[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Helping your partner when it involves out-of-bounds plays, two or three-point field goal attempts, getting the correct shooter, or getting the correct players involved in a fight is one thing.

But, attempting to change judgement calls is another thing, even when you know that your partner is 200% wrong. There is not an official who has made a contribution to this discussion group who has not worked a game in a two-man crew who had a partner who did nothing but watch the ball. You know the type. You are the Trail, the ball is five feet above the top of the key and the poing guard stops his dribble and comes to a stop and it looks strange but the guard did nothing illegal, and tweeeeeeeeet!!!!!! goes your partner's whistle and he gives the travel signal. You cannot wait for half time to come so that you can rearrange his brain.

I think I made my point clear in my first post in this thread. The game evaluator will no doubt make a note of the play, and as a team you will discuss it either at half time or after the game. We all blow a play at least once a season, that's life, we all struggle to have the perfect game and we all know how difficult that is to accomplish. We have all had the moments when we wished that we could have sucked the air back into the whistle but the game goes on and over the course of a game we make hundreds of yes/no decisions. As a structural engineer, I can tell you that officiating basketball is not rocket science (neither is officiating soccer for that matter). Maybe it is because I have been involved in basketball as a player, coach, and official since I was nine (I am now 50), I think that basketball is one of the easiest sports (after soccer) to officiate.

The play happened, and life goes on, besides it was John Cloughty (go YSU Penquins) who made the call, I think that we can all give him a little slack, after all he has earned it.