two steps before shooting?

[Todd VandenAkker]

Originally posted by JRutledge
Again, you are missing the point. I understand that officials explain more at the lower levels, but you can only explain so much. You cannot explain every travel, every carry, every out of bounds calls. .... Officials in a basketball game make so many decisions, are you expecting us to explain all none calls too? I am an official, not a coach .... I am not there to teach.

I am not going to call a travel and because I have to go down court, stop doing that and explain in detail why the kid travelled. We need to keep the game moving, and explaining everything is not going to help.

Rut, I think you're carrying this thing much farther than anyone intended. Of COURSE we're not going to explain everything or take a lot of time doing so, thereby slowing down the game significantly. But I've seen refs do a bit of "teaching," and I've seen refs make calls where the kids stand there bewildered because they have no clue what happened. In my experience, the first types of refs are much more appreciated and have better-managed games. That doesn't mean that officials who try to keep the game moving without offering explanations are doing a "bad" job. Yet, there are plenty of little opportunities to use a teaching moment to the benefit of the player, without the game being slowed down even noticeably. I, for one, will continue to take advantage of them (but not on EVERY SINGLE call).