Stefanski: Right call was made
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Stefanski: Right call was made
Upon further review … the call stands.
Ed Stefanski, president and general manager of the 76ers, said today he had been in contact with Stu Jackson, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, to see if there was any grounds to protest the ending of yesterday’s 98-96 loss at New Jersey, which the Nets won on a 48-foot desperation heave by Devin Harris that beat the buzzer by the slimmest fraction of a second. The three-pointer - New Jersey’s 12th trey of the night - erased a 96-95 Sixer lead in about the time it takes to blink your eyes.
“Stu went through the procedure on such a call,” Stefanski said. “They went through the tape, freezing each frame, and (the shot) was taken within allowable limits. There was no clock malfunction. All three officials went over the replay and ruled the basket was good. They got it right. The ball was clearly out of his hands.”
Official Violet Palmer originally waved off the basket before lead referee Derrick Stafford brought Palmer and Pat Fraher together to look at the tape.
To satisfy himself that the league ruling was indeed correct, Stefanski got confirmation from two outside sources, both of which confirmed that Harris had let fly with under a tenth of a second remaining.
“We did it internally with Comcast (SportsNet) and they also confirmed (the ruling), as did ESPN, which did something we also took a look at. There was nothing more we could do with the league, no procedure we could take to protest the game and come out with a better conclusion that we did. All we can say is that the kid made a great shot to win the game.”
"Forget about it"— amaysnfoods
Why did it take all of those outlets to look at to for the Sixers to figure out the shot was good? It was obvious to me on the first replay as it was to both Sixer's announcers that the shot should count. Sometimes, you just get burned by a great (or very lucky) play.- Needless to say Iggy aint gonna be on no float anytime soon..... ILUVPHILLYCITYOFWINNERS!!!!!— ILUVPHILLYCITYOFLOSERS
- make some free throws and it doesnt matter...— dsoul
- It's not so much that the shot got off before the buzzer, you have to wonder how, in 1.8 seconds, a player can catch a pass, dribble, bobble it off Iguodala, then recover in time to get the shot off. Anybody look frame by frame to see when the game clock started? Seems like the ultimate home-court advantage.— mike l
- I ask the same question here MIKE.— Bubba
- Exactly, how in God's name do you accept a pass above the top of the key, dribble towards the sideline and then proceed up the sideline to half-court, jump in the air, fumble the ball off of Iggy's chest, regain possession and shoot the ball in 1.8 seconds....this is physically impossible.....there was a late start to the clock, and this is where the attention should be directed...— seeing1111
- sixers +2 = push— danny ozark
- Stefanski used to work for the Nets and must have buddies there. That play took 3 seconds, not 1.8. Who cares, been a Sixers fan since 1976, but this franchise is stuck in mediocrity for years to come.— JonKap
- Hit the shots from the charity stripe and the game's in the "W" column before you get to 1.8 seconds left...nuff said.— Palmyra Scott
- Clock didnt start on time.— Nezhy
- Here is a bit of an angle that I haven't seen looked at. If Igoudala could have just made the first free throw he could have just missed the second one and the Nets would have had no shot considering they had no timeouts. Really this is a game the Sixers blew regardless.— brannigan73
Clock didn't start on time, was probably a walk, and for that matter he pretty much barreled into Iggy.- BREAKING NEWS: Stu Jackson, the NBA's V.P. of Basketball Operations, made a startling revelation yesterday which has top scientists and physicists worldwide asking "HOW"? It all came about after Jackson reviewed a videotape of a final shot by Devon Harris following a protest by the Sixers. On the tape, Harris is seen taking an inbound pass at the top of the key, dribbling towards the sideline to half-court, jumping into his defender, fumbling the ball into the defender's chest, recovering the ball off of the defender's chest, and then throwing up a half court shot to win the game. When told by several noted scientists and physicists that it was physicially immpossible, based on the Laws of Physics, for Devon Harris to do so much in only 1.8 seconds, Jackson finally revealed that "the Laws of Physics do not apply in the NBA." IN OTHER NEWS: Commissioner Stern met with league officials today to discuss changing its current slogan of "Where Amazing Happens" to "Where The Physically Impossible Happens." The slogan "Where Time Stands Still" was also considered, but eventually rejected by the league.— Fo Fo Fo
- There were two wrong calls made here. The first was not reviewing the time elapsed when Harris pyhsically touched the ball...the second was Ed Snider hiring Ed Stupanski. What a maroon.— rockinrob
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
