In my third year doing varsity, 3-man, but still not exclusively as the majority of my schedule up until now was still 2-man. I am still not confident/comfortable when in "C." We always pre-game and inevitably the statement comes up "Let's have a strong C tonight" and inevitably when I rotate there I feel like a fish out of water and call the game like it. Examples:
- In C, A1 moving to the basket and is bumped by B2 while going up for a shot right at the lane line (i.e., still in my primary). I see the bump, register that A1's shot was affected, and simply don't put air in the whistle. L comes in and cleans up my inaction and we move on.
- In C, A1 catches a pass and shuffles their feet. I see it, register that it's a travel, and don't put air in the whistle. T calls it and we move on.
- A1 moving across the lane and is hit on the arm. This time I put air in the whistle but late and L has an out of bounds whistle (didn't see the contact that caused the ball to go OOB). Instead of going strong with the call it was half-hearted and weak mechanic on my part leaving everyone wondering what was going on.
This is the biggest area of concentration for me right now as these issues don't crop up nearly as often (i.e., beyond the usual brain-cramp) while in T or L. What really hacks me off is in my evaluations strong mechanics are a constant theme but for some reason when in the slot they disappear. The "typical" areas of 3-man adjustments like rotations, bump and runs, and court placement during dead balls/free throws haven't really been an issue (or at least haven't come up in conversations with the crew chiefs during/after games).
This is in my head now and I'm trying to work out of it. Has anyone else struggled with this and, if so, how do you get through it? Any advice on how you ensure you're a "strong C?" I'm trying to concentrate on my primary and responsibilities there, have a running dialogue as plays develop, and at least recognize when something needs addressing as C, but am locking up on way too many plays.