Clear Path Foul on Rondo

[bcgenuis]

The last foul on Rondo was a clear path foul.  2 shots and Celtics ball.

Your thoughts??

I have a bad feeling about the officiating for Game 5.  The Heat are going to whine whine whine.  And after fouling out Lebron, the league will point to that to show how fair they are.

Mind you one reason the Heat got back into this one was Rondo, Pierce, Bass all had 4 fouls in the 3rd quarter and it was a big a reason our offense stagnated.

[Lechoke Lames]

Wade was in front of him (close to the basket), so no clear path foul.

[bcgenuis]

not on play i saw Wade was no where near him.

[Kiorrik]

It's a bit like soccer; Wade was further ahead, I believe.

Could be wrong, only saw it in a flash, as I'm at work.

[ManUp]

Yes wade was ahead of the ball defending Daniels, I believe.

[letsgoblue86]

Wade was standing directly underneath the basket so no clear path.

[Kiorrik]

LOL at the OP having no idea what they are talking about. Wade was under the basket thus there wasn't a clear path to the basket. Are you serious bro?

No need to get personal :p

[mctyson]

Yes wade was ahead of the ball defending Daniels, I believe.

Wade was in the opposite corner defending Pietrus.

I thought the play was designed perfectly by Doc, but I was surprised he had Pietrus hanging out in the corer 80 feet away from the inbounds pass when Rondo made the cut.  Rethinking that...why not have Pietrus make a sudden cut back to the half court line with Rondo going the other way?

[Eddie20]

LOL at the OP having no idea what they are talking about. Wade was under the basket thus there wasn't a clear path to the basket. Are you serious bro?

No need to get personal :p

You're right, and I was wondering the same thing. In fact, the 2 other refs went and huddled with Crawford immediately after the play. Perhaps they were asking him if the play should be reviewed. However, Crawford appeared very dismissive and seemed to tell them something along the lines of "that's enough".

[FreeGreen]

Yeah, Wade was in the corner ... honest mistake by the original poster though, you couldn't see Wade on frame during the play you could only see him setting up over there before the play started and then briefly on the replay.

[Eddie20]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bxW9WWMW_w&feature=related

The play in question is at 3:25 and Wade isn't under the basket.

The rule on clear path:

Clear Path to the Basket: If a fast break starts in a team’s backcourt and a defender fouls any offensive player when the team is going to score an easy basket, a clear path foul has occurred. When the foul happens, no defender can be ahead of the ball where he could defend against the easy basket.

Could Wade have made a play? Perhaps. However, it is a valid point by the OP. Rondo was going full speed and Wade seemed hesitant to leave Pietrus, probably because it would mean more time would run off the clock.

[Fan from VT]

Yea, this was not a clear path foul. At first I thought it was and I think that the refs huddled to decide whether it was or not; Wade was SO far ahead that viewers couldn't see him at first. But he was there.


I agree it was a great play to run but it should have had Pietrus mving back toward the C's end so that it WOULD be a clear path foul.