Yes, it would have been nice if the refs had picked up what happened to Edwards but we all know the reality. And in particular when there is a change of possession and players are sprinting to the other basket, as was the case when Edwards was mugged, you have only three pairs of eyes trying to see the entire court in split second real time. Refs can't cover every player all the time when the teams are spread out.
Particularly in basketball and football, we can all cite egregious examples of missed fouls or fouls called when they shouldn't have been. But since the introduction of replay when as viewers we get to see infractions (and non-infractions) repeated and in slow motion, I'm actually impressed with how accurate most refs and umpires are the majority of time.
From my own personal experience, I've done score keeping for rec league basketball games. Much more limited responsibility than working as a referee but there were times it was a struggle for me to know who to credit with a score, keep up with fouls accurately, etc. - and these were players I knew well being my town!
Some days I yell at the refs but most games I think they do a reasonably good job.
