Many are scratching their heads, wondering if the call by the referees at the end of regulation time of the A Division Girls’ Basketball Championship final between Hwa Chong Institution and Raffles Institution (RI) was on the mark.
In the dying seconds of the final, RI’s Hannah Ng (#4) intercepted a pass to Amelia Lee (HCI #10) before Deanna Ng (RI #13) was released on the break by Vienna Chua Qi (#6). With time winding down, Deanna Ng successfully made what RI thought was a game-winning basket, but the referees disallowed it as they judged that the final buzzer has already gone before she released the ball.
With the score tied at 53-53 at the buzzer, this forced the game into overtime, where HCI went on to win 65-60.
Not sure if that was the right call?
Now you can make your own decision. Just follow this method devised by Erwin “Statsman” Wong, Red Sports’ resident guru on all things statistical.
All you need is a stop-watch.
Here is what you should do – play the YouTube video that shows the final minutes of the regulation time. At the 6:15 minute mark, HCI is making the inbound pass, starting the final play of the game. The clock is down to 13.3 seconds at this point (as shown during the 5:35 mark).
Start your stop-watch from the time the HCI player receives the ball from the inbound pass (throw in). Then stop it the moment the ball leaves Deanna Ng’s hands at the end.
If it is below 13.3 seconds, the basket should have counted and RI should have been the new champions. If it is more than 13.3 seconds, the referees were on the mark.
You decide.
was there at the match as a volunteer and i happend to b standing at side where the buzzer speaker was. i heard the buzzer (vry soft) go off RIGHT BEFORE the shot went in. and then suddenly the MAIN buzzer from the table was sounded. main buzzer was controlled by the table of judges so obviously their reaction time wld have caused human error. so i rly think it was NOT A WRONG CALL & hc was vry vry lucky
why bball at sbc sunday not saturday???
Ok. Here is my own statement after watching the video with sound enabled. The airhorn sounded after the ball had been released from Deanna Ng (RI #13). But, if you listen carefully, there were 2 different buzzer that went off; the buzzer from the equipment (very soft), and the airhorn pressed by table official (which was what I believed everyone can hear in the video). My personal opinion: the buzzer that went off from the equipment was before the ball being released. There was a delay reaction by the table official who pressed the airhorn, which sounded after the ball being released. My supporting fact: If the time keeper had started the clock once the ball touches the player after the inbound throw-in, it was approximately more than 14 sec till the ball released from Deanna Ng (RI #13) at the other end of the court. That was longer than 13.3 sec left on the game clock before the throw-in was administered. Last but not least, my feeling for both teams: RI was just too luckily while HCI escaped narrowly.
Sorry, I mean RI was too Unluckily…
Well, i think that the decision was wrong, her ball already left her hand and hit the board then the buzzer goes off base on the youtube video.
i agree with passerby.
i believe the BUZZER WASN’T IN SYNC WITH THE CLOCK.
so i guess it’s due to equipment problem, no?
For all we know, she made the shot AFTER 13.3 seconds, but BEFORE the buzzer went off, falling into that gray area of human and electronic inaccuracy. Eg. she made the shot at 13.8 but buzzer went at 14.5.
Buzzers are controlled by game/shot clocks meaning it sounds when it is 0. As far as I know, start of game clock, restarting of shot clocks and adding of score/fouls are controlled by the table.
In basketball, the game clock signifies the end of the game and I’m not sure if the buzzer is controlled by the clock or is it controlled by the scoring table, ie will the buzzer goes off automatically when clock turn 0 or is the the scoring table official press the buzzer when clock turn 0.
anyway, i was present at the game and i was paying particular action to the game clock and the shot. I thought the buzzer was a bit late, only a moment after clock turn 0 then the buzzer sounded.
Technically, if the buzzer signifies the end of the game, then it should ‘start sounding’ frm 0.5, so that when we hear the sound then it will be 0. If only after we see the 0 on the game clock then the buzzer went off, it would be a tad late. (Hope you understand what i’m talking about)
Too bad the video cant prove this, hopefully someone from the other side of the court took a video which includes the game clock, that would be good evidence to see which decision was right.
the referee closest to the net DID NOT disallow the shot (until he saw it being disallowed by the other referee). the referee FURTHER from the net disallowed it. shouldn’t the referee closer to the net have a better judgement? or shouldn’t the referees discussed the decision first? the call off was made by just ONE referee.
regardless of the time, the referees should play it by buzzer. if not what is the buzzer for? the buzzer should be in sync with the clock. ball left her hand BEFORE buzzer sounded
Yes, they should definitely play it by buzzer at that time. But you see, now that it is over, we get the advantage of the replay + timing it ourselves instead of relying on the buzzer. I believe that would be more accurate in forming opinions, dont you think?
It is true that based on this video, the ball did left her hand before buzzer sounded BUT based on this video, we are ALSO NOT SURE if the buzzer is IN SYNC with the clock.
Yes, the buzzer is there for a purpose, but so is the game clock, all the timings that alot ppl have done might not be the most accurate views but it definitely reflected that there is a slight discrepany between the time remaining (13.3s) and the time which the buzzer sounded (definitely more than 13.3s)
without the game clock in this video, it’s tough to make a certain answer
Let me repeat: In FIBA Rule, it’s the trail referee’s responsibility to judge whether does the shot made count or not. (In this kind of situation) It’s not for the lead referee (under the basket) to decide.
Guys, I think you’re not quite getting the point of this test/method. I see you’re talking about buzzer and all, rather you should judge yourselves by what you time on your own clock. In doing so, it eliminates the need for the buzzer. (:
At this point, who do you wanna trust? your own timing, or equipment that has proved to be a bit shaky?
I say, to make the test more accurate, mute the video. Go by sight only. Start and stop THE MOMENT the ball reaches/leaves the hands.
But this discussion is good, keep it going 😉
FYI – in bball it is the final buzzer that determines the end of the match, not the ref whistle. In other sports like floorball and netball, ref determines the end of the match not the final buzzer. Correct me if I am wrong (:
its more than 14 secs…
i was at the match. was taking extra notice at the shot clock in the final moments, the shot definitely went in after the quarter ended, but the buzzer sounded a lil late i think.
tried it twice. ri should’ve won.
i totaly agree with rocketboy. i mean what marks the end of a match? it is ultimately the whistle right? it is not abt argueing but allowing those who truely deserve to win the title. the girls shld not be penalized by the unprofessionalism. if this had happened during one of the yog matches, would the outcome still be the same? more thoughts and discussions would have been put into this incident instead of merely 1 sentence tt snatched away their champion. when athletes are in a match (esp the last few sec) , none of them will look at the timer. they will fight till the last sec when the whistle is blown. exactly in this case but i think the way the issue is handled is very disappointing.
all the players on court will fight till the very end and thats what both teams did. kudos to them both but sadly for rj their shot just wasnt in time and they didnt want it as bad as hc during overtime.
How are you so sure that raffles didn’t want it as bad as hc? And either way, no one can accurately tell how true the ref’s call was, based on this method, because it is very prone to human error. Reaction time of 1s is actually quite possible, especially because this is upon only 13.3s, making it even more possible for mistakes.
i wont deny tt. but still if this issue is creating a debate here, shldnt someone clarify it with all of us. if theres is 2 view points, it just means tt we have different understanding of the rules. dont the referee/oraganiser have the duty to ensure tt this will nt happen again? or even apologise for the mistake?
well… it was a tie till overtime. RJ had an equal chance as HC to fight back in the 5mins.
good post. raffles is known to have good mental strength i thought? equal footing at end of regular time. she, who fights harder and last longer, wins. and sadly, to rj fans, hc did that yesterday. all the best to all next season
I think the refree who gave that call was JIMMY.
There is no lighting on the boards so the horn is the next best barometer to wether the shot was good and the horn sounded well after the shot was released. And in games, the reaction time for the officials to start the clock is not as accurate as right now the hundreds of us doing this test from home! Its not fair that anyone should entirely blame the officiating though, although Singapore officials are very unprofessional. However, I feel that the officials should not have waved the shot off. RJ should have won. Simply because, 1. The decision was only made by ONE official. As you can see the official nearest to play merely emphasized the call and did not whistle the call. He would have had a better view of exactly when the shot was released. ONE person changed the history of RJ basketball. The decision should have not been so hasty and the referees should have come together and discussed the decision before coming to a common consensus. Also, secondly, LET THE PLAYER’S PLAY. I mean come on, let the girl be a hero. YOU HAVE TO GIVE HER THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. After a decision like that, how would you expect RJ to continue fighting as hard in the OT session? This is where heros are born and unfortunately, the opportunity for Deanna to win RJ the championship was waved off by an unfortunate hasty, and unfortunate decision.
With reference to your second point, to “let the girl be a hero” would be a rather unprofessional act by the referees, don’t you think. In a way, they opened the door for someone else to be a hero in overtime with that call.
Yes, to be fair, they are just 17, 18, 19 year olds, but a championship-winning team would have the mental strength to recover from a set-back/debatable call to seal the game in overtime.
You’re right to say a championship team would have the mental strength, but do take note that the shot was released AFTER the horn sounded and should have been counted in. As you can tell, the whole bench were ecstatic upon seeing the shot go in before the horn and upon realising the referee called it “no basket”, it crumbled their hopes of a chance at winning it.
Oops,typed too quickly. i meant “but do take note that the shot was released BEFORE the horn sounded”
not AFTER. heh
you HEH also no use, the time has already run out. if you are present, it was quite clear the buzzer also sounded. you heh somemore, hc is still the winners this season. maybe you can rally for more professional refs and equipment. but..till the next seasonnn
i WAS present and the shot went in before the horn. quite clearly shown on the video as well. I’m not denying the fact that hc are the winners, instead I’m answering the question if her lay-up was before or after the final buzzer, which would have cost hc the title.
get your facts right,i’m not bringing down hc.
i WAS present too? so everybody has their own sides of the story. why don’t you look at the shotclock then instead of listening to the buzzer?
and if the ref reaction were really slower in starting the time, it only meant that the buzzer should have sounded even earlier.
last post. with regard to ‘crumbling their hopes’… after ‘no basket’, it was a tie and not a loss. again, she who has the greater mental capacity wins. and there you have the winner
shot clock was off. u mean game clock. and as stated above, the horn is the next best option besides lights on the backboard.what you’re talking about is utter nonsense of looking at the shotclock instead of listening to the buzzer cause its supposed to be in sync.
precisely, it was supposed to be in sync. since there was only 13.3s left, the buzzer should have sounded way earlier i.e 1 sec earlier before she shot it in like you supposedly hear it from the video. the buzzer was the next best option. the best option was the time that ran down from 13.3 to 0.0
then what is the point of having a buzzer at the end? it is to signal to the players tt the game has ended right?
firstly, who said anything about the ref’s reaction being slow.
secondly, put yourselves in their shoes. If you were told you have to carry on playing in OT when you thought you got the W and the glory for your school,would you still be as motivated as before? again, i’m not saying hc is’nt the champs this season, i’m saying the lay-up was before the buzzer and it could have been a totally different ending. note the word could cause it did’nt happen.
And lastly, in response to 123, yes it is. but as i said time and time again, i’m just saying that deanna’s lay-up was before the final buzzer.Thus, i do not really get your point in questioning about the use of a buzzer.
To sum it all up, to each his or her own, and thus the reason for Redsports to have such a discussion if it COULD have been a different ending altogether, which obviously is’nt the case as we all know that hc won the championship.
My opinion in this case is that the lay-up was before the final buzzer and i feel that RJ should have won.
CASE CLOSED towards my opinion.
The controversy lies in that the buzzer was sounded before the time on the clock turns 0.0s. Was just wondering if you had tried to time the last 13.3s yourself.
In anyway, BENEFIT OF DOUBT is not really the right phrase to use in this scenario I guess. It can actually be applied to both teams since one can always argue that they should give the benefit of doubt to hc and count that as a no basket yeah? Furthermore, benefit of doubt especially in a NATIONAL FINAL sounds pretty much like not much concern is put into ensuring a fair game is played in my opinion
I just wish to comment on point 1:
In FIBA Rule, it’s the trail referee’s responsibility to judge whether does the shot made count or not. (At this kind of situation) It’s not for the lead referee (under the basket) to decide.
tried thrice. all three tries more than 13.3s
about 14.2 seconds.
REMINDER: Only start your watch after the HC player RECEIVE THE INBOUND PASS, clock does not move until the player touches the pass.
STOP your watch the moment Deanna RELEASES the ball and not when the ball entered the basket.
its more than 13.3
definitely, all trials are more than 14s. concluded. dont argue anymore kaez?