[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by so cal lurker

Those &$#@& kids on your lawn? Get a grip. In *every* era, players push boundaries. Why do kids set sloppy screens and why does the ball handeler go to soon? Because it doesn’t get called! Why in the world should coaches teach players to do it “right” when it is more effective to do it “Wrong”and refs don’t call it? At least in games I watch, refs let players get away with a lot. Smart players look for the boundaries and do everything they can get away with. Don’t blame coaches on this one.

I graduated from H.S. in 1969 and my H.S. basketball coach was also an OhioHSAA registered basketball official. Whenever he was asked why he was a basketball official, his reply was: "How can you teach someone to play the game if you do not know the rules." To elaborate on that, my coach taught Guarding and Screening right out of the Rules Book. If one were to have observed our practice one would have thought he/she were watching a basketball officiating camp. Before I could graduated from H.S. I could quote "chapter and verse" of the Guarding and Screening rules. That is why I can say with absolute certainty that the Guarding and Screening rules have not changed in over 50 years, not to mention that I started officiating in 1971 and the oldest rules book in my library is the 1963-64 season.

MTD, Sr.