Let’s hear it from refs

There will be a new feature in announcing the decision on a coach’s challenge in the PBA’s Golden Anniversary season that reels off at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday. The previous practice was the public address barker would simply announce the verdict without explaining why. This time, the calling referee will take to the microphone, announce the decision and explain why. While the announcement is being made, the large-screen video monitor in the venue will replay the contested action to show why the decision was made. The audio-visual connection may not be perfect at first but both PBA and broadcast coverer TV5/CignalTV will work closely to deliver the best possible synch for fans to appreciate the justification of the decision.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said it’ll be a challenge for referees to polish their communication skills. They’re not trained to be public speakers but with this innovation, they’ll get used to not just explaining a decision to the crowd but also communicating it to be understood. PBA head of operations Eric Castro said 23 referees are on the roster this season, one less from the starting lineup previously. Of the 23, three are rookies.

Marcial noted that another change is players on the court will now be allowed to huddle with their coach “on the bench area” but will remain standing during a challenge review. The challengeable calls are act of shooting or sideline throw-in, traveling, flopping, eight-second violation, backcourt violation, 24-second shot clock remaining, blocking or charging, blocking or flopping and charging or flopping.

Still another innovation related to a challenge is in the course of a review, a violation is spotted and will be called “provided it took place in the same play phase.” The situations where this will apply are third party contact, blocking or charging, foul on out-of-bounds or last touch call or all kinds of fouls, including charging and blocking. This follows the NBA practice. As an example, if a challenge is made on a last touch call and the review will spot a foul on the play, it will be called even without a challenge on the contact.

Marcial said in the last two minutes of the game, the referees may review a conversion, whether a two, three or four-pointer or free throw, on the immediate deadball. If the shot isn’t reviewed at that point, it may no longer be reviewed. This eliminates the controversy that happened during Game 1 of the Philippine Cup Finals last season where Mo Tautuaa’s shot with 56 seconds left was nullified on a table officials’ review with 6.2 ticks to go, creating confusion as it impacted the outcome.