Greek Derby: Twenty plays for discussion and a technical foul
Another EuroLeague week of action – another Give Me Control column. This time, BasketNews Referee Consultant Todd Warnick takes a look at Friday’s matchup between Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and Olympiacos Piraeus, in which he found 20 plays worth discussing.
For those who don’t know, Todd refereed for many years at the top levels of Israeli and international basketball. After his retirement, he consulted, coached, mentored, and evaluated referees on behalf of the officiating departments of the Euroleague, FIBA, and Israel.
Where to begin in discussing the officiating in Friday night’s Greek derby? Do we start by discussing how shooters were not consistently protected? Or, maybe the EuroLeague might want to review some guidelines regarding blocked shots and unsportsmanlike fouls?
Perhaps we want to debate a Williams-Goss offensive foul on Lorenzo Brown that wasn’t called with 10 seconds left in the game? What about “over the back”, push-offs, and pushes during loose balls? 20 plays to review in a game, any game, whether Greek derby or not, is too many.
On a positive note, we can also discuss why an 8-second violation was correctly NOT called on Olympiacos with 30 seconds remaining.
Or, we can discuss the clock error at the end of the Paris–Partizan game that took some precious time from the visitors on the last play of the game.
