[Travelling Man]

I played HS varsity and small college hoop. This gives me insight on what players go through during a game, for example I can see how they get annoyed by pesky defenders which causes them to commit violations, how they experience stress of waning time and being down by 1 or 2 pts and the urgency that envelopes them, and also I know how they feign fouls--like initiating contact on drives when defender has LGP and they are looking to exploit the "gray areas" of the call. (i.e., 'flopping'). Also, there are just some aspects of hoop that I cannot verbalize but I can sense during a game--simply because I've been in the same situation that the players have been in. I know that my hoop playing experience gives me unique insight and I use it in the execution of my officiating practice. I don't mean to sound erudite, but officials who have not played competitive hoop are more prone to be duped by players who are prone to deceptive feigning.
I'm sorry to say this and will likey recieve feedback from the posters here. Yet, it also begs the question: can a coach who has never played varsity actually be an excellent varsity level coach? Can a ref who has never played in the nba be a good nba ref? But that is not really the point here.