Blowouts

[Rich]

Somebody give me a close game, please.

Last night 71-31. Season started last Tuesday and my closest game in three games thus far was 12 points and it wasn't that close until the end (winning team cleared the bench early - before that it was over 20 points).

There's such a disparity between the haves and the have nots in high school basketball.

I was amazed at how fast the game finished last night, though. Started at about 7:45PM and was showered, dressed, and in the car by 9:05. Of course we only had 5 fouls the first half. No mercy rule, either.

But I'll take that close game now. Two more chances this week -- boys varsity Thursday and Friday.

Rich

[Smitty]

This is more of an observation of myself than a rules thing, but my pair of games last night were both blowouts. It's so hard when the skill level is so lopsided to call the game as tight one way as the other. You see kids playing sloppy basketball and you could theoretically call fouls on every play, but I find myself holding back and seeing how the play works itself out before blowing the whistle. Yet when the more skilled team does anything wrong, it's so clearly obvious (because they aren't sloppy) that I call it immediately. I know I am supposed to call the game the same both ways. But when the skill level is so different, the sloppiness on the one side makes the line between clean fouls and chaotic play pretty hazy. Again, just an observation. Flame on...

[Rich]

I think your observation is correct. A more skilled team can take more contact without being put at a disadvantage.

Last night I had a number of plays where I was slow on the whistle -- that slowness let the better player finish his play. On the other end that contact would knock the player off balance and I'd have to call the foul.

I don't see anything wrong with this -- completing the play and scoring should be considered a better outcome than me stopping the game and calling a foul.

Rich

[Smitty]

I'm really glad I got some positive feedback on that one. The only problem I felt while calling the game this way (and keep in mind my partner was working his first game ever and was afraid to blow the whistle so I was finding myself calling stuff from way far away, but only things that were blatant) was that the coach of the more skilled team started complaining that I wasn't calling stuff his way on similar looking plays when his kids had the ball. Problem was, just as you described, every time I held back waiting to see what would happen before blowing the whistle, the defense was out of position and the skilled kid drove in for an easy lay-up. If I had blown the whistle, ball out of bounds. This is actually a good exercise for me in watching plays develop in more even games. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

[Camron Rust]

I agree with Rich.

When I have a coach comment about it. I simply comment that the foul would have been before the shot and that I felt his player capable of playing through it and still scoring. This works particularly well when they actually do score. Of course, it doesn't always work out that way but with experience, you can usually tell when the player will be able to play through it. Most experienced coaches are wise enough to know that 2 points on the board is better than having the ball OOB or at the line for 1+1 or 2. The rest often see the logic once you mention it.