IHSA Boys State Finals 2018 Plays (Video)

[VaTerp]

Originally Posted by Multiple Sports

I think there is a bigger problem here. In a lot of instances ( especially hoops ), I think a lot of crews at state championships are in over their head. In some instances you have local assigners submitting crews. You end up at times giving games to crews that have never seen that type of athleticism. Can you image a guy from the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania seeing Roman Catholic for the 1st time. That official during the season is at best is seeing a guy that wont
get minutes at the D3 level and then in the state chip is getting a team with three D1 players who are going to Power 5's.

Im not saying guys dont deserve the assignnent, just feel at times the crews dont do the game justice....

Thoughts ????

I think the bigger issue is lack of familiarity as a crew. I worked a state final last year with 2 guys that I could not get on the same page with and it had a noticeable negative impact on the game. IMO, and that of 3 state observers I talked to immediately after, they both really struggled for huge stretches of the game. I don't know if it was necessarily a case of the level of play being above their heads or moreso that they just struggled that night.

VHSL actually made a switch this year, where instead of a mixed crew from different parts of the state, crews from the same association were assigned to all state games (quarterfinals, semis, and finals). From the 7 or 8 state games I watched, I thought it worked out well with crews being more consistent overall.

Anyways, I don't see any evidence of any of those issues being a problem on the plays cited here. I think they basically got them all right.

Play #1- This is the one I like the least. I think there is a bump on the ball handler that could have been called and then the rebounding contact seems marginal but also a case for displacement. The biggest issue to me is not that the T made the call but that he did not move to stay with the play at all. He should have stayed connected during the drive and, at the very least, stepped down to make the rebounding call.

#2- Fairly easy call IMO. People keep talking about a "loose ball" situation but the players are not in an equally advantageous positions. The contact from black clearly knocks white off balance and again, is a fairly easy call. And to answer the question in the video, I have no problem with the C making being on this play. I'd like to see the T more engaged but like the C hanging back here with a very competitive matchup coming his way.

#3- Also fairly easy one coming across the forearm to get to the ball.

#4- Close to establishing LPG but not a close call IMO. He was never legal and is sliding into path of airborne shooter.

#5- Again, no problem with C hanging back for a second and getting a good look at the contact on his side. Good call.

#6- The ball appears to be what hit gold in the face but I think #12 gets the inside of his arm before that. Good call.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by VaTerp

... crews from the same association were assigned to all state games (quarterfinals, semis, and finals).

We've always done it that way in Connecticut, from the first round until the state championship, boys and girls, all enrollment divisions.

Our main problem is the scarcity of three person games during the regular season, especially in some local boards (we have six local boards in Connecticut, two use quite a bit of regular season three person crews, four only do a few, including mine). Our interscholastic state high school sports governing body mandates three person crews from the quarterfinals on (some exceptions for some early round tough matchups).

I observed one of our local guys in a quarterfinal game. It was his first year in the tournament. He did a great job. After the game I asked him how many three person games he had worked previously. He answered that that night's game was his first three person game ever, not even a single three person scrimmage.