[Travelling Man]

Originally Posted by potato

No doubt having experience in playing the game helps understanding the rules, but you don't need to be in HS or College game to learn that, any games should give you some insight.

But i seriously doubt there's any refs whom never played a basketball game ever.

It's like a Race Car Driver turned Mechanics, he might not know the mechanic part as well as other experienced mechanics but he has other insights gained by having previously driven race cars. Having experience of both players & ref is nothing else but a good thing. If you never dined in a fine restaurant before you probably have hard time understanding what the diners wants, sure the manager can teach you all that but nothing beats actually experiencing it & learning what a diner wants from a diner point of view. Then you'll be able to see both sides of a coin before passing judgement.

*pretty good analogy!