Situation that occurred in my game tonight. I'm the lead. The ball is stolen close to half court. I'm now the trail I almost make it to half court (fast transition). My partner (new lead) is under the basket (not sure what he was looking at) The offense player gets hammered (the mother of all missed calls) I'm holding my whistle but he makes no call. I come on strong and call the foul. We shoot free throws and play on. Between quarters we talk and he was upset with my call. Said he had it all the way there was no foul etc. etc. You have to take my word that I'm 100% correct that there was a foul. (rest of the game everything went fine and we got along very well.) In all honesty I can't remember the last time I made a call from such a distance away.

I have three rules when I ref. Trust your partner, trust your partner and trust your partner. Obviously I violated my three rules.

Here's my question. When this happens should you ignore the foul (as outlined above) and let your partner deal with it. Or do you call the foul because if you don't you both look like goofs.

Comments please.

It would depend on where I was and what I saw. I would try to avoid those kinds of calls, but that does not mean I could always.

What did your partner say after the game about the call? Did he say he had all ball or why was the collision so violent and not a foul?

Here's my camp story about primary areas of responsibility. This was my first camp: Hoop Mountain, about 6 years ago.

I'm Lead. Settled frontcourt situation. Ball swings quickly to the C's side and the player drives to the basket. No time for a rotation, so the C has to take the play. Well, the kid gets whacked across the arm. Obvious foul. No call from my C. Being the new guy, and very "un-confident" in my first 3-whistle experience, I let my partner "live and die" with the call. I have nothing.

The conversation with the observer went like this:

Observer: On that play, was it in your area?
Me: No.
Observer: Right. Did the kid get hammered?
Me: Yes.
Observer: Right. What should you have done?
Me: (Sigh) Call the foul.
Observer: Right.

Short, sweet, and I never forgot it.

It was a foul without a doubt. The girl's varsity coach Who I know quite well) was watching the game in the stands under the basket. I asked her what she thought and she said the player was hammered. The boys varsity coach was running the clock and I asked him and he told me the same thing. Convinced that I was right I really didn't question him further about it since we got along quite well afterwards.

Been there, done that.

Some calls just have to be made.

Sometimes your partner doesn't agree the call you took from him was one that needed to be taken.

He'll get over it.

At a camp I went to this summer, a D-III assignor told us in his conference, never EVER call out of your area...let your partner live and die with his/her calls. If they can't do the job, he'll find somebody who will.

At the same camp, on the same day, I worked for a D-II assignor who told us the most important thing is to get the call right. Let your partner have first crack at it, as in this situation, but call the foul if it's there.

Well, who do you listen to? When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

similarily, D2 assignor who is hosting camp says have a slow whistle to give partners a chance but to get it right, then clinician writes in eval that "R and U2 calls out of area". it was a similar play and we both had whistle. Everyone in the gym except U1 saw it. Guess that's where pregame comes in. I try to express emphatically that we gotta get it right, don't worry about my ego.

Sometimes you just have to say "Oh Sh*t!" and save your crew by blowing that whistle.

A good evaluator will know the difference between a wandering eyeball and an educated pupil.