I went with my daughter to an NBA game tonight. It's only the second or third NBA game I've ever gone to. The game wasn't great, but the officiating was very impressive. In stark contrast to many of the stereotypes that persist about the way the NBA game is officiated I noticed the following:

• Several traveling calls
• A few three seconds calls, one of which was a defensive one
• A couple of real jump balls
• Several offensive fouls called most of which were not run-overs
• A 20 second time-out to tie a shoe
• A couple of technicals, obviously for things players said
• A palming call
• On a foul in the last two minutes, the officials conferred and determined that it was an away-from-the-ball foul
• A delay of game warning for not tossing the ball to the nearest official
• They called the game much more tightly than I normally call mens games. Maybe I need to reevaluate my game.
• An official working sans lanyard changed his mind on a foul call while putting the whistle into his mouth. He had his arm/fist in the air, but in the time it took to get the whistle into his mouth, the fouled player came away with the advantage and the official quickly pulled his arm back down. A good no-call IMHO
• With NBA reporting mechanics, it's sometimes difficult to tell who called the foul. Their signals are very demonstrative. And they appear to sometimes communicate more information that we do in HS. Case in point, after the second T, the official had to signal what happened to the table several times (perhaps the scorekeeper was on his third beer by then?). Each time he made the T signal, followed by the players number, and then there was a second number that I couldn't figure out. It wasn't the number of shots. Dunno.

I was very impressed with their performance, I'm not saying that I'm qualified to be their judge, just that I was impressed.

I have a couple of questions I'm sure somebody will know the answer to. 1) How does the switching work in NBA mechanics? 2) What are the hash marks on the floor around 28' for?

[Edited by Back In The Saddle on Apr 6th, 2005 at 04:36 AM]

To inform the players the current street price of hash. Right now, it's $28.00. The marks move as the price changes.

At least, that's what they mean here in Portland.

In the NBA when they call a foul they

go to a position they weren't previously at

and

the calling official goes to the table if it is a shooting foul

and

they take the ball out on the sides for non-shooting fouls and violations

This is a little vague. In the NBA, the calling official always moves to (or stays in) the Trail position. The other two officials move to new positions. So if the Trail opposite the table calls a non-shooting foul that will be inbounded on his/her sideline, the calling official stays put and the Lead and Slot officials switch.

If the Trail opposite the table calls a shooting foul, then the calling official moves to the table-side and becomes the Trail. The old table-side Slot moves to the Lead and the old Lead moves to be the new Slot opposite the table.

Except for OOB violations on the endline; or an Away-from-the-play foul before the ball is inbounded from the endline. In those cases (and probably some others), the ball is put back in play on the endline.

Sorry. Should've said this applies to fouls called in the frontcourt.

"Always" always gets me in trouble. :)

I've been watching more bits and pieces of NBA games on TV here. In the bit I've been watching I've been noticing that I see more things called as well. I think there has been some others that shocked me as well.

I've seen
1. Traveling on Shaq
2. Defensive 3-seconds
3. Offensive 3-seconds

Yeah Chuck I was very vague. I have found it easier to just say you need to be in a different position and either do it or watch it after that.

I haven't watched a full NBA game in a long time. I can only watch about 5 minutes then I get bored and change channels.

NBA mechanics are the best mechanics in basketball! From NFHS to NCAA they are definitley the best. Women's NCAA is close to the NBA...the major difference being dead ball mechanics. All the people who bad mouth them out there are those who have never used them or learned why they do what they do. It makes no sense for a Lead or Trail to go all the way to the table on non shooting fouls to report. Also, why to you have to use a foul on the arm signal when reporting if the guy got smacked upside his head. Not believable. In pro mechanics you can show what the foul was. Also their new on court mechanics and rotations are much better. The officials are on the floor more dictating the angles on plays...NBA officials are taught to never be "squared up" with a sideline or baseline. They stress "slot with a trail mentality". As soon as the ball settles or pauses on either side the lead has to rotate. Slot can rotate topside before the lead comes over or completes a rotation. They always have two officials on ball side/strong side.

Proref,

That is all a matter of opinion. Pro ball is different because it is pro ball. No amateur level does the same things as the pros nor should they.

PS2Man,

Well, the SEC preaches NBA mechanics in their system, and the guys that I know love it. That's one level of amateur basketball it has worked well. The NBA is also actively pursuing better relationships with other conferences to incorporate their mechanics......specifically the ACC. Remember the NBA created the 3 person system and also puts more time and money into developing it and making it better than anyone else. For instance, I have found that being in better position and more onto the floor in the slot/c and trail positions...getting "topside of the plays" and always refereeing form the "outside in" whenever possible has given me better "open angles" and ability to see plays on every level I work.

It makes a whole lot of sense if you're reporting to young, inexperienced adolescents who might not even be paying enough attention to know which official blew the whistle. The point of going to a "reporting box" is visibility to the table personnel. That's not as big a problem in the NBA b/c you have very professional table personnel. But at the HS and lower NCAA levels, it's better to go to the reporting area and be sure that the table knows who the foul is on. JMO (and I've used both sets of mechanics).


Because the foul is not "smacking upside the head". The foul is "illegal use of hands". Simple as that. And since you're tableside after reporting the foul, if the coach says "Where did he get him?", you can tell him. Not a big deal.


You make it sound like HS and NCAA officials are told to stay in one spot and officate from there (which used to be the NBA philosophy in the '70s, I'm pretty sure). NCAA and HS officials also move to get the best angle on plays. There are a still a lot of guys and gals who get stuck on the sideline while in the C position. But I think that is changing.


Never? I was at Ronnie Nunn's Orlando camp last summer and I don't remember that being taught.


This is a great philosophy that Ronnie introduced. I don't think it means never be square to the sideline, but as the play moves to the basket, instead of simply sliding down the sideline, take a step onto the court and get a "Trail's look" at the play. I will agree that this should be adopted in HS and NCAA more than it is now.

NCAA and HS try to do this as well. But most NCAA instructors don't like the ping-pong-ball effect of the Lead moving across the lane every time the ball swings.

Something that you don't talk about is floor coverages, which I personally feel are better in the NCAA men's system. I don't like having to officiate all the way to the sideline while in the Lead position. Additionally, in NBA coverage, if the ball is in the post on the Lead's side and is passed out to the corner, the Lead shifts his/her view from the post to the corner while the Trail shifts his/her view from the corner to the post, which is right in front of the Lead.

So we have two officials shifting their coverage when in NCAA, nobody has to shift. The Lead simply stays with the post activity (waiting for another entry pass), while the Trail (who already had responsibility outside the arc) picks up on-ball coverage. This makes a ton of sense to me.

I know NBA refs and NCAA women refs swear by their coverage scheme, but I don't like it. Again, JMO.

This is still your opinion. I have seen the NBA change to things or philosophies that were done at the college ranks in recent years. Philosophies like rotating from the lead position. The NBA officials move much more from the lead position then they have in many years. They used to get fixed in a position and hardly move regardless of where the ball would go.

I think Chuck illustrated point by point what I feel NBA mechanics as well. I think the main reason for the NBA to have the mechanics they do is because everyone is trained very well to know what the other people are doing. I do not see that as the case at the high school level or the lower level college levels.

This is the first time I've heard this phrase "slot with a trail mentality." Does it mean only what you've said here (i.e., step onto the court on the shot)? Or is there more to this philosophy that you would't mind expounding on?

[/B][/QUOTE]This is the first time I've heard this phrase "slot with a trail mentality." Does it mean only what you've said here (i.e., step onto the court on the shot)? Or is there more to this philosophy that you would't mind expounding on? [/B][/QUOTE]


Back In The Saddle,

No this does not mean only when a shot goes up. This means everytime the ball comes to the slot side and pauses or settles that the slot gets out over the top of the play. Another instance would be to see high post play. The slot can be as high as top of the circle if needed. There are still times when the slot can drop down, such as swing of the ball and quick 3pt shot or to referee action areas off ball in the lane. However, anytime the ball pauses or settles you shouldn't go low and referee from the inside out, but rather from the outside in, topside of the play. This of course also applies to drives to the basket and helping out on weakside rebounding. Once you get comfortable with it, it really changes how you see the floor. Basically it's saying to get out on the floor just like when we still had the two man game and referee instead of being cemented to the sidline.

This is probably hard to understand without actually seeing it. I wish I had access to the computer program the NBA uses to teach this, it really illustrates it very well.

The NBA has used accelerated Lead philosophy since at least the mid 90's. Yes, when everyone is on the same page it is a thing of beauty. Obviously that's easier to do when you only have to worry about 60 officials.

"Clearing the players" is used (or is supposed to be used) for fouls in the backcourt. I think that in the frontcourt, they still want us to hustle to the reporting area and STOP to report. Bob will correct me if I've got that wrong.

Maybe, but as you yourself pointed out, the NCAA has a lot more officials to worry about than the NBA. And b/c of that, the NCAA wants its officials to be as standardized as possible. The easiest way to do that is to say that for any foul involving use of hands, use this signal. Then, since you're tableside, if there's a question, you can handle it. They simply want uniformity if possible. So we don't have guys hitting themselves on one side of the head, or the other, or on top, or in the face. . . Eventually, it just starts looking silly.


It was Nunn Better in '03, but changed for '04. Phil Robinson technically ran the camp, but it was still pretty clearly Ronnie's camp. I was there in July '04 and I promise you that nobody said "never be square to the sideline".


I don't think I ever said it was. . . :confused:


Frankly, this comment is pretty insulting. I work with a lot of different guys, and I work with very few "lazy" officials. I could count them on one hand in seven years. I don't think that's a fair comment. It sounds more like a bias against anything NCAA in preference for anything NBA.


I agree wholeheartely with this. But this is a far cry from being lazy. It is more a result of two things:

1) Different philosophy among supervisors. As I said earlier, many NCAA supervisors don't like to see their Lead officials bouncing back and forth. So the officials are told not to rotate as much as the NBA guys; and

2) Lack of training at the HS level. Many HS guys just don't do a whole lot of 3-whistle games. Some states, like NC, use it for all HS games, and that's great. But it's hardly the standard.

I think you need to cut a little slack for these guys.

That is obviously a matter of opinion, and I happen to disagree with you as much as I possibly could. I think it's about 1,000 times easier for the Trail to pick up that corner. JMO, you obviously disagree.

Maybe I am biased, but I just prefer a lot of the pro mechanics and coverage. At least I have had the experience to have an opinion one way or the other, and it sounds like you have too. At least you understand why they do what they do and believe it works on their level.

Exactly what experience in the pro game do you have? Iow, what pro leagues do you work in?

Just wondering.

I believe they are supposed to mark the boundry for the coaches box.

NBA Rule 3 Section IV
a. The coach's position may be on or off the bench from the 28' hash mark to the baseline. They are permitted between the 28' hash mark and the midcourt line to relay information to players but must return to the bench side of the 28' hash mark immediately or be called for an non-unsportsmanlike technical foul. A coach is not permitted to cross the midcourt line and violators will be assessed an unsportsmanlike technical foul immediately. All assistants and trainers must remain on the bench. Coaches and trainers are not permitted to go to the scorer's table, for any reason, except during a deadball.

Thank you. Now what are the 28' marks on the opposite side for? :) I may be completely wrong (yet again), but it seems to me that if you're going to require marks for a coaches box, they'd only be required on the table side. The rules also allow you a team to throw-in from the 28' marks after a timeout in certain circumstances. I get the feeling the marks were originally there for another purpose, but have remained because they're still used for coaches boxes. I believe the throw-in rule is new. It used to be half-court I've been told. Am I crazy?

I've always assumed it was for throw-in's and general reference. They also have small hash marks that designate the FT line extended on the sidelines. I assume this is for throw-in's as well.

I wouldn't say they are less educated; I would say that they are differently educated. As I keep saying, NCAA officials are often told by their supervisors that they don't want to see the Lead rotate as much as the NBA guys. They are being trained and educated a lot and very well; but simply (and intentionally) using a different philosophy from the NBA mechanics.

Again, I agree with this. I think that (for better or worse), the NCAA is very slow to adopt anything that has an obvious NBA stamp on it.