Officials addressed a Caitlin Clark technical foul that was handed out late in the national championship game and seemed to swing the results.
bustingbrackets.com
This is pathetic: referee citing the rule book as to why Clark was whistled for technical.
Where's the reference to the rules when it comes to a coach staying on the court the entire game.
NCAA will look the other way.
To make a call like that in those circumstances and in that moment showed an astonishing lack of judgment.
In addition to being an absurd, ridiculous call, however, I don`t see how the referee`s supposed justification of the call makes any sense either under the rule that she has cited.
The rule as quoted requires that the player be "attempting to gain an advantage" by interfering with the ball after a goal or failing to give it to the referee immediately after a blown whistle.
Seems to me that one could only be "attempting to gain an advantage" in a live ball situation - and we have all seen this numerous times, players trying to give their defense a chance to set up usually, and occasionally a delay of game warning is given but it is extremely rare in even that context that a technical is called.
But here, it was a DEAD BALL situation. A foul had been called, and free throws were coming as a result of the foul. There was no conceivable "attempt to gain an advantage" here. As a practical matter, the ball appeared to have gone to a baseline photographer and was promptly returned to the court in any event. But again, what "advantage" could have possibly been gained even if it bounced around for a couple of more seconds?
I am admittedly not familiar with the nuances of the rule and maybe there is a referee or two on the Boneyard who can weigh in on this. But based upon the rule as she has described it in writing, it does not justify what she did. No advantage gained. If she thinks it does justify it, she is worse than I thought.
