How Important Is Your Pregame! Do We Allways Have One?

[Love2ref4Ever]

This is a question that I want honest feedback! Since becoming a basketball official,I was taught to get to your games early,have a pre-game with your partner,and be on the court 15 minutes before the start of the game. Now getting to the game on time is no problem,Being on the court 15 minutes before the game is no problem,Yet sometimes having a pre-game with my partner(s)seems to be where the problem usually comes in,Let me explain.Most veteran officials I work with I often like to let them lead the pre-game.And alot of times they like to give it right back to me,As to say you are the rookie,you take it! So now it's left up to me to lead the pre-game.Usually I feel like they don't usually do pre-games unless it is a big game!So now here I go starting the pre-game and it's sometimes like pulling teeth,to get my partner(s)undevided attention.So I'm often left with this feeling,Does any one really take the pre-game conference seriously? Now when I'm with a newer official they seem to be more excited about having a pre-game conference.As officials what kind of message are we trying to send! Now I know how to have a pre-game with myself before a game,But as officials less try to be more on the same page before the game starts.And usually that begins with a thorough pre-game.

[mick]

I am puzzled by your implication that you are considered a rookie by your peers when your profile shows 11 years of experience, but...

I enjoy a pre-game and try to use it. Yes, the higher the level the deeper the detail we go into during the pregame.
With other people in the dressing room, a pregame becomes more difficult; with women officials dressing in other rooms, a pregame becomes more difficult; with partners showing up late, a pregame becomes more difficult.

Cover the game management situations in your pregame and the flow of the game will be improved.

mick

[Bart Tyson]

In all my games, we have a pregame and a post game. we take it seriously. Having said that i did work a JUCO game Saturday and the older official was late and did not call a good game. At time outs, we communicated things and i touched on a couple things we need to work on to finish strong; ie things the older official wasn't doing. At half time i touched on a couple things we needed to work on for the second half. And in the post game i let my partners know what we needed to work on. The younger official was asking and wanted to learn. I did not waste a lot of time on the other official, but i did tell him some things. If you are given the responsibility to pregame then take the responsibility for the post game. Be professional and don't hold back. If you remember a play you think they got wrong then ask the official what they saw, especially if they came out of there area. Have balance, try to compliment a call or no call they had. good luck.

[Tim Roden]

I always have a thurough pregame when It is the first time to work with someone. With people that don't want to pregame, the pregame will be talking about silly situations that have come up. How would you handle it if a1 crashed into b1 at the division line and throws a punch? Questions like that. Anything to get his mind in the grove and on the same page with you.

[JAdams]

We all have had occasions when our partner(s) didn't seem interested in doing a pregame... maybe (s)he had a tough day at work, maybe there are problems on the home front, or whatever. But here's a suggestion that has worked for me.

Ask simple questions of your partner to get the conversation going. Do you want to toss? How do you want to handle last second shots (especially in two man)? What's your philosophy regarding rotation (in three man)? How should we handle a coach and the free throws if we have to call a technical? How do you want to handle the throw-in if the spot is ten feet up the sideline in the frontcourt? How will you respond if I ask for help on a tipped/no tipped pass that goes out of bounds?

Once you get him (or her) talking, you can ease into other topics that constitute a good pregame.

[mikesears]

I am a 2nd year official and I find having a pregame extremely helpful. Some officials like to switch on every foul. Some officials won't switch when they are trail and call a foul right in front of them. Some officials don't push when the ball goes out-of-bounds and want you to go up court. Things to cover should be:

1. Simultaneous whisltes. (Neither official signal and sort things out before we report to the table)

2. Last second shot. (Trail calls it unless there isn't a clock for trail to look at then lead calls it, etc.)

3. Switching on fouls (See above)

When two or three people are not communicating well during the game, it shows through so veterens, rookies, and everyone else who officiates, PLEASE HOLD YOUR PREGAME.

[mick]

Lov2,
I E-mailed you and message was returned.
mick

[mick]

Originally posted by mick
Lov2,
I E-mailed you and message was returned.
mick