Caught the Rockets/Pacers game tonight. Best seats I've ever had, 5th row. Sitting so close for the first time, I noticed that each official had something attached to their waist. It looked like an oversized beeper, but I couldn't tell what it was. Can anyone help me out?

Precision Time. It stops the clock when the whistle is blown and allows the officials to manually start the clock, independently of the timer.

Are you implying that NBA Officials are wearing belts?

the belt of the pants! not an acutal belt. Shoot- NBA officials got rid of the belts LONG before NCAA and HS did.

I keep trying to go to an NBA game. and defintly not to see the players. A bit off topic I got invited to join an NBA evaluator at a Spurs game if I was in San Antonio. Right now I can't justify a weekend trip there. But I thought that was pretty cool. NBA officials are held under LOTS of observation. Even WNBA. They have 2-3 hour pregame meetings over LUNCH. Not to mention watch countless footage of other teams and officials. The NBA handles thier officiating crews much like the NFL does it seem.

Am I the only one that thinks these beepers would be useful in another 5 page thread on this board and others LOL :) have a happy holiday season everyone :)

Beepers are used to call their moms to come pick them up when they're done.

I would not attend an NBA game if you drove,paid for dinner, parking,concessions, and we sat on the team bench.

NBA basketball is a joke to the game in which the rules were written.

In SA!
 

ace,
I live in SA and would LOVE to attend a game and sit with an NBA evaluator. Hook me up!

I agree. Look at this stuff they do in the NBA.

1- The 3 point shot
2- The 3/10ths rule
3- The 30 second TO
4- The 3 man officiating system
5- The flex rotation
6- Limiting the number of players on the FT
7- V-neck shirts
8- Precision Time (Developed by a former NBA referee)
9- Red lights behind the backboards
10- Bouncing the ball on throw-ins

I hope none of this ever trickles down to high school ball. ;)

good one, I was talking about the style of play.

I think there is alot to learn from NBA refs. Nobody works harder than they do. They are constantly being evaluated and must work diligently on improving their skills.

The fact that they officiate a different game than what we see at the college and high school level does not take away from their ability. It's like the old adage that we hear on this board: do what your assignor wants. NBA officials DO what their assignors want.

If the NBA wants to play "street level" ball and ignor the basic rules of the game such as:

lets issue passports for as much traveling that goes on.

hockey clothing for all the pushing an shoving under the basket.

repelling ropes for all the hanging on the rims for no reason.

and on and on... This is all fine untill high school coaches and players feel that they should be able to play the same way. I think this is the point that CLAY is trying to make.

my point, thank you TSP.

Yeah but if you drove, paid for dinner, parking, concessions, and we sat on the team bench, I'd go. :)

IMHO, NBA officials are the best officials in the world period. Not only do they have to be almost perfect mechanically, if they kick a rule they have to write a check worth about 3 high school games. They work around 15 days a month but it is an all day job for them. They meet, work out, log on to their site to look at plays (mandatory), ref the game and then go over the game. I'm not happy all the time about how the game is played but it is entertainment. Millions and millions of dollars are involved with every game and we can't think for one minute that any Joe Blow could be the official for this. It is a tough game to call. For instance, there is no NBA player that can really stop another NBA player defensively. That alone makes thing interesting when you think about help defense, pass/crash, hand checking and block/charge situations. As far as traveling, well I agree they should do something about that. For the people that think Shaq should get called for charging consider the fact that if you called the game the way it was meant to be called he would probably shoot 40 free throws a game! Even at 50 percent that is a lot of points from the line. So a game plan could be give it to Shaq and Malone for the first two quarters and after all of the other team's big men foul out then Mr. Bryant and Mr. Payton could have there way. It wouldn't even matter at that point whether Shaq fouled out of the game. Would that be any fun to watch. More importantly, would someone pay $25 for a nose bleed seat to see the stars foul out? They have to charge so much so they can pay KG his money. Did you know he probably makes $400,000 every two weeks after taxes? That is some serious dough!