NBA hopes new replay protocol speeds up play

In an ongoing effort to make NBA replay reviews more efficient and less time-consuming, more in-game reviews are expected to be made this season by the league’s staff at the high-tech replay center in Secaucus, N.J.

Last season, 72% of reviews were determined by the replay center, and during the 2016-17 season, nearly 87% of reviews will be made from the replay center with the assistance of active referees who are in the center for every game, NBA senior vice president of replay and referee operations Joe Borgia said.

“Many times last season with the NBA refs who are in the replay center, we had the judgement before the game refs even got to the scorer’s table,” Borgia said. “I’m sitting there saying, ‘If we already know the answer, common sense says let’s just do it.’ It’s pretty obvious from being the in replay center, it can be done quicker with active referees talking to each other in the replay center.”

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NBA owners are expected to approve this measure in October.

By the time a ref gets to the scorer’s table and puts on a headset to talk with officials in Secaucus, he or she will have the answer almost immediately from the replay center.

There are 15 plays or scenarios that trigger a potential review, and last season, nine types of reviews – such as two-pointer or three-pointer, shot-clock violation, made basket at the end of a quarter – were made by officials in the replay center.

It resulted in reviews that were 40% quicker than the previous season on similar plays when the on-court refs had to watch and re-watch the review on a monitor from the scorer’s table.

This season, 13 of 15 plays that trigger a review will be decided by the replay center. The only two scenarios that will be determined by the on-court officials are flagrant fouls and altercations for understandable reasons.

“They are complex and need game context to understand what the ruling needs to be,” Borgia said.

This decision is expected to reduce once again the amount of time it takes to review plays. Last season, the average play reviewed took 31.9 seconds, down from 42.1 seconds in 2014-15. Eliminating breaks that impact the flow of the game are important to the league.

The decision to give the replay center the authority to rule on more reviews stems from recommendations made by the competition committee during meetings in July and September. Giving the replay center more control is possible in part because of the league’s decision to place an active referee in the replay center for every game.

“Any business that made a change and it showed that much improvement, it would be silly not to see what else you could do,” Borgia said.

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He estimates additional decisions made in the replay center will shave as much as 25% off the amount of time it took to review those same type of plays from a year ago.

“I’ll almost guarantee there will be savings,” he said.

Two seasons ago in a conversation with USA TODAY Sports, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who wants to shorten the length of games in general, broached the idea of giving the replay center more responsibility.

“We’re trying to get better,” Borgia said. “You’ve got to be improving, and this is our next step in trying to get better. If we’re successful, like we were this past year, then next year, we’ll be looking to get better again.”