The magic number

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

For folks who officiate "shot clock" games:

What have you done in the past? I've only had one JuCo game where it became a real issue. (3-man) In the 1st half I'm new trail following VISITING team up the court. As they are bringing the ball up I notice shot clock is ahead of my count. They cross division with my count at 5 seconds and shot clock at 27 seconds. I whistle play dead and have shot clock set to 30 seconds for VISITING team. (no protests from either coach). 2nd half, VISITING team is down by about 8-10 points with 3-4 minutes left. VISITING team scores, i'm New Trail. VISITING team is pressing of course and I don't get a chance to look at shot clock. HOME team crosses division line with my count at 9 seconds and almost simultaneously I have a blocking foul. I look up and see shot clock at 22 seconds. VISITING coach is having a fit b/c he says it should be a 10 second violation. After I report the foul I tell him that 10-second violations go by my count, not the shot clock and I end the conversation (I resist the urge to remind him about the sitch in 1st half that benefitted his team).

So I ask again, what have you done in the past in situations where shot clock doesn't match your count???

Chances are higher that your count is too slow rather than the clock being wrong by 3 seconds.

I've observed official after official on the floor and I don't think I've ever seen one faster than the clock and an overwhelming majority are substantially slow. There is a substantial number that are almost 2x off. Most are off by at least 50%. THe best are typically 20-30% slow with an occassional official who is right on the mark.

Yet, I've heard other officials tell them they are counting too fast. What is being miscommunicated is not that the tempo of the count is too fast but that the arm movement is to extreme and makes it look too fast.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Chances are higher that your count is too slow rather than the clock being wrong by 3 seconds.

Cam, I might concede this except for the fact that one of things I do when ref'n some of the more boring and actionless Rec League games, or little kids games that have no pressing, is test my count against the clock throughout the game. Sometimes I'll look at the clock the entire time to see if I'm in sync, other times I'll look at the clock when I start my count then look back after 5-7 seconds and see if I'm still in tune with the clock.

In the game I was referring to we were having problems with the shot clock throughout the night. I'm thinking my count was on point and it was the part-time shot-clock operator who was starting the clock too fast.