[M&M Guy]

As an official, I like knowing ahead of time when an evaluator will be there, so I know I can ask questions and have them watch for certain things. However, as others have mentioned, not knowing whether the evaluator will be there has forced me to officiate every as if I was being watched. That has helped me more in the long run. So, perhaps it's better to let the newer ones know ahead of time, so they think of questions and provide a list of things for you to watch. I'm not sure if newer officials have the ability to "turn it up a notch" simply knowing someone is watching. But for the more experienced officials, it may be better to simply show up, so you can see their normal game.

As for feedback, written is good. As for when, I've found out: it depends. For newer officials, making some quick comments at halftime is a good idea to help correct any obvious issues that came up in the first half. But make it quick, so they still have time to get a drink, cool down a little, and make it back out to the court at their normal time. I've seen an evauator try to include so much once that the crew was late getting back out on the floor, and it put them at a disadvantage starting the 2nd half.

For a more experienced crew, maybe it's best to wait until after the game to provide full feedback. Let them control how the pre-game is handled, and let them handle the halftime talk. That should be part of the evaluation process - seeing how the crew handles communication before and during a game. That can be a part of your critique afterwards. I also had a situation once in a small college game, where the supervisor was able to watch the game over the internet. He then tried to call my partner, the R, at halftime to gives us his critique of the 1st half. My partner purposely ignored the call, saying halftime was the crew's time to go over things. And we did. After the game, the R called the supervisor back, said sorry, saw the missed call, didn't hear the phone ringing in the locker, etc., and got the full critique then. I was a little surprised at that attitude; it wasn't that he was trying to ignore the supervisor or clown around at halftime, it's just he felt we should use the time as a crew to go over whatever issues we had in the first half. I've also had other "big-time" officials tell me that as well.