[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

I know shot clock rules to the best of my ability depending on what's the handout that we're given, and responsible to nterpret. Sometimes things get really weird, things that aren't covered on the short synopsis handout, things that are often discussed by college guys here on the Forum (recent one: where ball is inbounded after specific type of shot clock violation).

Experience plays a big part of understanding (not just memorizing) a rule set.



That's why my comfort level goes way up when I work such a game with a college guy. He's more experienced with shot clocks than me, and will definitely have more expertise when something weird happens, and will be able to react quickly to such a situation, due to his experience level, while I stand there scratching my head trying to figure out what was on the handout regarding this weird situation.

At any level, the more experience one has, the better official one will probably be. For all intents and purposes, I'm a second year prep school official. Knowing the rules is great, but there's no substitute for experience.

At the college level is expected that the newer/rookie officials are the best at rules interpretation. All my college supervisors routinely tell their vets to listen to the rookies when it comes to rules. What newbies lack in experience they are expected to make up with rules knowledge.