NICK said...
The refs should have just asked Brent what he thought. They did in 1987 when #1 UNLV vs #2 Oklahoma when a UNLV player shot a three there was some controversy about whether it was 2 or 3. It was a three but the refs asked Brent about it and he said it was 2. UNLV lost by one point... I HATE MUSBERGER
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3-11-2008 @ 4:28PM
Dave said...
Lavin said it was a Larry Bird type shot. He should have known that Bird's shot did not count because it was over the backboard.
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3-11-2008 @ 4:49PM
Pat Knochke said...
These two announcers are at the bottem of the list as far as I'm concerned. They should not be allowed to announce nationally televised games. They bologna they talk about during the games interests very few. Stick to what is happening on the court.
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3-11-2008 @ 6:46PM
Phil G said...
Did anyone directly connected to the game lodge a complaint or protest about the legality of the shot?
Did the losing school or conference protest the end result because of an alleged illegal shot being the resultant difference?
Did anyone chastize the refs for missing the alleged illegal shot?
And if it was an illegal shot why are the announcers the only ones being critized?
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3-11-2008 @ 7:30PM
Daron said...
as bad as they were about that call. the real problem with that game is the fact the refs didnt call the rapeing of anderson in the corner. even though the refs and everyone else could hear ucla's coach calling his players to foul.
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3-12-2008 @ 12:30AM
charles said...
it was a judgement call by the refs the announcers only called what they saw i see some ucla haters if it was unc most would be excited about it east coast bias
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3-12-2008 @ 12:08PM
Woody English said...
Even better. These two bozos confirmed (as does the naked eye) that the shot came OVER the backboard. OK, they didn't know the rule. Either did I.
Then, the all-time, obviously one-eyed, corporate sucking, ref kissing IDIOT, Dickie V, brayed for a day that the call was questionable and that it didn't come from behind, but only over the side of the backboard, babeeeee....
Four more weeks of that idiot? Oh, my .... then I look forward to a summer of Tim McCarver. Ohhhhh.... crank up the stereo!
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3-12-2008 @ 3:51PM
konafan said...
This may not be the specific venue for my comment but we are discussing telecasts of basketball. After a dunk, a block, a foul, etc., the camera shot is always a close up of the subject player. Meanwhile the ball is being advanced up court to the opposite basket. I have missed seeing steals, shots, turnovers, and more while the idiot in charge doesn't have the awareness to switch camera shots. ESPN does it, Fox also, and the networks as well. I have not been able to find any link to comment to the offending networks. If you know how to reach them please let me know. I would like to see what's actually happening on the court, not a closeup of someone who has already finished doing something
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3-12-2008 @ 5:01PM
Corey in DC said...
Oh man ACE, you just made my day. Seriously. Maybe shootin' over the backboard and passing to yourself is cool wherever you played JUCO ball, but here in the real world it still is illegal.
Oh, and ACE...make sure and let me know what ACE thinks about that. And by ACE, I mean you AND your hoops brother.
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