Biggest basketball flop ever (from a REF!)

[drizzt3117]

incredible.

 

[Brian SD]

I'm so confuse!

I saw the ref fall down, but other than that I'm confused about what happened. He scored and got called on a technical foul?

Please explain.

 

[jpeirpont]

No matter the level of the sport, refs are idiots, but he takes the cake.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by Brian SD

I'm so confuse!

I saw the ref fall down, but other than that I'm confused about what happened. He scored and got called on a technical foul?

Please explain.

The player (OJ Mayo) is a high school player who is supposed to be the best guard out of HS since Lebron James.

He stole the ball, dunked it, then was received a technical foul for "taunting"

He walked away, then went back to the middle of the court, and received a second technical foul (not sure what for) and was ejected.

He followed the ref to ask him what it was for, and apparently the ref fell down without contact, then the ref claimed Mayo pushed him. People can judge that for themselves on the video but it doesn't appear he laid hands on him at all.

 

[lawyerdad]

I can't tell if it was a flop or not. Looking from behind lack that, depth perception is pretty screwed up. Certainly there was no significant push, but it looks at least possible that Mayo (perhaps inadvertently) tripped the ref or kicked his foot.
Regardless, Mayo deserved his ejection. He was trying the Sheed-style "I'm so bad" thug walk. He had no business coming up on the ref like that in that situation, regardless of whether contact was made. I don't buy that he was just approaching the ref to ask why he'd been T'd. He's played enough basketball to know perfectly well why he got both technicals. Second, he's played enough know that if he's already gotten to T's, he should be walking directly away from the officials and letting the coach or someone else talk to the refs. (From what I can tell, it looked like he'd been T'd up twice even before the "contact", which would have meant an ejection anyway.)

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by jpeirpont

No matter the level of the sport, refs are idiots, but he takes the cake.
How do you figure? That's like saying "tailors are idiots" or "firemen are idiots". Officiating sports is a challenging job. Certainly some idiots and assholes do it, but there are really good folks doing it at all levels. However, it is one of those jobs where you exert so much influence over everyone else's experience that if you do it poorly the impact is magnified. Except in rare circumstances, good officiating -- almost by definition -- tends to escape notice.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by Brian SD

I'm so confuse!

I saw the ref fall down, but other than that I'm confused about what happened. He scored and got called on a technical foul?

Please explain.
A gloss on drizzt's fairly accurate explanation. I'm pretty sure the first technical was for holding onto the ball as he walked back up court after the dunk, which constitues improper "taunting". Then, as he was stomping around the middle of the court trying to look like a bad-ass, he was clearly mouthing off. Not sure if it was directed at an opposing player or the refs, but you can see him talking as he walks right in front of a ref, who then hits him with the second T.

 

[Bandwagonesque]

I have no idea about the rules of basketball, or why the fouls were called on him... but it looks to be a trip more than a push. If the ref claims that he was "pushed", then I'd side with OJ. If the ref claimed he was tripped, then it's quite possible the ref is right.

 

[jpeirpont]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

How do you figure? That's like saying "tailors are idiots" or "firemen are idiots". Officiating sports is a challenging job. Certainly some idiots and assholes do it, but there are really good folks doing it at all levels. However, it is one of those jobs where you exert so much influence over everyone else's experience that if you do it poorly the impact is magnified. Except in rare circumstances, good officiating -- almost by definition -- tends to escape notice.
Idiot was hyperbolic, but the level of officiating you see in American sports is terrible. Did you see the crap they suspended Kobe for?

 

[drizzt3117]

Personally, I think the ref was trying to make himself the center of attention when he should have been in the background, like a good official is supposed to be.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by jpeirpont

Idiot was hyperbolic, but the level of officiating you see in American sports is terrible. Did you see the crap they suspended Kobe for?
No, I read about it but missed seeing it. At the NBA level, there's clearly an attempt to reign in the players this season, which may have contributed.
I have little basis for comparison, but is officiating in the U.S. really worse than elsewhere? From what I saw of the World Cup, for example, the level of officiating was pretty atrocious.
I do think that it's partially a function of officials only getting noticed when they screw up, not when they do well, which makes it seem like the overall performance level is worse than it really is. But that's obviously just my subjective opinion, based on limited sports-watching and incorporating my bias as a former baseball umpire.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by drizzt3117

Personally, I think the ref was trying to make himself the center of attention when he should have been in the background, like a good official is supposed to be.
I don't see it that way, but can see how you do. I absolutely agree that a good official stays in the background and does not try to make himself the center of attention. But there's a difficult line officials have to walk between that goal and the need to maintain control over the game. The more potentially explosive the situation, the more assertive the official has to be in stepping up and taking charge.
What really pisses me off is when you see an official actually continue or escalate a confrontation by taking it to the player (like an ump who takes off his mask and shouts at a batter who is muttering things on his way back to the dugout). To me, that's unforgiveable. I didn't see that here. I saw the ref making his call and then walking away toward the scorer's table, which imho is exactly the right thing to do.
In some ways, I see this as similar to the UCLA tasering incident. Reasonable minds may differ about whether the ref (or cop) acted appropriately, but most people would probably agree that it's hard to have much sympathy for Mayo (like the tasered kid) because his own behavior was clearly inappopriate.

 

[jpeirpont]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

No, I read about it but missed seeing it. At the NBA level, there's clearly an attempt to reign in the players this season, which may have contributed.
I have little basis for comparison, but is officiating in the U.S. really worse than elsewhere? From what I saw of the World Cup, for example, the level of officiating was pretty atrocious.
I do think that it's partially a function of officials only getting noticed when they screw up, not when they do well, which makes it seem like the overall performance level is worse than it really is. But that's obviously just my subjective opinion, based on limited sports-watching and incorporating my bias as a former baseball umpire.

I only said American sports because I know nothing about non American sports.

 

[norcaltransplant]

Physics tells me you don't back and to the side if someone pushes you from the rear. If anything, the ref should have spilled forward into the table. Clipping the ankle or tripping the foot is more likely, but c'mon, calling that a push is ridiculous.

BTW, Mayo definitely deserved the first technical, and probably said something inappropriate to earn the second. A technical foul can be called following a dunk if the scoring teams retains possession of the ball. It allows the scoring team to setup its defense and prevents the opposing team from running.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by norcaltransplant

Physics tells me you don't back and to the side if someone pushes you from the rear. If anything, the ref should have spilled forward into the table. Clipping the ankle or tripping the foot is more likely, but c'mon, calling that a push is ridiculous.

BTW, Mayo definitely deserved the first technical, and probably said something inappropriate to earn the second. A technical foul can be called following a dunk if the scoring teams retains possession of the ball. It allows the scoring team to setup its defense and prevents the opposing team from running.
Yes, if I had to guess I'd say there's a good chance of an inadvertent trip or foot kick, coupled with the ref basically falling because he was startled or tensed up and perhaps anticipated more contact - and then needing to portray it as a "push" to cover his embarrassment.
Think Jim Everett facing pash rushers.