While there are still some kinks to be worked out, the NBA Replay Center has proven to be a vast improvement on years past when officials would stare at a screen to figure out the right call. Now we know there is a team helping them figure out the right call as quickly as possible. More eyes on a play has lead to hardly any mistakes and now the NBA is taking things a step further by introducing the "Last Two Minutes" officiating report.
The "Last Two Minutes" report was something that was always made internally within the NBA, but the league has decided to be more transparent as the report will now be available to fans beginning Monday.
From the Associated Press:
The assessments will be released by 5 p.m. the day after each game and will stand as the league's comment on whether the most disputed calls were correct. The reports will focus on the last two minutes of games that were within five points at the two-minute mark and all of any overtime periods.
Each play is reviewed by a senior basketball operations manager or senior referee manager. The reports will say how the play was graded — correct or incorrect — and will be accompanied by a comment and video link. The reports will be posted at NBA.com/official and also on the league's media site.
Will this end the notorious "Ref you suck!" chant? Probably not, but the "Last Two Minutes" report is a move by the NBA to show how tough the job of a NBA official truly is. At least, this is the hope of NBA executive vice president of referee operations Mike Bantom.
"I think it goes back to our initiatives to try to be more transparent about what we do with our officials program. I think our fans have a lot of interest in understanding — or at least we have an interest, too, in helping them understand — how our rules are applied so that people don't have a misperception about a particular call or non-call," Bantom said. "So we think if we are consistent in disclosing them, we will give them a greater appreciation for both how difficult the job is that our officials do and how good they are at it."
With a game involving so many quick decisions, it will be interesting to actually see on paper, the plethora of calls an NBA official actually makes. Don't expect NBA officials to now be getting pats on the back from fans though, but this is yet another move by the league to show hard they are working to make sure every call is the right one.
