Coast to Coast Camp 2006

[SavaahnTy]

I honestly cannot say enough positive things about this camp......

The NBA officials in attendance were fantastic in helping officials of EVERY LEVEL AND EXPERIENCE learn how to improve their game.

While they did teach some NBA philosphies, this was not an NBA camp......but I was taught as a youngster that if you want to learn how to do something, you learn from the best, if at all possible. I went to both sessions, and I am happy that I did. These guys were more than happy to take the time to discuss anything with you, and were genuine, upfront, and honest in their assessment of someones abilities and areas of improvement.

The other great thing about this camp was meeting other officials from around the country with similar aspirations.

You can count me in for both sessions again next year, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn to improve their officiating while refereeing highly competitive games!

[Nu1]

Give us an example or two of some good general tips you may have picked up.

Here's one from a camp I attended. This may be elementary to many of you, but no one ever mentioned it to me before and I never thought of it. As the new Trail following the ballhandler up the court with no pressure, when the ballhandler is walking it up, don't walk up with them.

An observer said to me, "You have to stay behind the ball, but if they're walking it up, you don't want to walk with them. Coaches hate seeing us walk. So, wait and give them a second or two to get a few strides ahead of you. Then jog up behind them. Coaches see you running up and it just looks better."

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Nu1

As the new Trail following the ballhandler up the court with no pressure, when the ballhandler is walking it up, don't walk up with them.

An observer said to me, "You have to stay behind the ball, but if they're walking it up, you don't want to walk with them. Coaches hate seeing us walk. So, wait and give them a second or two to get a few strides ahead of you. Then jog up behind them. Coaches see you running up and it just looks better."

Well.....

1) You may have to stay behind the ball, but you also have to put yourself into a position where you can always see the separation between the dribbler and the defensive player. Sometimes that might mean being almost even with the dribbler. I let the defense dictate my position instead of following a hard-and-fast rule of always being behind.

2) Who cares what coaches think? And if anybody really thinks that coaches are watching the officials on this play instead of the ball, defense, etc.- well, you may want to re-think it.

3) What difference does it make if the trail is in position, and is also moving to stay in position? You should hustle to get into position and you should also hustle to stay in position. Anything else is just false hustle imo.

Jmo, but I wouldn't worry about those instructions that much.

[Nu1]

JR, I agree with hustling to be in and stay in position. This particular observer was big on hustle. I also understand your point about seeing the separation. The observer's point was when there was no pressure...so there was no separation to see.

I understand your points...but when in Rome...

[ChuckElias]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

1) You may have to stay behind the ball, but you also have to put yourself into a position where you can always see the separation between the dribbler and the defensive player. Sometimes that might mean being almost even with the dribbler. I let the defense dictate my position instead of following a hard-and-fast rule of always being behind.

I don't think the observer was trying to give a hard and fast rule for all situations. But the point is that you should never be ahead of the ball. If you're ahead of the ball, you can see the dribbler and the primary defender and that's it. Ok, come even with the ball if you have to, in order to see through the play. But don't get ahead of that defender. I think that's more of what the observer was trying to talk about. And really, that wasn't even his real point. He wasn't talking about position, he was talking about presentation (how it looks).

2) Who cares what coaches think?

Well, you better care a little bit. Coaches get to rate us. Coaches have phones with the assignor's number on speed-dial. If a coach decides that you're a lazy official, your ratings will reflect that. As roster spots get more competitive, that rating may effect your assignments.

I don't care what coaches think about my application of the rules. Because I know that I'm right and they're wrong 99.999% of the time (that's a conservative estimate ). So complain all you want, my assignor is just going to tell you that I got it right. But if the coach calls my assignor and says I missed a crucial call b/c I was too lazy to get into position, that can hurt me. So you have to care a little bit about what coaches think about how you look and how you work.

3) What difference does it make if the trail is in position, and is also moving to stay in position?

The difference is you can walk or you can jog. This particular observer thinks it gives a better presentation if you don't walk. If you think it's false hustle, I can understand that. But a lot of people think that running to the reporting box is false hustle (when you could just "walk and talk" for your reporting). And I can understand that, too. I don't think we can dismiss that kind of advice out-of-hand. I think it falls into the category of "If it works for you. . ."

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Nu1

The observer's point was when there was no pressure...so there was no separation to see.

I understand your points...but when in Rome...

And if there was no defensive pressure, then there was absolutely no need for false hustle either imo. Coaches only notice us when they think that we scewed something up.

But.....your point on "when in Rome" sureasheck is a valid one, and I agree with it completely. If you're working for that particular observer, then you damn well better be doing exactly what he wants you to do, whether you agree with it or not.

[Jurassic Referee]

[QUOTE=ChuckElias
Well, you better care a little bit. Coaches get to rate us. Coaches have phones with the assignor's number on speed-dial. If a coach decides that you're a lazy official, your ratings will reflect that. As roster spots get more competitive, that rating may effect your assignments.

[/QUOTE]Do you really think that a coach is watching whatintheheck an official is doing on a walk-up in the backcourt with no pressure? Sorry, but the only way any coach is doing anything like that imo is if he's already pissed off at you for sumthin' and he's looking for a reason to b!tch at you. Otherwise, coaches got way too much on their tiny l'il minds to worry about other than whether we're jogging vs. walking on a nothing play sequence.

I get complaints about officials being out of position because of a lack of hustle. Never yet had or heard of a complaint about an official being constantly in position despite not really hustling to do so.

[Nu1]

JR, I understand where you're coming from. But I think Chuck was hitting on this observer's point, which was along the lines of "perception is reality."

As I said, this observer was big on hustle. This was also a tryout camp. He said, "You guys are applicants. You should be trying to out hustle your partners...and the crew on the other floor...and every other applicant here. If all three of you say, 'I'm not getting out hustled by anyone,' your crew will be better for it. We don't want to give the coaches anything to complain about (as Chuck said, like this guy is lazy...even if we really aren't). So don't walk. Run."

I don't mind if my partner's do this or not. (Jog or run and not walk up with the ball handler.) I don't think this, in and of itself, is an indicator that someone is lazy. But I did try it and I have to say, for me, it does feel better to jog / run and not walk up the court.

Just last night I did a couple games for a coach / friend at a camp he runs. High school boys...no score keeping...no record of fouls. He just wanted some refs to keep some order in case some college coaches came to see any players. I had just worked two other games elsewhere and after running an hour at his camp my legs were hurting a bit. He said, "I don't care if you just walk up to half court. As long you guys can see if someone gets hammered and call it." My partner and I both said, "We can't do that! We'll give the stripes a bad name."

[ChuckElias]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Do you really think that a coach is watching whatintheheck an official is doing on a walk-up in the backcourt with no pressure?

Not really, no. But I was responding to your question of "who cares what coaches think?" And the answer is, "I do!"

I get complaints about officials being out of position because of a lack of hustle. Never yet had or heard of one about an official being constantly position because of a lack of hustle.

Um, huh?

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

Um, huh?

That was from my Blue Mood.

Edited.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Nu1

JR, I understand where you're coming from. But I think Chuck was hitting on this observer's point, which was along the lines of "perception is reality."

Yabut....perception might not be reality to other observers. Reality is reality, and the reality is that the covering official was exactly where he was supposed to be at all times. Who cares how he gets there as long as he is there?

That was my point.....fwiw.