The days of minutes-long replay reviews in the final minutes of close games are over. Instead of on-site referees cycling back-and-forth with a TV producer to find the best angle of a 50-50 call, a satellite center in Secaucus, NJ will decipher which angles gives officials the best views possible to make the correct decision. And according to those in the know, the Man Cave – as some league personnel have dubbed it – is a “game-changer.”
USA Today’s Sam Amick was granted exclusive access to the replay center and learned first-hand how it will streamline the game this season and going forward. There are 20 different stations and 94 monitors in the Man Cave, which is directed by senior vice president of referee operations Joe Borgia. Once the replay center receives a trigger for video review, an official connects with Borgia or a colleague via headset and is given the best available angle to make the call. Amick reports that once the referee reaches the replay center, a final decision can be made on-court in less than 10 seconds.
Veteran referee James Capers and NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn praised the new system, lauding it for efficiency compared to mayhem of past video review processes.
“I think it’s a great tool, because we get right to it,” longtime NBA official James Capers said. “The thing that was hurting us before was (that) when we’re dealing with the producer (in the television truck), they may be doing an interview or doing something else and I couldn’t tell if they were talking to me, talking to someone else, and it took too much time in getting to the replay where now we’re right on it.”
“You’re in a heated game, it’s late in the game, and all sorts of stuff is going on around it, so this is going to be so much more efficient,” Thorn said. “Plus, they’re going to be able to get more calls right.”
The length of games is obviously a talking point for the league – look no further than its recent 44-minute experiment for evidence. While such a drastic measure is a long way off, a logical implementation like the replay center will certainly expedite the ends of close contests.
Sounds great. We can’t wait to reap the benefits of the Man Cave come the regular season.
What do you think?
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