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Originally Posted by bigdog5142
I had a 7th grade girls game...
The visiting team was, well...just not good. They probably had not every played basketball before this season. There was NO hustle in this team whatsoever. ...
I was trying to be as lenient as possible, as the team was down 20 by the second quarter. However, I had been allowing like 5-7 seconds for throw-ins...finally, after a girl had the ball in her possession (midway through 2nd quarter), it literally took 7 seconds just for a girl to get to the ball (they walked to get the ball, etc.)...I counted to 10 and called a 5 second call.
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Maybe I should've called it sooner...but just wanted your opinions. Thanks!
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Not a "bad" call but also not a "good" call.
It's not a bad thing to be lenient and call the game to the ability of the players and be hightly tolerant in games where teams are just learning. Everyone involved has more fun, learns more, and generaly benefits from a game that is called in a way that expects the players to meet some threshold that is challenging but not completely discouraging.
However, you ignored it for 1 1/2 quarters then, bam, you call it. It was a suprise call on a situation that apparently had happened just the same for what sounds like at least 10-15 times already (20 point lead).
Two better options:
- Call it earlier...at the beginning and be consistent....or back off a little at a time.
- If you're going to change what you're calling tell the coaches and teams that you're going to change what you're calling.
Anytime you've established a pattern of enforcement, it is unfair to change it substantially without telling the coach and/or players. Not telling them is asking for a situation exactly like you got.
Again, the call itself was neither good nor bad...it was the surprise nature of it that was bad. Communicate such things with the coaches it will make your games go a lot smoother.