I am talking about the non-USA born officials working these games.

You actually think most of the non USA FIBA officials can walk in and start working top D-1, D-League, or the NBA games???

So the score is 1-1-1. There's one on dope, one who hasn't replied to my question and one short one that needs to be on some sort of dope, so he doesn't overly analyze things.

I agree that they were mostly consistent on what was called, but the problem I had was how they called all over the court. The Lead official would call a foul no matter where the ball was. It seemed like there was a lot of ball watching and calling out of the area.

I watched the game with the USA and Greece live. The USA got beat fair and square and that game was called very well in my opinion. I just think that there were things I could not understand why they were being called by certain by certain officials? Then there was a play were Himerick (sp?) shot a 3 point shot and was creamed well after the ball was gone by the Greece center (THE BIG BLACK GUY :D). I was wondering, who is watching the shooter?

It was obvious from early game that they were not allowing a lot of contact and most of the officials were very consistent in calling the game that way. I know I have walked away from watching not having any idea what mechanics are being used as it relates to coverages. Many times the Lead would call a foul on players almost outside the 3 point line on the opposite side of the lane.

Peace

I don't think you should call DJ "short".

I was at a camp earlier this summer and one of the clinicians was a FIBA ref from Canada. Yes, he could work any level in the U.S. In fact, many of the D-1 teams go up into Canada and play Canada teams and he has worked many, many of those games. He's worked a couple semifinal games in the Olympics too.

One of the other clinicians at that camp is a D-1 ref and he has worked some of those D-1 vs. Canadian teams with the Canadian FIBA ref. He has huge respect for his game and said he'd work <b>any</b> game with him.

Z

Well, there's one that I disagree with completely also.

Congratulations, you just sh!t on some of the best officials in the world. Whatever happened to the "Brotherhood of Officials", Ron?

Dude, RockyRoad has officiated in an NCAA Womens Final. Wtf have <b>you</b> refereed in?

Why?:confused: <i></i>

Hey - whatever happened to the "brotherhood of short officials"??? How come I got drug into this??? (Oops, probably shouldn't have used the word "drug" right there).

Rocky only refereed there cuz there werem't no jobs in his state that day.

Shhhh...that was supposed to be a secret, Mick...guess if I want any good games this winter I'm gonna have to move to Ireland!!

I'm not on dope! I just didn't have a chance to get on the computer today. All I'm saying is I think the FIBA refs have been very consistent and managed the games very well. You don't see the constant whining and crying like you do in every NBA game and many college games. Even the USA fans I've talked to had no problem with the way the game was called against Greece. When is the last time an NBA team lost a playoff game and there weren't ten thousand people on the internet blasting the officials for "screwing us outta that game!". I work overnight so when I get off work, I am able to catch all the games on TV. I've watched quite a few of them and enjoyed the games very much. I feel like the officials are working hard and calling a fair game. Sure they miss a few, we all do, but the refs are solid for the most part and stay in the background. You don't see the refs becoming bigger than the game like you do at times in the NBA. There wasn't a single game in the Spurs/Mavericks or Mavericks/Heat or Pistons/Heat that didn't have major controversies.

Greece had a player slide over and attempt to draw a player control foul against Dwayne Wade. He was called for the block. He just calmly got up and raised his hand even though it was a very close call. It is refreshing to watch..

Well said! Nothing like being narrow minded, and boy, you are good at it!

PS If you can find your way onto a Division III college game, than you can bet most of the rest of the world can too.

I agree that the referees at WC overall did a very, very good job.

I don't know if this was Dave's intention, but it sounds to me like he is saying that poor refereeing is indeed the cause of the spectator's complaining. Sport is an emotional affair, and by that also irrational to an extent. Some, or even many, will complain about officials if their team loses, even if the officiating was not controversial. The level and intensity of *****ing and moaning is more to do with the level of the competition and the importance of the game, than the actual quality of refereeing.