Quote:
Originally posted by M&M Guy
Quote:
Originally posted by blindzebra
Yes, but if it's close, I've had scorers asking because they thought they might have missed the TD signal.
Why did the NCAA adopt the open hands signal on closely guarded? I mean if we ain't counting it's not a closely guarded situation, right?
In a perfect world, everyone would know exactly what is going on, we'd never have a coach questioning a call, and there would be no need for supportive signals.
This is not a perfect world, and if two fingers pointed down can say, "Yes coach I had a foot on the line," without having to actually say those words or it can avoid a question from the table because they think they might have missed the TD signal, what is the harm?
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I'm going to use a Jurassic trick - remember, at no point in this discussion have I said whether I use those signals or not.
BZ - If the table missed your TD signal, wouldn't they miss the "2" signal as well? Of course, if something needs to be communicated, we should communicate. If the table has that "huh?" look, then we need to tell them or show them right away so we don't have to stop the game and draw attention to ourselves. And JRut's example of clearing up a mis-communication between partners in a dual coverage area is another good example. But I think we need to get away from the habit of using them all the time.
How would most people feel if we saw an official watch a drive to the basket, then follow it with a "safe" signal to let everyone know he saw the play and there was no foul? That would look kind of strange. If there's a foul, we blow the whistle and hold up our fist, if not, we don't. In the case of the closely guarded count, I was told at a camp once that officials started using the hands-apart signal as a lazy way to let everyone know they were watching, instead of using body language to show they really were in position and watching. Then, there was either a count, or not. For those that work baseball or softball, the closest analogy I can think of is when you call balls and strikes - it's either a strike or a ball. When I did softball, I was taught that it's not "ball, low", or "juuuust a bit outside". If someone asks, you can tell them. But I was told it shows either weakness or a lack of confidence if you have to explain and justify every call. Wouldn't that apply to basketball? We don't have to explain every close 2 or 3-point shot, or every time the ball is tipped before going in the backcourt. If someone, say our partner or the table, needs to know, of course we communicate with them. But if we start to do it all the time, we might not be projecting that confidence and court presence.
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Bad analogy. In baseball or softball the majority of all calls made at the plate are balls and strikes. Every pitch to every batter has a call, it's black or white, so yes if you add something to 50% of your calls it looks bad.
We are talking about helping a partner with a tip signal, once every couple of games, perhaps once or twice a season.
How many times a game does a player take a shot toeing the 3 point line? What percentage of our decisions does that 2 finger point come into play?
I disagree, I think it actually helps your court presence. A well timed, crisp signal that heads off any problems/questions and keeps the game going without delays adds to your overall court presence, IMO.