[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by TheOracle

That is a very astute comment. I believe that you identify the root causes of why officials miss severe contact situations. However, the acquired skill of recognizing when severe contact occurred, and being able to make the split-second decision to process the result and make a sellable, educated guess, can compensate for not having a perfect look. Something to think about. That would be the only time I would ever advocate educated "guessing", to prevent non-basketball escalation that can ruin the game.

I wish it was simple to do, but most misses, whether you see them or not, are the inability to see the play, process the information, make the decision, and pull the trigger in a very short period of time. It is impossible to do that hundreds of times a game without locking up on occasion. I never see or hear much discussion about it though.

Perhaps because most good officials aren't all that interested in learning to officiate by guessing?