This incident will surely remain in the record books not only because it led to one of those memorable end of season classics (incidentally these same two sides had met I the 1996 final and there was also a buzzer beater that won the league scored by Dejan Bodiroga, at that time playing for Milan) but mostly because it was the instant replay that decided the issue.

Earlier this year I had dedicated a whole column to highlight the innovative decision taken by the Italian Federation to allow the use of instant replay in the games. Destiny had it that the first ever league played under this new provision had to be decided by this same technological tool.

I had the pleasure to watch this game played in an electrifying atmosphere in front of over 11,500 fans, where the vast majority were Milan fans (hoping their side wins game four and thus play the eventual decider in game 5) and maybe a maximum of 300 Fortitudo fans that were courageous enough to support their team constantly.

The game per se was very balanced with no team taking the real upper hand except for a couple of instances early on when there was a slight lead for each respective finalist.

Thirty-two seconds from the end, Milan won possession leading 65-64. They tried a possession game and missed a 3-point attempt in the last moments of their 24-second offense. Bologna won the rebound and played the ball to their mentor Basile. The latter however, despite his obvious intentions to steer clear, found traffic and all seemed lost as he was double teamed except that with maybe a second or slightly more left on the clock, he passed the ball to Douglas who let fly a desperate shot with the game clock sounding at the apparently the same time.

The referees had quite a task when the ball finished inside the basket. Is the basket valid or not? Honestly I would easily say it was very difficult, if not impossible, to judge with the naked eye.

After mingling together in the centre of the court, the referees immediately made it clear that they were going to see the instant replay amidst visible tension and frustration on the court with Bologna demanding a basket and Milan stating that the shot left the shooter’s hand after the game buzzer.

Even the fans on the stand were practically silent in those instances (over a minute) that the referees were investigating the replay.

Finally it was decided that the instant replay showed that the basket was valid as Douglas had shot the ball just 0.03 of a second before the buzzer!

This led to wild celebrations by Fortitudo and their fans whilst the Milan players were visibly shaken although their fans gave them a super standing ovation, for their efforts and success along the season given their circumstances and financial difficulties, as they were leaving the court.

Upon the introduction of the instant replay, many were those who criticized this decision. Personally, as my earlier column can verify, I was and still am very much in favour as to the way it was introduced in Italy. The latter was the first European country to be courageous enough to introduce the replay but I am sure that this league-deciding incident will lead other nations (with the necessary capital, equipment and personnel to work such an advanced technological system) to follow suit.

As I had stated before, the use of the instant replay will never take the place or better still diminish the role of the referee. Its use is aimed solely to guarantee better judgments for all those who are involved in the game, be the same referees, players, coaches, fans and even media.

It is basically a technological tool that is aimed to help the referee to determine specific play situations excluding those circumstances where decisions were not taken.

In fact the first article contained in the new rulings on the replay stated that this replay could be used by the referees in situations where a basket is scored close to the sounding of the 24-second period, quarter or end of the game and there is uncertainty as to whether the ball had left the shooter’s hand in time.

Another situation where the replay has proven to be of immense help for fairness is during fight incidents.

The referees can now view the replay and determine accurately who took part or not in any scuffle.

Many critics of this system always stated that the introduction would lead to a number of interruptions during a game similar to what happens in American football.

The past year’s experience has shown clearly that this is not the case and the majority of games did not contain one request for the instant replay.

In basketball, a request for a replay can be made by the referee or a coach respectively but there are rules governing such requests.

A coach has only one possibility to request a replay time-out during a whole game. Such a request can only be made in a short span of time after an incident and the coach has to notify his request to the table officials.

[email protected]