Primary

[guammy79]

This is my first year, but I seem to have problem when my partners are calling stuff in my primary. Yeah, I'll be the first to admit, I do miss little sutff. But for the most part I feel I have a good angle on things and some non-violations right in front of me have been called violations by my partner. For instance, A1 goes up for a jump shot and B1 hits the ball clearly out of A1 hands directly down and A1 recovers. My partner blows a travel. Am I wrong in this case???? Also, what are some good ways in letting my partner know to trust me and stay in their primary??? Thanks in advance.

[whistleone]

Originally posted by guammy79
This is my first year, but I seem to have problem when my partners are calling stuff in my primary. Yeah, I'll be the first to admit, I do miss little sutff. But for the most part I feel I have a good angle on things and some non-violations right in front of me have been called violations by my partner. For instance, A1 goes up for a jump shot and B1 hits the ball clearly out of A1 hands directly down and A1 recovers. My partner blows a travel. Am I wrong in this case???? Also, what are some good ways in letting my partner know to trust me and stay in their primary??? Thanks in advance.

Pregame, pregame, pregame. There are four things I always go over in pregame no matter who I'm working with. Referee the defense, call the obvious, stay in your primary and trust your partner. Being a new ref, your partners are probably struggling with the fourth item. Be sure to let them know that you've had problems with overzealous partners in the past and you're struggling with it. Hopefully they'll back off and let you cut your teeth a little. With that being said, be prepared to hear about things you miss. Coaches are probably getting used partners picking up your slack and you'll have to answer to them.

[Snake~eyes]

This is my first year for basketball and I have similar problems. I don't do HS level yet but I find my partner calling in my primary. I think its because I'm new, if I was a varsity official they would never call in my primary. At first I didn't mind because I had no calls when I should have had a call. I learned though and started to learn what to call and what not. I have those situations where I'm lead, have a clear view, clean block and I hear a tweet. And the kids always have a comment that it was clean and that even I didn't have a foul. Nothing I can really do, also both my p and I both have a foul that is in my primary and he still reports. It's frustrating but next year I think they'll put more trust in ya.

[blindzebra]

Originally posted by guammy79
This is my first year, but I seem to have problem when my partners are calling stuff in my primary. Yeah, I'll be the first to admit, I do miss little sutff. But for the most part I feel I have a good angle on things and some non-violations right in front of me have been called violations by my partner. For instance, A1 goes up for a jump shot and B1 hits the ball clearly out of A1 hands directly down and A1 recovers. My partner blows a travel. Am I wrong in this case???? Also, what are some good ways in letting my partner know to trust me and stay in their primary??? Thanks in advance.

There are a couple of ways to handle this:

1.Point out that you are aware that you are new,but if they really want to help you get better,they need to let you call your primary.

2.Make a few calls right in front of them and if they have a problem with it,remind them that they are doing the same thing to you.

3.Tell them to stop calling in my kitchen and remind them if we are both watching my area who is watching yours?

Remember you can't get better if you don't call your own game,you can't learn from their experience if they are not doing things the right way,that will lead you to bad habits.

Find a tactful way to address it,but you need to do something.

Good luck!

[firedoc]

I deal with this situation a little bit differently. I always tell my partner during the pre-game that if he sees something in my primary that he thinks is important, and I miss it, to call it. I'd rather that we "get it right." My ego is less important to me than the concept of getting it right.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally posted by firedoc
I deal with this situation a little bit differently. I always tell my partner during the pre-game that if he sees something in my primary that he thinks is important, and I miss it, to call it. I'd rather that we "get it right." My ego is less important to me than the concept of getting it right.

While the concept of "getting it right" is a good one, I really have a problem with officials that call out of their primary, especially in a two-man crew. The whole concept of a two-man crew is that one set of eyes are on the ball and one set of eyes are off the ball. When their are two sets of eyes watching the ball that means that as many as eight players are not being watched. When this many players are not being watched, it is only a matter of time before something happens and the one official that should know what is happening does not because he/she was ball watching instead of watching off the ball.

"Getting it right" really comes into play when weird situations develop in the game (correctable errors, etc.). The important thing is to trust your partner and officiate the defense and your primary.

MTD, Sr.

[Indy_Ref]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
...especially in a two-man crew.

I was expecting to see 3-person crew here! Not 2-person!

IMO, 3-person requires MORE trust than 2-person! In 3, we cover LESS area...and we're tempted to look BEYOND this area since we often have to get stuff all over the court in a 2-person game...since one official is looking ON-ball and the other has to get OFF-ball stuff...that might be out of their primary area.

EX: Last night's game...I am tableside L, partner is T opposite watching on-ball right in front of the bench. VERY illegal screen just in my peripheral vision (OUT of my primary area) as I'm watching off-ball in my primary. A vitual moving body-block that put B1 on the ground and A1 on top of her. I came out from my L position, ran across baseline, and got the foul. I uncharacteristically DIALED LONG DISTANCE. But, the last person in the top row of the arena could have made the call. So, I HAD to get it! (i.e. I had to "get it right") I glanced for a half-second at my partner to see if he saw the play. Well, he didn't because he was watching on-ball in his primary...and couldn't see what just happened to the left of him.

[Grail]

Strangely enough, my last 2 partners have both said "If you see it in my Primary, call it". I have responded to both, "If I see it I'll call it, but only if it's blatant and necessary. Otherwise, I shouldn't be looking there and I'd prefer if you would do the same."

I'm not one of those that gets really bent out of shape when someone makes calls in my area, but I do get upset when they make wrong calls in my area. A good example with the first of those partners was him calling a travel on a player who had just obtained a defensive rebound and had not even begun to move up court. I was the new Trail and the play was literally 5 feet in front of me and 40 feet from my partner. The girl couldn't have kept her pivot foot in place and better if it had been in cement. Like I said, if it's blatant call it, but this kind of call completely undermines the credibility of your partner.

Grail

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by Grail
but I do get upset when they make wrong calls in my area.

Ditto. And I think this may be guammy's concern, too. Guammy, the best way to handle this is what blindzebra suggested, by saying, "The best way to help me get better is to skip the calls in my area, and talk to me about it later." This helps the vet keep his superiority, if that's important, but you hang onto some measure of dignity. Everyone looks better.

[bigwes68]

I work intramurals at Tennessee. Had girls' game last night between two of the best teams in the league (one team had two former D-1 players). I get stuck with a guy that is working his first-ever game, and he has absolutely no clue what he is doing. Throws up a hand on every shot attempt, throws up two hands on every 3-point attempted (not made, attempted). Since we don't ever have time for a pre-game and we usually don't know who our partners are until about 5 minutes before game time, the first half could have been a disaster. Luckily, the game was a blowout and not very physical. But I pulled him over to the side at the half and tried to give him some pointers, including free-throw administration and primary coverage areas, and he just looked at me like I was an idiot. I don't think he called a foul the whole game, and I was stuck calling a lot of stuff in his primary, even though I like to let my partner handle stuff like that. But this kid wouldn't even blow his whistle when the ball went out of bounds. How do you deal with someone like that when you aren't really in a position to say anything?

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by bigwes68
I work intramurals at Tennessee. Had girls' game last night between two of the best teams in the league (one team had two former D-1 players). I get stuck with a guy that is working his first-ever game, and he has absolutely no clue what he is doing. Throws up a hand on every shot attempt, throws up two hands on every 3-point attempted (not made, attempted). Since we don't ever have time for a pre-game and we usually don't know who our partners are until about 5 minutes before game time, the first half could have been a disaster. Luckily, the game was a blowout and not very physical. But I pulled him over to the side at the half and tried to give him some pointers, including free-throw administration and primary coverage areas, and he just looked at me like I was an idiot. I don't think he called a foul the whole game, and I was stuck calling a lot of stuff in his primary, even though I like to let my partner handle stuff like that. But this kid wouldn't even blow his whistle when the ball went out of bounds. How do you deal with someone like that when you aren't really in a position to say anything?

I can tell you how the "big guns" dealt with me when I was that bad ( a few weeks ago?!?) The first thing you do is ask, in effect, "What do you want to get out of reffing?" If he's serious about getting into it, you start with the most basic, basics, such as not putting up two arms on a 3-point attempt. Three or four of those per game. So you've got only one game with him, you give three or four suggestions at half-time. But the most important step is the next one -- after the game point out ANY thing that was better in the second half. Then suggest that he ask his partners specifically for suggestions each game. That's if he wants to get better and keep working. If he's just in it for the exercise and doesn't care much about his own quality of work, then he's just another problem partner that you've got to deal with the best you can.

[blindzebra]

Originally posted by Grail
Strangely enough, my last 2 partners have both said "If you see it in my Primary, call it". I have responded to both, "If I see it I'll call it, but only if it's blatant and necessary. Otherwise, I shouldn't be looking there and I'd prefer if you would do the same."

I'm not one of those that gets really bent out of shape when someone makes calls in my area, but I do get upset when they make wrong calls in my area. A good example with the first of those partners was him calling a travel on a player who had just obtained a defensive rebound and had not even begun to move up court. I was the new Trail and the play was literally 5 feet in front of me and 40 feet from my partner. The girl couldn't have kept her pivot foot in place and better if it had been in cement. Like I said, if it's blatant call it, but this kind of call completely undermines the credibility of your partner.

Grail

There are areas where you can call your partner's primary,like the lane when the player curls away from lead,
but unless it is a punch or an elbow we should NEVER make an across the court call in front of our partner.One it really makes our partner look bad;two it leaves too much of the court uncovered;three it is impossible to see the whole play from that distance,so you'll probably get it wrong.

[bigwes68]

Originally posted by rainmaker

That's if he wants to get better and keep working. If he's just in it for the exercise and doesn't care much about his own quality of work, then he's just another problem partner that you've got to deal with the best you can.

I think this is the case. Most of these guys are out there for the pittance we are paid and for their own personal benefit. Those are two of the reasons I am out there too, but I take it very seriously when I am on the floor because it's not about me, it's about the players and the game. There are only about 7-10 officials (out of about 50) in our system that are really on top of their game and know what they're doing. The others are just there.