Quote:
Originally Posted by GROUPthink
. . . The first 15 years I worked basketball, there were too many blocks being called and the message got out that we were punishing good defense. Then it swung way too much in the opposite direction -- charges became the default call even when the elements of drawing a charge weren't all there. Anything close got shipped the other way.
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From the responses thus far this seems to be a regional thing. Around here in the land across the lake from Rut the default call, almost universally -- and especially for less experienced officials -- is to "block." Ball watching catches especially the endline official by surprise when contact occurs, and because s/he hadn't assessed the legal or illegal status of the defender, the charge hardly ever gets called. More experienced officials have this pretty much down to a science, with little if any argument from coaches over the accurate calls.
More and more instruction in rules meetings is having a measurable effect on the less experienced officials as they're starting to get the point through diligent off-ball surveillance as Lead.