Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 14, 1993 TAG: 9303140080
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
IT'S A JUDGMENT CALL, BUT WHO'S TO JUDGE?
Before Saturday's North Carolina-Virginia basketball game in the ACC Tournament semifinals, referee Lenny Wirtz told the team captains at midcourt, "Don't do anything stupid today."Now we have the question, is what Jason Williford did late in the game against Derrick Phelps stupid?
No way.
The play in question was a half-court breakaway pass to Phelps, who was fouled as he attempted a layup past Williford.
Williford caught up and came from the side. He reached across Phelps' arm but got the ball. He had his left hand behind Phelps' back.
Phelps, injured on the play when he landed on his back, was taken to the Carolina Medical Center because he still had numbness in his thighs. He had a severe contusion, but no broken bones.
There was no intentional foul called and afterward, UNC coach Dean Smith said he didn't think the foul was intentional. "He's had a lot worse this year," Smith said of Phelps.
But Smith also is on the rules committee, which meets in April, and he said the subject of fouls against a breakaway will be brought up for discussion. "I'll see to that," he said.
"[With a foul] from behind, it ought to be two shots and the ball," Smith said.
The problem is, that's the penalty for an intentional foul.
Wirtz and Rusty Herring, who made the call on this particular play, agreed it was administered properly.
"An intentional foul is when he doesn't play the ball and hasn't got a chance to play it," Wirtz said.
Last Sunday, in the Duke-Carolina game, Wirtz called an intentional foul on Tony Lang against Eric Montross for a hard foul under the bucket.
"[Lang] had no chance to get the ball," Wirtz said.
Interestingly, while he refused say the foul wasn't intentional, longtime Carolina assistant coach Bill Guthridge said the play didn't bother him "because Montross wasn't going to get hurt."
The Tar Heels have a history of injuries on breakaway layups to point guards. In 1984, when they also were No. 1, Kenny Smith broke a wrist when he was fouled from behind by John Tudor of Louisiana State. He later returned and played with a cast, but the Heels were upset by Indiana in the round of 16.
The next season, Steve Hale was clobbered from behind in an NCAA Tournament game against Middle Tennessee, broke his collarbone and was gone for the rest of the tourney. Carolina lost to Villanova in the regional final.
The problem is in how the play should be officiated.
Wirtz and Herring agreed a rules change might be helpful. "We don't agree with all the rules, we just administrate them," Wirtz said.
The NBA instituted a breakaway foul after a number of severe falls. If the player has crossed midcourt, the penalty is free throws and possession.
However, it still doesn't seem to address the situation that happened here.
While Williford was behind when Phelps caught the ball near midcourt, he caught up enough to reach in from the side, and he did go for the ball.
The obvious problem is that even a slight push of an airborne player can send the player sprawling to a possible serious injury.
There also is a malicious foul call in the rulebook. It can be either a personal or technical, depending on whether time is in or not. Either way, the player is ejected.
The intentional-foul rule was changed in order to prevent players from gaining an advantage by fouling. However, this didn't apply in the Phelps' case.
It might be possible to create some kind of breakaway rule. But I can't visualize a situation where players are going to simply give up layups.
Williford tried to make a play. He stopped the layup and didn't come from behind, but the side. If Phelps hadn't been hurt, nobody would have said anything.
Rules have been changed constantly because of deliberate fouling at the end of a game. None has been successful. The current 10-foul rule hasn't stopped anything.
Can anybody decide between intentional and deliberate? Or determine intent?
The players can get injured, but it's the officials' judgments that are in jeopardy.