Houston-Purdue postgame show failed to mention controversial no-call

If you tuned into TBS’ postgame show immediately after Houston’s nail-biting Sweet 16 win over Purdue, you no doubt saw Milos Uzan’s game-winning basket. You also certainly heard Adam Lefkoe, Seth Davis, Candace Parker, and Jay Wright talk about how that play happened. But what you didn’t see or hear was any mention of what came immediately before.

So, let’s recap what happened.

Immediately before making the game-winning basket, Uzan missed a potential game-winner. He ran most of the shot clock down, went to his right, and tried a turnaround jumper, which missed. Houston kept possession when Purdue’s Camden Heide couldn’t control the rebound and knocked the ball out of bounds.

While the Cougars had a less-than-stellar offensive possession leading up to Uzan’s shot, he still had a clean look at the basket. Viewing the replay, Steve Lappas, the TBS color commentator for the game, said that Uzan got away with a push-off of Purdue’s Braden Smith.

Had the push-off been called, of course, Houston would not have been in possession of the ball to set up what was the game-winning shot.

Despite the game ending so late, TBS ran a full postgame show.

Given what Lappas said, and considering that the no-call came at the end of the game, discussing it on the postgame show would feel like a no-brainer. But by the time the show signed off, it was not addressed.

How does that happen?

This wasn’t a close call in the first half or even one with five minutes to go. And if this call was made the way that Lappas said it should have been made, the subsequent game-winning play would not have happened.

There are several ways this could have been done but for the sake of argument, we’ll break it down to two.

Option 1: A debate

At least one person at the desk argues that it was a bad no-call while at least one other defends it. We actually got this kind of conversation around the game-winning basket, with Parker and Wright debating whether it was more a product of Houston’s good offense or Purdue’s poor defense. Squeezing in a few minutes about the play that came right before it would have been doable.

Option 2: Just the facts

While going over the highlights, just show the play. Make a comment to the tune of, “Many, including our own Steve Lappas, thought this might have been a push-off,” then move on. Show the play, mention the debate, and let your viewers decide for themselves.

Having someone at the desk — especially Parker or Wright — commenting on the no-call would be ideal. But short of that, at least go over what was a big part of the game.

That’s all we’re asking for. This isn’t an editorial about whether Uzan pushed off or Smith flopped. That’s another discussion. We’re simply saying that it warranted being mentioned in the discussion of the game.

Because, quite frankly, if the postgame show isn’t going to at least address such a notable play near the end of the game, what’s the point of having a postgame show?