Can somebody please post the link to the most recent bulletin from Hank Nichols? I was told that it was posted yesterday or Wednesday and that Hank is perturbed. Post play is supposedly addressed at length.

But I don't know where to find it. We used to have a link on the ECAC wesite, but I don't see it anymore. Somebody help me out?

Thanks

Chuck-->

I think I have that bulletin in my e-mail at home. If you send me an e-mail, I can check after work and get back to you.

Chuck,

Here is the link:

http://www.ncaa.org/champadmin/baske...ing_bulletins/

Joe

Here is the Hank Nichols bulletin. It very much applies to the high school game too. HS officials often do a poor job of controlling the play and in enforcing bench decorum. I cannot tell you how many times I hear the following things in pregames.

1) "We're gonna let em' play tonight."
2) "I don't care where the coaches are as long as they aren't yelling at me."

Control the game and the coaches box.

Z


FROM: Henry O. Nichols
National Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officiating.

SUBJECT: Officiating Slippage

We have done it again! After a great beginning of enforcing the points of emphasis, there has been drastic slippage by officials during February, especially as it concerns post play and the coaching box. This is disappointing.

Rough Play. There has been deterioration in calling post play action, roughness during rebounding and cutters being manhandled. All of the good work done previously this season will be for naught if officials continue to ignore the illegal rough play that has surfaced in recent games. There has been too much ignoring plays that were called earlier in the season. Officials, if you have pride in doing
the right thing for the game of basketball, you will address this major concern in every game immediately.

Coaching Box. Many coaches have been roaming all over, getting on the court and going past the 28-foot coaching box demarcation with complete immunity. This is a serious problem and is also unacceptable. As much as we have addressed this issue, officials keep ignoring the problem game after game. Officials must take care of this problem and keep the coaches where they are supposed to be. Coaches must take more responsibility on themselves to stay in the coaching box.

Are memos like this ever issued for High School officials? Where would I be able to find them?

This page was interesting.

In one of my playoff games the other night, we called enough fouls to put both teams in the two-shot bonus in both halves. The game was very physical and all we did hear most of the night was complaining from coaches and players.

If the NCAA and state associations do not like the way the game is called, then hire people that follow those guidelines. Then do not reward officials that are not following those guidelines regardless of experience level. But we know that will not happen because there is a huge reluctance to give newer officials a chance. And the newer officials do not get a change if they are not going to do what is common. I am not talking about minor things, but major issues this addresses. The NCAA uses the tournament games to show what should be done and what should not be done. If they do not like the things they see, why do they keep advancing certain officials deep into the tournament. I can say the very same thing at the HS level (at least around here). Officials only do what we are told and what we are allowed to do. We do not make the rules or reprimand ourselves if we do not follow them.

Peace

Great points, Rut.

Bradford,
Most high schools associations will issue similar bulletins throughout the year. In Iowa, we got our collective wrists slapped by the boys' association for not enforcing the bench decorum rule (we don't have a box for boys here). The various associations may post their bulletins on their websites.

One of the problems with our coaches’ box is that many courts are not marked properly. Some do not even have a coaches box. If they want that rule enforced, support the officials when they make that call. I only call what is acceptable. I am not going to go out calling all this stuff when no one else seems to care.

Peace

Even if a coaches box is not marked, you can still manage the coach in an area. "Your coaching box tonight is from that first chair to the 12th chair coach. Please stay in it." When officials mention the coaches box in the pregame conference with the coach, the coach is immediately aware that you are going to be monitoring it.

You don't have to call a T every time a coach steps out of the box. If you monitor it and just give them that "knowing look" and wave them back in, they'll realize that you are one of those aware officials and they'll soon be managing themselves. If you do it subtly, you can avoid embarrassing the coach and you can also manage it by yourself even if your partner is one of those "I don't care about the coaching box" officials.

Z

I am not big on the use of the coaching box either. If a coach steps out and starts yelling outside of that box, you can always use the box as a tool to get what you want them to do. If the court is not marked your idea is not going to get consistent application. One of the problems is if I do that one night, they might not get that the next night. I think our state should make it clear which courts are properly marked. It is not a major concern or issue, but all it takes is that one time to have a problem.

Peace

I've heard coaches tell me something like, "you're the first ref in a month to monitor the coaching box." I take that as a compliment, not a problem. I just say, "this is your box tonight coach" and away we go.

Coaching boxes are always talked about at our state interpreter meetings so the coaches know that we officials are supposed to manage the box. I have found that coaches respect officials who give them "the eye" when they wonder outside the box. They just give that "oops, sorry" look and get back within their boundaries.

In our state, any floor without a properly marked coaching box reverts to the seatbelt rule so I remind the coaches that I am doing them a favor by letting them have a "temporary" coaching box. When the coach is kept sane, it usually keeps the players and fans sane too. When the coach starts roaming outside the box and gesturing and yelling, pretty soon it spreads like wildfire.

Too many officials act like the coaching box is a pain when it can actually be their best friend.

Z

In Texas we have been told that if the coach's box is not marked to ask the AD to put it down with tape. If they don't want to do that we are to seatbelt the home coach and let the visiting coach roam in front of the bench.

The reason behind this was that if the home AD refuses to put down the tape we should not penalize the visiting coach for the lack of a box. We were also told to make exceptions for neutral site games when neither team had control of the floor.

When I was in Delaware, the state had a good way of dealing with the coaches box. They told the coaches, "You WILL mark the floor, and you WILL stay within that box. If you do not stay within the box, you WILL receive a technical foul-no warning. If officials are not willing to give technical fouls for the infraction, then we will take away the box and everyone will have to sit."

Every coach and official was told this at the state meetings. It worked well because it made both parties responsible, and it took pressure off of officials because coaches knew that if they didn't enforce the box, the state was going to take it away the next season. It also worked because the coaches have to sit in nearby New Jersey and Pennsylvania, so the Delaware coaches were aware of the possibilites.

Where I am in VA, however, enforcement of the coache's box is lax, at best. Most of the floors don't even have it marked. I usually tell coaches to remain within the seats of their bench. Every area of the country seems to be very different with respect to this rule.