Secret Shopper
 

I received an email this morning from our local association's supervisor of officials saying he was an observer at one of my games last week Friday (game #1 of a two game set), and attached an evaluation form to the email. Evaluator said that he had a cold and did not want to intro himself to me and ref partner [read as: I intended to remain anonymous]. He wrote the following observations:

1. there was a possible "held-ball" that was outside of your area but was directly in your partner's coverage lane but your partner did not get it, wondered why you did not reach for it? I think I know why because it was outside of your area--and perhaps because it was not a foul. Just be mindful of helping out when prudent.

2. I saw the coach trying to challenge you on the player control foul you made on his dribbler who clearly lowered the shoulder and bent his forearm into defender but not dramatically--that showed poise towards the coach.

3. try to step more deeper into the reporting zone when approaching the table, you tended to remain on the edge of it.

4. there were a few physical rebounding/put-back plays in the post but defenders were vertical, I heard the crowd yelling 'foul', but you and partner did not get swayed--from what I could tell the defenders were vertical even when they left the floor---you got yourself in good position/angles---a no-call there was proper.

5. remember that six feet's closing distance is all that's required for starting a "closely guarded count", you were not starting your count until the guard got closer to the dribbler---in future think about who is getting the advantage there.

Keep up the good work and stay focused on the fundamentals.

Nice Job ...
 

Common complaint by evaluators here in my little corner of Connecticut.

And they don't want us to use the IAABO approved "not closely guarded" signal, say it's often used when it's not appropriate because the defender is actually within six feet.

Very fair and balanced eval. I’d take it any day.

I think every evaluator should strive to match compliment and criticism equally. It makes one more likely to trust and act on the negative stuff while reinforcing the good stuff. In other words...basically good leadership skills. Sounds like your evaluator had those.


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Depends on the purpose of the evaluation. If it's a "who gets the state tournament nod" eval, I'd like it to be as positive as possible, for obvious reasons.

If it's a teaching clinc/camp evaluation or film review from an association clinician, I want to be nitpicked as much as possible. Let me know every little thing I could be doing better or where I need to refine my judgement. In those situations, I'm looking for anything that I can use to get better. Something that can make me 1% better is great, 5% better is outstanding, 10% better is fantastic.

I did get observed at a game earlier this season (the eval was from one of the association big-wigs, who also has a role in selecting state tourney officials). The only two things he had for me were a) I sometimes don't get my arm fully extended when signaling a violation or foul (guilty), and b) I have my whistle on the side of my mouth rather than in the middle, which he said looks like I'm not paying attention. (Personally, I do it that way so it's easier to use my voice if necessary during a live ball).

While there is always an element of "when in Rome" and doing what your uppers want you to do, remember that these two things are not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.

Signals exist to communicate what call we have to those watching. Signals need to be clear, but also demonstrate strength and show confidence in our call. Sometimes that means not going explicitly by what the diagram shows.

As for the whistle in the side of the mouth, I have heard that as well. Just know when you turn on the tv you will see many high level refs chewing gum, dangling the whistle from the side of their mouth, and if they don't use a lanyard even dropping their whistle from time to time. It happens, even to the best. So take that critique with a grain of salt.