About That “Phantom” Three Second Call | NBA Playbook

About That “Phantom” Three Second Call

I like to criticize the referees as much as the next person, but for some reason I can’t help but think that everyone is blowing this officiating situation during these finals out of proportion.  Maybe it is because you have two fan bases who are known to complain about pretty much everything or maybe it is because of the announce team (I like Jeff Van Gundy and can live with Mark Jackson, but do they really have to go on and on about how bad every single call – even when they aren’t that bad – is during the replays?), but I just get a vibe that everyone is looking for a reason to hate on the officials.

A very good example of this came midway through the 3rd quarter.  After a Derek Fisher jumper, the Celtics came down and the refs made a very quick three second call.  Everyone was outraged.  The fans, people on Twitter, and the ESPN announce team.  All of them pointed towards the shot clock and how only 4 seconds ran off of it.  Taking a closer look though, you see this was the correct call:

Kendrick Perkins gathers the ball after Derek Fisher hits a jumper.  On a made basket, the game clock continues to run as the shot-clock holds still until a player gathers possession.

Which is what Rajon Rondo does, as he makes the catch right around his own free throw line extended.  Notice where the game clock is at, 8:45.

Rondo crosses into the frontcourt and and two seconds have run off the game clock, as it now reads 8:43.  However, only one second ran off the shot clock.  It seems like whoever operating it delayed a bit before turning it on.  One of the main points of outrage over this call was the fact that it was made with 20 seconds remaining on the shot clock.  Seeing that it was starting a second late makes sense when you think about it.

Here is where the three second count starts.  Kevin Garnett has his foot over the paint, which is by rule what needs to happen for the count to start.  Here is the rule from the NBA website:

a. An offensive player shall not remain for more than three seconds in that part of his free throw lane between the endline and extended 4′ (imaginary) off the court and the farther edge of the free throw line while the ball is in control of his team.

Kevin Garnett has a very good seal going, and instead of making the initial pass, he pump fakes.  This is why the three second call gets made.  Garnett has to hold his seal longer, which means he has to stay in the paint longer, making him susceptible for the three second call.

The pass is finally made, but with the ball in the air, the whistle gets blown and the three second call is made.  The clock shows that 3 seconds did in fact come off the clock from the time KG started in the lane.  Is it a quick trigger?  Sure, but by the letter of the rule, it is the right call.  Here it is in real time.
11
Jun 2010
POSTED BY Sebastian Pruiti
POSTED IN 2010 Playoffs A Closer Look Boston Celtics LA Lakers Officiating
DISCUSSION 11 Comments
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  • Rex

    Love this site, but c’mon now. Your method here is akin to saying that a fastball that comes in “under the armpits” is a letter-of-the-law strike. Well, yes, but if it’s never called that way, then it’s a blown call.

    And even by the strictest standard you apply here, one that I’ve never seen enforced (until last night), all this proves is that KG was in the key more than 2 seconds (partial at 8:42, full :41, :40, partial at :39).

    I thought this was the best-called game of the series, with only a few mistakes, which is the best you can hope for. But in this case, a double pump pass, the cause of the whistle, does not a three second violation make.

  • Sebastian Pruiti

    I guess this post is up here because there was a ton of outrage (like it was the worst call anyone has ever seen) on a play that wasn’t technically the wrong call.

  • FFD

    Ref actually motions to make the call 1 second earlier.

  • http://www.noiinblog.com Ian

    Maybe KG was in the paint for 3 seconds (though I generously count 2.8 from the time he steps into it to the time the ref raises his arm, with a stopwatch), but how often do you see that called so tight? I think the refs were influenced by the previous call when Fisher looked like he was fouled, and made a make-up call.

    I agree with Rex about both the blog (I’ve learned a lot reading it) and the reffing in game 4 overall, but I think this was a very bad call.

  • Luis

    Just a bad call and if this were to be called on the Lakers, it would have also been a bad call. This is beginning to look a little like wrestling and with the amount of bad calls, it’s like we, at least myself and the majority of my friends are losing interest in the playoffs. I don’t want the outcome of these finals to be determined by bad calls and I hate to say it but this is what it’s boiling down to. What a shame.

  • http://dreamleague.org/blog Poor Man’s Commish

    FYI, the perceived delay with the shotclock starting could be explained by the fact that the shotclock’s internal timer actually starts at 24.9 seconds. Mark Cuban blogged about this before.

  • Eric

    @Sebastian Pruiti

    As Rex indicated your methodology is completely flawed by not accounting for tenths of a second. Say Garnett entered the lane at 23.0 on the shot clock and then was whistled at 20.5…guess what that’s only 2.5 seconds not 3. Your screen shots prove nothing. I timed it with a stopwatch 3 times, and being very conservative from the point Garnett entered the key to the point the whistle blew the longest I could get was 2.7. So yes, even technically, this was a terrible call.

  • cmoney

    great site, but you’re wrong here, sorry. Both in your methodology, which allows for 2.something times, and the fact the league never calls it that tight. They don’t see the exact second someone’s toe enters the lane. It’s generally when they establish lane position.

    If they called it this tight, we’d actually see a ton of 3s calls. So though his toe grazes into the paint at 8:42, he didn’t establish himself in the lane until 8:41, and the whistle blew as the clock just clicked to 8:39. It also blew as a player was about to catch and go right up with it for a layup. You very rarely see 3s called during a “scoring action”. i.e., if Gasol pump fakes to get his guy in the air and he’s doing the under step through and going into his shooting motion just as his “three seconds” expires, they’ll never call that.

  • http://couchsideseats.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/2010-finals-game-4-recap-los-angeles-lakers-2-at-boston-celtics-2/ 2010 Finals Game 4 Recap: Los Angeles Lakers (2) at Boston Celtics (2) « Couchside Seats

    [...] Playbook’s Sebastian Pruiti looked at the tape and, using helpful screen caps, pointed out it was the correct call. Finally, there was that miscall on a Pierce drive with 1:17 to go where it appeared Bryant drew an [...]

  • OhYeahButter

    I hate the Celtics and Lakers so I can unbiasedly say that this call was wrong. Even when you do the one-mississippi in your head it doesn’t add up. The stopwatch thing that people have mentioned above is even more of an indication this was a fast call because you have to factor in human reflexes, stopping on the stopwatch, which take away 2-3/10th of a second. Bad call. Bad refs. Bad playoffs finals match-up. Pissed-off NBA fan.

  • painter33

    This was an overtly biased and ill-timed (no pun intended) call that gave Donaghty credibility in his assertions. If the official makes the call with twenty seconds still on the clock, when did he decide to make the call? How long between a brain synapse and a mouth blowing a whistle? Surely time ticked off that clock. So really, the call was made 1 to 1.5 seconds before the game clock shows 8:39 (as pictured)? No matter on whom the call was made, it was a premeditated call, pure and simple. That kind of officiating has no place in any basketball game let alone the NBA Finals. The officials should be publicly admonished by the League and prohibited from future employment in the NBA (or anywhere else where subjectivity occurs).