Moments that Mattered Presented by Mitsubishi | Round 1, NBL27

When we break down the key moments, the obvious one to start with is Monday night at My State Bank Arena in Tasmania.

It got really messy and really confusing at the end.

This is tricky because there were so many variables and so much going on that transpired.

We saw what happened.

Skyler Mays went to the line thinking he was supposed to shoot the free throws.

There was some conjecture about whether or not he was trying to be sneaky and sly and coy.

I don't think that turned out to be the case.

I think it was an honest error by Mays to go to the line.

Unfortunately, I didn't think there was enough leadership and communication from the referees in the moment prior to Mays going to the free throw line so we could have avoided that whole scenario.

As it played out, Tasmania were...

You know, they benefited from the whole situation.

They go on to win the basketball game.

Thought it was well handled by the NBL and Scott Butler, the head of the referees, to come out and just explain exactly why.

I think as fans in any sport, a lot of the time, that's what we're craving is the information.

It was there.

The rule was crystal clear.

Now, granted, I'm not sure that many of us knew the rule to the absolute nth degree, but it's turned out to be the right decision.

Just very unfortunate for South East Melbourne.

It

was unfortunate.

And the thing is, it's a new rule.

And there were probably some referees as well as players that were unfamiliar with it.

We have imports that come over that have spent time in the NBA or the G League and haven't played under FIBA refereed conditions.

So they're not familiar with how everything works out.

But in the end, it was a great learning moment for all of us.