Should I have done differently?

[Adam]

Originally posted by ref18
Never ever sell out your partner, and always support his/her calls. We're not out to over-rule eachother. If someone makes a mistake on a call, leave it be, unless it happens to deal with the arrow, or who touched the ball last when it goes out of bounds. Judgement calls like fouls and violations cannot be debated or overruled by the non-calling official. From the perspective of a younger official, by over-ruling my call, you're sending a message, the message that i'm incompetent. I never change a call, the first signal I use is the one i stick with. If I blow it, I blow it, but no one is ever going to get me to change my mind. The proper situation to bring this up would be in the post game, and just go over it. Don't make an fool of your partner by overruling his call infront of a gym full of people.

From the perspective of someone in the middle as far as experience goes, I'd say if you don't correct my call (or at least address it later), you're saying I'm not worth the effort. If I kick a call, I want to know about it. Although I agree that a conversation with the coach is sticky at best, and I'd probably defer to my partner. "Coach, apparently he saw something I didn't."

That said, ref18, I find your statement that "I never change a call, the first signal I use is the one I stick with" interesting.
It's like a late whistle, in my opinion. The key is to get the call right, not to look smooth. If I go up with a foul signal and realize immediately that A1 traveled first, I'm going with the violation. If I go up with a PC signal and decide in midstream that B1 was not in LGP, I'm changing the call. If anyone questions you, you simply say, "The call was right."

Don't be afraid to make the right call, even if it makes you look a bit awkward for a second. Remember, we're there for the players, not to look good.

Adam