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K22
Posts: 25143
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 10/18/2006
Member: #1182 USA
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LINKHOUSTON -- NBA Commissioner David Stern said he would like to see coaches have the option to challenge officials' late-game calls with a replay system similar to the NFL's.
Officiating, what constitutes a foul worthy of a suspension, and the off-court insults in the Nuggets-Mavericks series dominated his news conference at the Toyota Center before Game 6 of the Lakers-Rockets series.
"There are two things that I'm more interested in," Stern said. "I'm a little disappointed that the competition committee hasn't been a little bolder in instant replay. The other thing I want to study is security in the broadest context, and how we on the one hand maintain the intimacy that is our game, which I think sets us apart in a good way and brings our fans closer, with making sure that our fans can come and continue to enjoy our game the way they have."
When asked to expand on how he'd like to see replay used, Stern said, "I'm a big fan of tennis, and I envy a sport where the action stops after every point, so you can make sure it's correct. We can't do that. But I think that as we have continued to take baby steps in this direction, we may be getting closer to a time when at end-game, some kind of a challenge system should be considered. I expect to be voted down 30-0.
"What we're struggling with ... we want to have a set of rules, we want to call it the way they're written, we want to have a game called the same no matter who's reffing it, and we want to assure that we get it right. Against that, we struggle with the problem of to get it perfectly right, put 16 cameras and take four hours to play the game, we can't do that and we won't do that. So what you're seeing is us move slowly to more replay. And I think this is a good time to look at it again. And it may happen and it may not happen."
Afterward he said he would like coaches to risk losing a timeout if the call is not overturned, which is the format in place in the NFL. He did not specify what types of calls he would like to see subject to review. Currently officials can use replay to determine whether a shot is a two-pointer or a three-pointer, and whether a shot was released in time before the clock expired at the end of a period. Officials can also use replay after calling a flagrant 2 foul to determine whether the play actually warrants an ejection. Any rule change would have to be approved by the league's competition committee this summer. More at the link. [Edited by - K22 on 2009-05-15 11:42 AM]
-- the preceding post was brought to you by the letter K and the number 22.
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