Gold Rush: 100% Cotten
3/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2003
by Stan Cotten
Where were you when the shot clock read 0? It hasn't been all that long now that most arena scoreboards carry the time on the clock out to tenths of a second.
To Wake Forest, technology is a wonderful thing.
On the last Saturday of the regular season for Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons got a chance to beat North Carolina State at Raleigh by two-tenths of one second. We all know the story now. Chances are the scenario that lifted the Deacs to their first ACC regular season title since 1962 will be burned in our memories forever. I'm sure the Wolfpack nation won't soon forget it either.
Wake Forest inbounded the ball with 17.5 seconds left in the game. The shot clock read 16 seconds. The Deacs moved the ball around until Justin Gray took a shot. The jumper was short and apparently ricocheted off of Vytas Danelius into the hands of Josh Howard who was fouled by Clifford Crawford as Howard tried to put the ball in the basket.
The shot clock looked expired. After all - it read 0. And no Deacon had hit the rim with a shot. But the game clock had been stopped automatically by the referee's whistle with 1.7 seconds remaining on the game clock. The shot clock read 0, but the shot clock buzzer had never sounded. Why? Simple. If the difference between the clocks when the ball was inbounded was 1.5 seconds (game clock at 17.5 and shot clock at 16) and the game clock read 1.7 when Crawford was whistled for the foul - then, two-tenths of one second must have remained on the shot clock - even though it shows 0. No violation. Howard goes to the free-throw line.
A few seasons ago this game goes into overtime at best for the Deacs. Or the Pack could have won on a last second heave to the goal. Because without the new clocks and officials' whistles to stop them, the shot clock expires in the same situation. But not on this day.
Any debate to me seems ludicrous given these facts. To the officials' credit, this is what was discussed when N.C. State began to argue that Wake Forest had committed a shot clock violation. But two-tenths of a second is greater than zero. Case closed. And don't forget what you did not hear - the horn. Had the shot clock hit true zero, you would have heard the horn.
What Pack fans can argue is whether or not Crawford committed a foul. At least that's what I thought. If you haven't already, check out the Associated Press close up photograph of the play on the cover of sports section of the Winston-Salem Journal. Had the officials had this instant photo, it would have been just more conclusive evidence that they had gotten it right.
For sure, it was a tough one to take for N. C. State. For the second straight home game, the Pack had let an 11-point lead slip away, at home, to two of the ACC's leading teams. First to Maryland. Then to Wake. It had to be frustrating. And for sure, the Pack players and coaches handled it much better than several of the fans whose disappointment and hurt led to them throwing all kinds of debris onto the court.
What gets lost in all of this was the incredible comeback waged by Howard, Gray and company. Down 11, on the road - with the ACC regular season title hanging in the balance. The ACC title for goodness sakes! And for a team picked to finish sixth.
Timing is everything. And on that particular Saturday at that given moment - it was simply Wake Forest's time to win.