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I rode up with the crew that was doing the game before my varsity game. That crew had a newbie who I had worked with at one of our jamborees (pre-season scrimmages where we work with new officials). His partner wasnt really on the ball and instead of pregaming went and talked to the AD. So I took the newbie and kept it simple. I went over court coverage real quick. I reassured him, said he would do a good job and said:
"95% of basketball is easy and you already know it--blocks, charges, travels, out of bounds. You know those calls, just call what you see. Leave the other 5% to your partner. You just do three things tonite: 1. blow your whistle and blow it hard when you see something, 2. get your hand up, and 3. make eye contact with your partner before you put the ball in play."
He did a fine job and I told him so. Building confidence in the newbie is the most important thing I think we can do.
As a general matter, I think newbies get a ton of stuff thrown at them and it helps for that first game to just slow them down, focus them on the very basics and reassure them that their partners are there to help them.
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