|
I find this kind of advice by high level officials to be terribly misleading.
There is an element of quality advice to it, which is the principle of keeping it simple. When officials call oddball & unexpected things the possibility of problems is introduced because (a) the officials may not administer the situation correctly and (b) the coaches, players, and spectators likely will not understand or accept the decision very easily and this can upset the human emotions in the game leading to further issues.
On the other hand, the phrasing of this advice could send the wrong message to the crew being observed. They may comprehend that the official is telling them to ignore a clear foul. I hope that isn't what is being communicated and that the higher level observer isn't advocating administering the rules incorrectly. What I hope is being offered is that the off-ball official be much more patient with his whistle and have a higher threshhold for what constitutes a rebounding foul in a situation in which no rebound will occur. This thinking has merit to it because there isn't going to be a possession consequence to the contact, so the only reason that it would need to be called is to clean up rough play, in which case the contact should be rather significant.
If after hearing that advice, the off-ball official still deemed that that the pushing foul needed to be called (perhaps the opponent was shoved to the floor), then I would advise the crew that they better know the rules on how to penalize these two fouls. Handling strange plays with certainty and precision, as well as communicating the procedure well, carries a lot of wieght in the evaluation.
|