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Originally Posted by SMEngmann
One other point Mark, in regards to the playoff officials. You have a valid point that the top guys should work more often in the playoffs because there's big money at stake, but it seems you are discounting the need for young officials to gain experience in the playoff environment. When the Crawfords and the Bavattas retire, someone's gonna have to step into their shoes as a crew chief, how do you propose the NBA develop the top officials of the future?
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THere are multiple ways. There are multiple matchups in the regular season that have "playoff intensity". When the Suns and Clippers play for first place in April. Thats a HUGE game with as much at stake as many playoff games. Its the perfect spot to introduce a younger ref to work with more experienced officials.
A few of those, and then a first round game is a natural extension.
The key is flexible scheduling with the goal of developing officials combined with training.
On the flipside, the end of year is also the perfect time to bring up young officials from the NBDL. Rather than waiting for the start of the season. Integrate first time officials into games between non playoff teams. Low stakes, big opportunity for the officials
IMHO
m