As playoffs approach, seems players and coach's are getting more srious.

Had couple of situations where the emergence of player tempers was obvoius, and getting more so. Glares, holding jump balls longer (post whistle), driving lanes harder, etc. You can see/feel escallation.

If a player is getting too rough what preventative measures do you use?:

Speak to partner(s)?
Speak to player?
Speak to players?
Speak to captains?
Speak to coach?
Have coach conference with warning?
Record a warning in book?
Call tighter?
Wait for a tech violation and lay it?

Your process?

Tell the coach to tell his players.

I have found that going right to a player first is almost always the best policy. If you go to the coach, then it might take some time before someone actually says something to the player. If the player does not listen, then I just put air into the whistle. The player will be out of the game soon enough with either fouls or the coach will take out of the game.

Peace

just do it!
 

<b>Speak to partner(s)? </b>
Done in pregame

<b>Speak to player?</b>
My first resort

<b>Speak to players?</b>
see above

<b>Speak to captains?</b>
done in pregame meeting

<b>Speak to coach?</b>
no

<b>Have coach conference with warning?</b>
not needed

<b>Record a warning in book?</b>
not needed or a rule

<b>Call tighter?</b>
have to be careful here but you could be more assertive with calls especially underneath.

Call the jump balls quicker and don't allow it to get rough

<b>Wait for a tech violation and lay it?</b>
Anything flagrant gets this with no warning
Second resort after a warning to stop it.

Thanks
David

Tell 'em once, air in the whistle next time. FIRM!

As the tensions and pressures rise nearing the playoffs, the level of officiating needs to rise correspondingly - yes we all should be calling at peak throughout the entire year but that's simply not realistic. Pregame needs a bit more attention and discussion, meeting the captains before tip off carries a bit more emphasis, need to be a bit more firm and sure in the calls, etc, etc, etc. Need to match the players' intensity with our own - playoff time is the time to step it up.

I go to the player and tell him that nothing good is going to happen next time.

I've had quiet word with the player. I've also talked to players briefly before administering free throws. I have talked to my partner during timeouts, or between quarters.

double double
 

Last Sat Boys Soph game, pack the place night we are in small gym while GV game is going on main floor.

Game is pretty physical, gym is hot, many fans, small gym with not much room outside boundary lines, pretty good sized kids..That should set the stage.

Partner is L I'm T. Under Blue's basket, partner comes out with Double Foul on 32 Blue and 32 White. We switch so I am new L we go to PA and White gets Ball [maybe we shouldn't have switched but we did] play goes down floor, turnover and we're coming right back down the other way, I am L, Blue sets up play and what do these two kids do, they go right back at it. I come out with Double Foul this time 32 White and 32 Blue.

What part of knock it off did these kids not understand? Right after reporting foul Blue Coach took 32 Blue out for a breather.

Still game stayed pretty physical, and we had a lot of off-ball fouls with bumps on cutters and trying to push through screens, maybe the heat and playing in front of so many fans had an impact on the egos of these kids.

Real easy.

Go to player(s), "Knock the crap off, NOW!"

To partner, "We are watching..."

I kinda disagree with making a decision to call it tighter, because if you know the pressure and intensity is escalating as the season goes on, you should be calling things early and often. There shouldn't be a noticable ramping up since you should have set the tone, then if appropriate backed off. Even if you have to go back to the original tone, you at least established it as the norm, rather than an exception.

That said, I can't call a game much tighter at one point than another unless I've done what I did before. I fall into the "I didn't call it on that end, so let it go on this end, next time I'll call it" trap, or the "I didn't call that all game, so I can't call it now" trap, or the "I don't want to call the really ticky-tack stuff right off the bat, so I'll wait for a little harder one, then start calling the ticky tack stuff" trap. For some reason I can do it as a soccer ref, but as a basketball ref I can't. I can and will report slower, call more violations (different from fouls I guess), and adminster free throws slower. That takes the game out of the current rythmn (that sounds really bad, but you know what I mean), and let's everyone calm down during the more frequent stoppages and gives them a chance to "reset".