Mail abounds on my refs' column, more thoughts

A column on the whistle that gave NC State's Gavin Grant some controversial free throws in the Old Spice Classic also led to some angry mail from readers. AP

MAILBAG Seth Davis will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his Hoop Thoughts column. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Greetings, Hoop Thinkers. The action on the court is slow this week because of finals (thank the Lord I'll never have to take another one of those babies). So today, you get to join me at the table of a smart, civil hoops conversation as I dip into my mailbag for the first time this season.

I'll begin with the many responses from my column that raised the question of whether a referee should make an extra effort to swallow his whistle on a game-deciding play. My jumping off point was the controversial foul called on Villanova forward Dante Cunningham that sent NC State's Gavin Grant to the line for three free throws in the game they played on Nov. 25. Not surprisingly, many of the more disagreeable missives came from the Tar Heel State.

Daniel Bland of Fuquay, N.C. wrote: "If you're going to question the call in the last seconds of the NCSU-Villanova game, couldn't you at least go back to the 1:15 mark where Gavin was called for traveling after being basically tackled? There were a bunch of questionable calls made in that game, and the one at the end was not in the top 5."

Ken Johnson from Raleigh writes: "I am curious why no one has mentioned that with .4 seconds left in the game after Grant's made his three throws, the clock clearly doesn't start when it should. The 'Nova player taps the ball up [and almost in] and that should be it, but the clock doesn't start until the second time it's touched."

I went back and watched those two plays. The walk was probably a foul, but Grant definitely didn't get tackled. As for the final sequence, I actually freeze-framed the play, and while the scoreboard clock does not move until after Villanova's second attempt, the light actually went on while the clock still read: .4. The numbers on the clock are not a precise indicator of how much time is left (there can be a split second delay between the timer in the clock and the number on the scoreboard), which is why the refs are supposed to make their judgment on whether a shot beat the buzzer by the horn first, then the light, then the clock.

As for the broader question of whether refs should officiate a game-ending play differently than all the others, I got, as expected, diverging views. Steve Robertson from St. Louis writes: "I'm agree with the statement that a call at the end should be an obvious one... I realize that some are going to be clearer than others, but one of my biggest grievances toward refs is their propensity to 'feel' an infraction coming and to blow the whistle before they learn if their feeling is right or not."

Mark Moore from Seguin, Texas, disagrees: "Why do the rules matter except when the game is on the line? Isn't that when they should matter most?" So does Kevin Denelsbeck from Melbourne, Fla.: "A foul at the beginning of the game has just the same effect on the score as one at the end. You have to call it the same."

I will concede that Kevin and Mark are technically correct. More realistically, however, we all know that Gavin Grant's free throws at the end of that game counted more than any of the free throws that took place prior to that. How many times do coaches say they want their players to make shots "when it really counts"?

The bottom line is refs are (with very few exceptions) human beings. There's no way they're judging a play that could decide the outcome of a game exactly the same way they judge other plays. And by my lights, that is how it should be.

It's always interesting to hear which team's fans are writing in just begging for a little Hoop Thoughts' love for their team. This week's beggars:

Dave Weber, Tampa, Fla.: "Hey Seth, I was wondering if you've noticed that USF is on a seven-game winning streak. We have a freshman guard, Dominique Jones, who has scored 30 twice and had 14 boards in one of those games. How do you see USF's early success corresponding to the Big East season?"

Grant Bronsdon from Seattle, Wash.: "You think St. Joe's is the best 4-4 team in the country? Look in the Pacific Northwest -- where Washington has lost to Pitt after a buzzer-beater was disallowed -- to Texas A&M and Syracuse. Those are some good teams."

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