Official Scorer In Raptors-Hawks Game Purposely Changed The Score?

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Wanted: Raptors' Missing Points?
26th November, 2006 - 4:54 am
RealGM -
In one of the most intriguing stories of the year, did the official scorer at the Hawks-Raptors game on November 24 potentially alter the outcome of the game?

Some Raptors fans on the RealGM Raptors forum are saying yes, and after reviewing the video evidence they may have a point.

It appears that Raptors guard TJ Ford made a layup which was never actually counted, meaning a four point Hawks lead late in the game was actually two points, which could have changed the way the Raptors played out the games' final possessions.

Forum member "webeye" broken down the sequence within the Raptors' game thread.

It was 85-78 Hawks.

Joe Johnson finally hit a free throw, and they gave a point to the Raptors. Scoreboard: 85-79. Should be 86-78.

TJ runs down and hits a circus shot layup with 4:33 remaining in the 4th. But the scorekeepers take a point away from Toronto. Scoreboard: 85-78. Should be 86-80.

The scorekeepers confer, and give Atlanta their missing point for JJ's free throw. Scoreboard: 86-78. Should be 86-80.

Lue hits a shot, and we're back to business as usual. Scoreboard: 88-78. Should be 88-80.

And that's it. The missing 2 points never return.

Footage of the incident can be seen on YouTube.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ar...issing_points/
---------------------------
Hopefully you can post directions :
Go to youtube.com
Type in nba scorer in the search engine
The clip is under "TJ Ford basket missed by NBA Scorer (vs. Hawks) Nov. 24/06"

[JMarkJohns]

It appears that Raptors guard TJ Ford made a layup which was never actually counted, meaning a four point Hawks lead late in the game was actually two points, which could have changed the way the Raptors played out the games' final possessions.

OK, now this...

It was 85-78 Hawks.

Joe Johnson finally hit a free throw, and they gave a point to the Raptors. Scoreboard: 85-79. Should be 86-78.

Should be eight point lead.

TJ runs down and hits a circus shot layup with 4:33 remaining in the 4th. But the scorekeepers take a point away from Toronto. Scoreboard: 85-78. Should be 86-80.

Should be six point lead.

The scorekeepers confer, and give Atlanta their missing point for JJ's free throw. Scoreboard: 86-78. Should be 86-80.

Should be six point lead.

Lue hits a shot, and we're back to business as usual. Scoreboard: 88-78. Should be 88-80.

Should be eight point lead.

And that's it. The missing 2 points never return.

So, unless this "two point" difference came later, I don't see where it ever occured. So, I'm not sure where it seriously affects the outcome of the game.

[dave]

i don't care much about the outcome of the game
but the fact that official nba scorekeepers somehow managed to mess up is not good...

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Raps and case of the vanishing basket
Dave Feschuk says Raptors were robbed but no one noticed missing two points
Nov. 26, 2006. 08:47 AM
DAVE FESCHUK

Raptors coach Sam Mitc was getting off a plane from Atlanta in the wee hours of yesterday morning when a team employee pointed out to him what alert TV viewers had known for hours: The Raptors had been shorted two points down the stretch of their Friday night loss to the Hawks.

"At that point, all I could do was get in the car and keep myself from driving myself off the road at 500 kilometres an hour," said Mitc .

Sober second thought has revealed that the Raptors lost Friday night's game 97-95, which is a different result than the final score, 97-93, that was transmitted to thousands of televisions and newspapers and websites. A successful layup by T.J. Ford with 4:33 to play was recorded as a miss by the Hawks employees charged with keeping track of such things. No one among the Raptors' travelling party pointed out the error to the authorities until it was far too late.

"We have no excuse for not knowing what the score is," said Bryan Colangelo, the Raptors general manager, who had been watching the game from Toronto and unwound the mystery of the lost deuce yesterday morning.

The discrepancy had major implications on the outcome. Ford, after all, hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds left to bring the score — at least the one they were showing on the arena score clock — to 95-93. But Ford's long bomb, unbeknownst to almost everyone, had actually tied the game 95-95. The Raptors, if they'd been aware of the true score, would have surely behaved differently. Instead of fouling Joe Johnson with 23 seconds to go, as they did, they would have played on and been guaranteed another possession to either tie or win the game.

At least one person in attendance caught wind of the error. Arthur Triche, a Hawks spokesman who was sitting courtside, said a writer for the Atlanta Journal-Cons ution pointed out that the Raptors were short two points. But when Triche approached the official scorekeeper on the matter, the scorekeeper — who has been doing the job without incident, according to Triche, for "20-some years" — said all was well.

In any event, no one else with doubts spoke up loudly enough. Fred Jones, the Raptors swingman, said he thought the game was tied when Ford hit the trey, but he was too busy playing to complain. Jay Triano, the Raptors assistant coach, asked trainer Scott McCullough, who keeps track of fouls, if the score was correct, and McCullough, according to Colangelo, said he thought it was. Various broadcasters have their stories. Mitc wondered aloud why none of them alerted the visitors bench.

Said Chris Bosh, shaking his head: "This is the NBA — I didn't think things like that happen."

It didn't help that the computerized statistics system at Philips Arena was lost to a power outage for the final six or seven minutes of play, which meant the stats crew usually in charge of entering points and rebounds and assists into a computer reverted to pens and paper. Even so, everyone involved said they had never seen an error quite like this, which speaks to the systems in place to catch such gaffes.

The official scorekeeper hand writes every scoring play into the official scorebook. He sits next to an operator who independently updates the score clock. And the stats crew also keeps a running play-by-play, which in Friday night's late moments was done by hand. Still, not one of them caught Ford's layup, perhaps because they were busy fixing another miscue.

On a previous play, Atlanta's Joe Johnson made a free throw that was credited to the Raptors. After Ford scored, the score clock operator took away the Johnson point from Toronto and gave it to its rightful owner. Ford's bucket was, around the same time, overlooked.

"As soon as the power went down, I was dreading the entire night," said Triche. "I said to myself, `This is a tight game coming down to the wire. I hope nothing gets screwed up.' And apparently it did."

Colangelo, who said he spent much of yesterday on the phone with league officials, who are believed to be reviewing the situation, said the Raptors would heretofore give someone on staff the job of monitoring the score. Mitc said the duties would likely fall to Keith D'Amelio, the strength and conditioning coach.

"If it's our fault then it's our fault," said Mitc . "Everywhere I've ever been you've got those guys called official scorers — they're supposed to (do their job). ... I've never seen anything like it in my life."

Said Bosh, shaking his head: "The game is gone."

No one had an easy time letting it go.

"For whatever reason, this year, whatever could go wrong has went wrong," said Mitc . "And I told (the players), `We gotta get angry about it. We've got to understand no one's going to give us anything.'"

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...d=968332188492

[angel_luv]

That was an unfortunate mistake. At least the overlooked two points didn't mean the difference between overtime or the win.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

That was an unfortunate mistake. At least the overlooked two points didn't mean the difference between overtime or the win.

But it did.

Would the Raps have fouled Joe Johnson with the score tied and taken their own possession?

[dave]

OK, now this...



Should be eight point lead.



Should be six point lead.



Should be six point lead.



Should be eight point lead.



So, unless this "two point" difference came later, I don't see where it ever occured. So, I'm not sure where it seriously affects the outcome of the game.

the two point difference came later

it was 95-95 (showed 95-93) with 27 seconds left and ford intentionally fouled joe johnson...

and look at this http://www.nba.com/games/20061124/TO...laybyplay.html

the score at the top shows 97-93 final
but if u look at the bottom for the play-by-play, it says 97-95

[1Parker1]

Not like either will make the playoffs, so I doubt a one game L/W will make a difference

[dave]

because of this win, the hawks will be on their way to the 8th seed and winning a championship

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Not like either will make the playoffs, so I doubt a one game L/W will make a difference

Hawks are sixth now and they still have Marvin Williams out. I think they make the playoffs.

The Raps, well, they're the Raps.

[dave]

raptors are only 1 game away from the 8th spot

[RaptorsFan]

OK, now this...



Should be eight point lead.



Should be six point lead.



Should be six point lead.



Should be eight point lead.



So, unless this "two point" difference came later, I don't see where it ever occured. So, I'm not sure where it seriously affects the outcome of the game.

The two point difference occured with about 27 seconds left. TJ Ford hit a 3, to make the score 95-93, (should have been 95-95) at which point the Raptors, thinking they were trailing by 2, intentionally fouled Joe Johnson.

[RaptorsFan]

That was an unfortunate mistake. At least the overlooked two points didn't mean the difference between overtime or the win.

The Raptors intentionally fouled Joe Johnson when the scoreboard read 95-93, but the score should have been 95-95, they would have played straight defence if the score was correct. Additionally, after Johnson split free throws on that sequence, they ran a play for Bargnani to shoot a 3, thinking they were down 3 (actually down 1). Bargnani ended up bricking a contested, off-balance 3 pointer, a shot and play that would not have occured if the score was correctly reported.


I don't think the scorer did it on purpose, it was probably an honest mistake. It happened when Joe Johnson split a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter and TJ Ford sprinted and quickly hit a bank shot. The scoreboard initally credited the Johnson FT to Toronto, and while TJ was racing down the court, they were busy fixing that error, and probably just missed TJ's basket. Still, this is inexcusable for an NBA scorekeeper and he should be fired immediately.

[Trainwreck2100]

"At that point, all I could do was get in the car and keep myself from driving myself off the road at 500 kilometres an hour," said Mitc .

Stupid ass canadians and their stupid ass metric system

[dave]

Stupid ass canadians and their stupid ass metric system

number of countries that use the imperial system

[angel_luv]

But it did.

Would the Raps have fouled Joe Johnson with the score tied and taken their own possession?

Oh!!! I misunderstood! That really does stink!

[Obstructed_View]

Go Liberia!

[dknights411]

Stupid ass canadians and their stupid ass metric system

Hey, I'm Canadian myself, you know!

But still, this kind of a mistake is inexcusable, even if it IS the Hawks and the Raps.

[angel_luv]

I just had an awful thought... what if a team had a questionable loss like this and then ended up not making the play offs by just one game?

[lordswing]

Yeh, that leads up to what Coach Mitc was saying in the second article