Varsity boys game last night. I was lead and Team A is bringing the ball up court. There is no pressure from B so the point guard is walking it up (his team is way ahead). Team A coach stands and is yelling instructions to his team. The point guard stops his dribble and starts walking towards his bench. I watch it for about 3 seconds and no one calls anything (probably because it looked so strange). Anyway, I called travelling from lead.

First, I KNOW I was absolutely wrong for ball watching so I'm prepared for my punishment here, but I'm still learning. However, I clearly saw it and it was so obvious I felt I needed to call it. We discussed it after the game and the T said he was hesitating since it's not something you see everyday and he thought maybe the coach did call a TO. I think we did a good job overall as partners and he had no problem with me calling it.

FYI, the coach got on his PG who admitted he thought he heard the coach tell "time out'.

Should you call this from lead or turn your eyes to your area and ignore it? I am sure not all partners would have appreciated what I did.

johnnyrao,
If you are my partner, I am glad you went after it, and "Thanks for gittin' it." :)
mick

GOOD CALL! I'd work with you anytime!

wl

I agree. Good job. It sounds like almost all the whistles were a little confused in some way. But it had to be called.

From a coaches perspective: I always appreciate officials who go the extra mile to get a call right regardless of whether it goes my way. It is encouraging to hear that the mechanics of officiating should come second to getting it right.

I even appreciate late whistles and never allow a peep from my assistants or players about them. The way I look at it, if the official was willing to blow a late whistle and incur the wrath of the crowd and coaches, He / She must really know that a call had to be made.

I'm probably not a good spokesperson for coaches on this topic, but it's my $.2 :)

Welcome aboard, Coach. :)

I know coaches get paid enormous sums, compared to an official's game check (that's tongue-in-cheek, Coach :) ). But you really only need to put in two cents, not twenty. ;)

johnnyrao,
If you had been my partner, I would have wanted you to blow it. You were good.

You are either Hawks' Coach in disguise (hey, folks, what happened to him anyway?) or you are an apparition we dreamed up when we got tired of trolls. What part of the country do you work in?

It's kind of an old saying. I figured it was high-time we adjusted it for inflation.

I coach in East Palo Alto, California . . . the early 1990's per capita murder capital of the country. Funny, but since I started coaching here, I haven't had the extra energy or focus to "work the refs" during games. :)

Here is my question???

What do you do with the coach who then asks you why did you call that and not your partner? AND IF YOU WERE WATCHING THAT THEN WHO IS WATCHING THE EIGHT GUYS OFF BALL?

I actually had this in a game where a partner at lead thought I missed a kick at trail near the 28' mark. If it was a kick and I missed it the coach will yell at me... In this case the opposing did yell about the off ball comment. It escalated and my partner endned up T'ing the coach and I actually had to step in between them before the coach was tossed...

I am stirring the pot? Yep! While I believe there are calls we must always get right, I also believe that there are sometimes a ATT call gets us more in trouble

So my opinion you gotta feel comfortable but this can always make your game worse...

Speaking of AT&T, 8th grade game yesterday, I'm watching from midcourt line. A1 is dribbling near the division line, trail was there and didn't call line violation because there wasn't one. THEN, lead offical (the vet in this case) makes division line violation call from the end line.
I'm thinking a)not his call to start with and b)how could he possibly see a line violation that far away?
This game had nightmare written all over it.
At least two players from the visiting team fouled out in the first half. I left at the end of 3rh qtr, 1 hr, 15 minutes into the game (they play 4/6 minute qtrs).


[Edited by AirForceDude on Dec 5th, 2004 at 09:07 AM]

Silence can't be misquoted. You don't have to explain EVERYTHING to coaches.

Besides, I don't leave my peripheral vision in the locker room. I'm always aware where the ball is even when my noggin is off ball. If the ball goes out of bounds outside my primary I usually know it's there, for example.

The only reason this escalated is that your partner was a willing participant, it sounds.

--Rich

A couple of years ago I had the same thing in a rec ball league. This league has real weak officiating as the officials are players from either the previous game or the following game. One or two players from each team have to go to a training session before each season. One day I was working a game with the "trainer" who is supposebly one of the better officials in the district.

A-1 in the frontcourt passes to A-2 in the backcourt. A-2 jumps into the frontcourt and touches the ground just before catching the ball to avoid the violation. I was the T and had a great look at it. It was close but I thought he got his foot down so no called it. L (the trainer) jumps in from the baseline and calls backcourt. I guess he assumed I was another know nothing player stepping in and reffing. He lost a lot of credibility from me after that.

--As for the original situation on this thread, good save.

Not sure if we need Mr. Grammar Guy or Mr. Spelling Guy for this one. . . Of course, there's always the Tribbiani defense. :)