http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/column...lle&id=2270147

Struckhoff has recently been appointed as the NCAA's national coordinator of women's basketball officiating.

This is old news. We discussed Struckoff's hiring a while ago.

Peace

I wonder what this will mean for the mechanics of the FED and NCAAW? Will we HS folks become more NBA-like in our mechanics? Will the NCAAW distance themselves from the NBA? Will NCAAW and NCAAM move closer or further apart? Will everything remain the same?

And what about Naomi? ;)

I haven't been around officiating long enough to know how much things change with new personalities in power. Is there any coordination between the men's and women's NCAA coordinators?

Frankly, the men's and women's games are becoming more and more alike (for better or worse) so I would assume they deal with similar issues.

I'd love to become more NBA like, but only in a couple things. I like two handed reporting, walk and talk but I doubt that would ever happen. I don't know the coverage or switching well enough to comment. I like the idea of no stop clock on OOB, but I do not like the idea of no fist on a crash. Just my opinion of some things.

Here's my guess. And it's a total guess, but here goes.

NCAAW will simply adopt the NBA's officials' manual lock, stock and barrel.

NCAAM will not change, except maybe to do "walk-and-talk" reporting, since it's done a lot already anyway by the big dogs.

HS will not change at all (except hopefully to adopt a "team control" signal). I know one guy on the rules committee, and there is some tension between the committee and Mary. I don't think they will readily accept changes to reflect the pro game.

Thanks for the re-post, I guess I missed it the first time. Anyways, I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years HS is using two handed reporting.

Chuck, you seem pretty cycnical about the NCAA-W and the mechanics they choose to use. Why? I don't understand why it seems to bother you so much.

And my guess would be that NCAA-M adopt not only the walk-and-talk, but also the two-handed reporting...

I don't think I'm cynical. I think I'm just observing. It seems obvious to me that -- for whatever reason -- the women's committee wants their game to look and feel like the pro game. I'm not judging it. I just think they've been gradually going that way for a long time, and they might as well just adopt the NBA or WNBA manual.

Look, as I've said before, I wouldn't care if the NCAA went to the NBA rules and mechanics in one fell swoop. I've worked NBA rules and mechanics and I love them (except for the Lead's coverage area). But it seems to me that -- again, for whatever reason -- the men's committee wants to keep its game distinctive and separate from the pro game, while the women's committee wants to go the opposite way.

Some of the comments you've made the last few days have had an "edgy" feel to them, thus the cynical label...anyway, I don't know that NCAA-W will ever adopt everything the NBA/WNBA does, but the things we have adopted serve to separate us from the NCAA-M, which I think was one of the goals, for whatever reason. Also, the mechanics we have borrowed tend to make the games not take so long, and the court coverage areas studies show that there are fewer "missed" or "wrong" calls made across the paint - again, not my words, just what we've been told...

Rocky,

Our Commissioner of basketball here in GA already has us adopting most of the Women's mechanics, including 2 hands reporting. A lot of us are really struggling with the below free throw line coverage area. No matter how hard you are working at it individually, it really makes the whole crew look like $hit when you have one person on the crew that won't switch areas when they are either at lead or trail. However, a few times this year I have been on crews where everyone was on the same page and it does work smoothly. It is still a work in progress down here.

Mulk

Mulk,

what kind of coverage are you tlaking about? How is it different then regular HS coverage? I'm not familiar with NCAA-W court coverage.

NCAAW -- the L has an area bounded by the baseline, the nearer sideline, the FT line extended, the middle of the lane. (It's a rectangle -- the same as FED 2-person).

FED -- the L has the above, but not outside the 3-point arc

Ahh yes, that's right. Same as HS just they have to extend to the sideline instead of 3-point circle.

Snake,

More importantly, as the L focuses on the area outside the arc and in the corner, the T must now get on the post play. This T adjustment is causing the most problems here. All of this has a built in "crutch" in my opinion and that is - if your partner is not picking up the new coverage area then by all means revert back to the old coverage areas. Commonly heard is "the reason I stayed on the ball is I didn't see that you had picked it up". Hell, if he has gotten off ball he would have seen me counting closely guarded.

Mulk