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Colorado head coach Tad Boyle wants instant replay gone, but is that the answer?

Tad Boyle

Colorado head coach Tad Boyle signals to his players during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona at McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Arizona won 92-83 in overtime. (AP Photo/Wily Low)

AP

In the aftermath of Colorado’s 92-83 overtime loss to No. 3 Arizona last night, head coach Tad Boyle came to the conclusion that if it wasn’t going to be uses properly the NCAA should get rid of instant replay.

Sabatino Chen’s three-pointer as time expired was ruled good by one of the officials, only to have the call overturned after a lengthy video review of the call. Many argued that there wasn’t conclusive evidence that the ball left Chen’s hand after time expired, and if that was the case the officials should have gone with the original call.

Human error is a given in sports, but when it’s combined with the improper use of video replay things become even worse.

And after seeing video of the controversial shot, Boyle came to the conclusion that instant replay should be done away with.

“Get rid of instant replay,” Boyle told ESPN.com by phone from Tucson. “In basketball, football, human error is part of our game. If human error is part of the game, let the officials call the game. Players, coaches and officials will make mistakes. It’s part of the game.

“We spend all this money on replays and we still can’t get it right. Get rid of it.”


There should be no issue with Boyle’s anger over the call, because any coach or player in a similar situation would be upset to have something like this happen.

Pac-12 coordinator of officials Ed Rush issued the following statement on the situation late Thursday:

“Game officials reviewed video replays of the end of regulation in accordance with NCAA playing rules and determined the ball was still on the shooters’ fingertips when the official game clock on the floor expired. Per Conference protocol, the officials conducted a thorough review court side and viewed multiple angles of the play before confirming the ruling. I have reviewed the video replays and agree with the ruling.”

One official signaled that the shot was a three-pointer, which according to the rules is standard procedure. But apparently after going to the monitor the officials came to the conclusion that the ball was still on Chen’s fingertips when time expired. Given the still shots and the video, how they came to that conclusion remains unknown.

But is getting rid of instant replay the answer? No. The answer is making sure that game officials properly understand how situations like this one should be handled. Looked pretty clear that the three officials last night didn’t, and as a result Colorado paid dearly for it.

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.