Friday, October 24, 2008

NBA expands use of instant replay

The NBA Board of Governors voted to allow the expanded use of instant replay by game officials, beginning with the 2008-09 season, the league announced today. The two approved proposals allow referees to use instant replay for the following scenarios:

· To determine at any point during a game whether a field goal was correctly scored as a two- or three-point field goal, and, for the purposes of awarding the correct number of free throws, whether a shooter was fouled while taking a two- or three-point attempt.

· When the game clock malfunctions during a play concluding with no time remaining on the clock (0:00) at the end of any quarter or overtime period.

With respect to the first scenario, review would occur at the discretion of the game officials, and would be based on a conclusion by the crew that they cannot be reasonably certain whether the shot was a two- or three-pointer. In the second scenario, game officials are currently required to reconstruct the timing of a play occurring during a clock malfunction; the use of replay would enable them to do so with substantially greater accuracy.

No comments: