I'm watching N. Iowa/Georgia Tech, and just saw the new trail bounce the ball to the endline inbounder from the free-throw line extended!

I know some conferences sprint upcourt after handing the ball off (bad mechanic, IMO), but has anyone seen this happen before? Or is it a personal mechanic?

Yes. Often it's even during my games, unfortunately.

:eek:

Not by you, I hope! I may have to take a little trip up to Western Mass. next time I'm home and do some evaluations of you, Chuck.

No, definitely not by me. But some of the old guys do it so that they don't fall too far behind the play if the offense brings it upcourt too quickly.

I never really thought all that much about that "mechanic" until I did the pro stuff. "Stays on endline during throw-in" is actually an item on the checklist for evaluation. For some reason it has stuck with me, and I do it religiously now. I won't step inbounds until the throw-in is completed.

The camps and tournaments (okay - camp and tourney :p) I've attended have been big on staying on the endline until the ball crosses the free throw line extended. It's a pretty good mechanic, helps in case there's a quick turnover, and it helps make me look a bit more in control of the game (i.e., not rushing up court). I still have to work on not leaving early when there's no pressure, but I at least now stay on the line until the chop.

What I see alot of, espcially in the NBA which seems to be trickling down some to college is staying on the deep end of the baseline right up against the rail/crowd and slowly start walking up and dont start your jog/run until the ball reaches the free throw line. I tried that in my last game and I found I was at a much better angle. Also, I dont see this too much in college but the trail in a 3 man crew coming out as far as a trail in a 2 man crew. Mostly in NBA though. I read in an article on ESPN.com one time where the the NBA officiating staff is trying to encourage confrences like big XX and big XXII and SEC to start shifting to NBA mechanics so that the NBA would have a good pool of officials to choose from.

First off, what's the Big Twenty? :p

I dunno - I tend to think that good officials can switch over to a new set of mechanics rather easily . . .

Two less than the Big Twenty-Two.

On the other hand, there's that "old dogs" thing...

I dunno, I had 2 three person games yesterday followed by one two one-person. It was rather easy. But I JUST LOVE 3-Person so much better. It was only my 3rd and 4th time and my two reg. season varsity co-officials asked me which one of the college camps hosted by the same commishoner I had gone to. My answer "i've never been to a three person camp." :-D