Do you call it?

[majkirk]

Semifinal game of a men's tournament. Offensive player lets a three fly and is totally run over by defensive player and lands on floor. Three-man mechanics. Middle offical is on the side of the foul, trail and lead on opposite side. Middle official fails to make the call while watching the play. Trail,late whistle, picks it up and calls foul. At halftime, middle official is all over trail for calling in "his area". Should the trail have ignored the very obvious foul. There was no doubt on this that the player was fouled.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by majkirk
Semifinal game of a men's tournament. Offensive player lets a three fly and is totally run over by defensive player and lands on floor. Three-man mechanics. Middle offical is on the side of the foul, trail and lead on opposite side. Middle official fails to make the call while watching the play. Trail,late whistle, picks it up and calls foul. At halftime, middle official is all over trail for calling in "his area". Should the trail have ignored the very obvious foul. There was no doubt on this that the player was fouled.

Why do you say that the foul was obvious? Did the player floop? Did the contact affect the play, or was the contact rough? Maybe the Center official (not middle official) saw the entire play and did not call a foul because in his/her opinion nothing happen. Things sometimes are not always what they seem.

[mick]

Originally posted by JRutledge

Why do you say that the foul was obvious? Did the player floop? Did the contact affect the play, or was the contact rough? Maybe the Center official (not middle official) saw the entire play and did not call a foul because in his/her opinion nothing happen. Things sometimes are not always what they seem.

Rut,
My guess is that since the Center got so pushed outa shape, he probably knew he kicked it.
Anyone kicks a call in my area, I'll ask what they saw and tell 'em what I didn't see, but most times I say thanks for gettin' that.
mick

[BktBallRef]

Normally, I'm not looking in the C's area but there is an area around the top of the arc that has dual coverage. If I see a foul in the area that I'm responsible for looking for a 3 in, I'm calling the foul. If the shooter is FT line extended or lower, I'm not looking there and I'm not calling it.

As for the "at halftime, middle official is all over trail for calling in his area" tantrum, I have no use for such officials. I think they are the worst of the worst and have no desire to call with such officials. We're a team. If a make a mistake or if one of my partners makes a mistake, we discuss it like professionals. People like this go on my scratch list.

BTW, which official were you, majkirk?

[Brian Watson]

The book says to call what you see, no matter what "area". I agree any official that gets crappy becuase you called a foul in their "primary" needs to have their attitude adjusted. We are there as a team and to help each other out. To be successful you need to leave your ego in the locker room.

Having said that, if a guy is calling way out of his area consistently, then he has a problem, but one call is not a reason to jump him at half time.

[AK ref SE]

My two cents-
If what occured was major contact, we need to make sure we call the foul. I agree that if someone is constantly calling in someone elses primary area their is a problem, but we all whether we choose to admit it or not brain freeze a call now and then. I agree with bktballref that yes we can have a PROFESSIONAL discussion at halftime. I would remind my partner if he acted in an irate manner, that we are partners and we should be looking out for one another(nobody else is)!

AK ref SE

[MOFFICIAL]

Fellow officials,
This post is exactly why I enjoy this forum so much.
The insight on questions such as this and others and how to tactfully handle these type situations help me tremendously. I am constantly gaining knowledge and developing an automatic sense of being comfortable and confident on the court.
Thanks