LEXINGTON, Ky. _ Basketball continues to trend toward more stoppages of play so referees can go to a sideline monitor. Next season the NBA will experiment with allowing coaches one challenge of a call per game. And for the first time the NCAA will allow replay reviews of goal-tending or basket interference calls in the final two minutes of second halves or overtime periods.
It can be assumed everyone welcomes a greater chance at accuracy. But before Kentucky fans applaud these nods to athletic correctness, they should keep something in mind. The importance of making correct calls _ which coach John Calipari says trumps concern about reviews lengthening the time of games _ could sometimes work to UK's disadvantage.
Here are three examples to ponder:
_ Kentucky could have _ would have? _ lost to Mississippi State in the 2010 Southeastern Conference tournament finals had the referees had the option to go to the monitor. UK trailed by three points with 8.2 seconds left in regulation when Eric Bledsoe stepped to the foul line. He made the first of two free throws, then intentionally missed the second.
John Wall ran into the lane and got in position for the rebound. Ultimately, DeMarcus Cousins' put-back sent the game into overtime, where UK won 75-74.
But by rule, no player in Wall's position beyond the foul line can enter the lane until the free throw hits the rim.
When asked last week if he would have acted like a pro football coach and thrown a challenge flag, then Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said, "If I had the opportunity, I'd have thrown two flags. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to throw them."
The missed call cost unranked Mississippi State a victory over No. 2 Kentucky and the NCAA Tournament bid that goes to the SEC tournament champion.
When asked how long it took him to get over a game dramatically altered by a missed call, Stansbury, now the coach at Western Kentucky, chose his words carefully. "I remember the losses a lot more than the wins," he said. "Put it that way."
_ Arguably the most egregious missed call of the last 40 years that helped Kentucky came in the 1988 UKIT finals. With UK leading by one point and three seconds left on the clock, Charlotte guard Byron Dinkins made a sharp cut and had only to receive an inbounds pass at the basket to make a game-winning layup.
But on the catch, UK's desperate defender, Ed Davender, pushed Dinkins out of bounds rather than concede the layup. The referee called walking on Dinkins. Kentucky won.
Jeff Mullins, who was the Charlotte coach, needed no prompting last week to remember a play that happened more than 30 years ago.
"It would have been very nice" to have thrown a challenge flag, Mullins said. "The question is, even with (a challenge flag), would I have gotten the call that night?"
_ Speaking of Rupp Arena, a non-call helped Kentucky beat visiting Texas A&M 74-73 in the 2017-18 season.
With UK ahead 74-73, A&M big man Tyler Davis got in position near his offensive basket. A long desperation pass sailed over his head and out of bounds.
Replays showed the UK defender, Wenyen Gabriel, with an arm across Davis' chest. That could have hindered and/or distracted Davis as he turned to try to catch the pass. Afterward, then A&M Coach Billy Kennedy described Gabriel's defense as a "bear hug."
Reflecting on the play, Kennedy saw no foul on Gabriel as a judgment call. And so far, reviews have not included re-assessments of such plays as block/charge or non-calls like the one when Virginia's Ty Jerome appeared to double dribble in this year's Final Four game against Auburn.
"That's that gray area," Kennedy said. "Some people would say he (Gabriel) didn't foul him. It gets back to individual viewer and how they see it. If (the referees) see something totally different, you just have to live with it.
"If you coach long enough, it usually balances itself out."
