Oak Hill--Norcross game on ESPN--calling all Georgia officials
I have a question about the official’s mechanics. The game is being played on the Georgia Tech campus so it is more than likely the officials are from Georgia. I have a question about the mechanics used. I personally do not have a problem with their mechanics in any way but I noticed that all the officials have not used the stop clock signal for out of bounds plays. And I even saw "no closely guarded" signal from the Trail official early in the game. Are these mechanics allowed in Georgia or is it something that these officials might use on their own.
BTW, I really like the way the officials are not calling a lot of cheap calls. They are letting the players play and letting players play through the contact. This is what I think should be the way the game is called especially with players that have Division 1 talent all over the floor. Peace |
Would someone really say something if you didn't use the stop clock signal or used the "no closely guarded" signal in Illinois?
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Yes they would. This is why I asked.
Peace |
Wow! There are a lot more problems in high school basketball than this. Let's start with all the ball watching (not talking about you) that goes on. Will eliminating ball watching or making sure everyone uses the stop clock signal make the high school game better? I think we know the answer to that one.
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I did not say this was a big problem in any way. I am just asking if this is an issue in that state. If officials in this kind of game used this mechanics here, it would bring a lot of whispers and complaining from evaluators and some assignors, as well as many officials in the peanut gallery. I personally would love to add those mechanics to the NF system or adopted by my state, but they are not allowed at this point. I even get in certain games and do not stop the clock (like I did tonight). I just do not use these mechanics when the lights are the brightest or I know there is a potential to be observed. I just wanted to know if this was even a big deal considering all the comments I hear on this site about how NF mechanics should be used at all times and you should not work games at the HS level without perfect mechanics (of course I am being sarcastic). You can read a couple of posts recently and see that for yourself. I was just wondering and basically the officials called a very good game. I understood why they made the calls they did and the reason they did not make calls. It was a very well officiated game from my point of view. Peace |
All 3 officials work college and this is the reason for them not stopping the clock. Stopping the clock IS a Georgia High School signal however it is not enforced as much as other states. Sure it would be nice to have everyone use high school mechanics in high school games but if the plays are called correctly who cares! This is where the "not closely guarded" signal came from as well.
I thought they did a great job! :) |
In Georgia, we are encouraged to use NF mechanics, but stopping the clock or not there is not a high on the priority list. Getting the calls right is seen as more critical. I agree with others the officals in the game last night did a great job.
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Rut asked about their mechanics. There's nothing wrong with that. If you don't want to answer his questions, why post in the thread? There's no reason to criticize because he has has very valid questions. Start a thread on ball hawking if that's what you want to do. Back to the post: The officials were obviously college officials who probably also work high school basketball.
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I didn't see the game but I think it's safe to say that these 3 guys were there because the assignor responsible for the game wanted them there. In fact, I would bet they each got a personal call from the assignor asking them to hold the date for this game well before the season.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled pissing contest. |
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Why are college officials doing an important, high-profile HS game? ;)
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Yes, here in MN we would be "scolded" for not using NFHS mechanics as well. I think those officials did one heck of a job and the only people that noticed the variances in signals were the assignors, post-season graders, and us officials.
I have this problem doing a HS game the night after a college game for the first couple minutes until my partner gives me "the look" :cool: |
Here in GA, the individual from the state that assigns the post-season was a college official for what I understand to be over 2 decades. Thus, he allows the collegiate mechanics. The mentality is much more along these lines, as opposed to what some would consider "text-book" refereeing. It is much more about plays, communication, and handling the game. He hopes and encourages college officials to "come back" and do high school games, because they can handle whatever comes. In fact, all 3 officials that did the 5A title game were DI officials. This is not intended to knock any other state, it is just a different way of doing things. We have our issues too, but just wanted to provide some background info.
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I'm not attempting to invalidate or validate anyone's point about the proper use of NFHS mechanics but...
These official were not beamed down from outer space to work this game. Do you really think this is the first time these officials did not use proper mechanics in a HS game? These officials were hand-picked for this assignment and the person(s) who hand-picked these officials had seen these officials work other HS games in which they didn't use proper NFHS mechanics. Obviously NHFS mechanics were not high on the priority list in determining who should work this game. Now, it's all together possible that someone in the NFHS head office may give a call down to Georgia's state office but let's not have this discussion as if the assignor(s) were not already aware of the mechanics employed by these officials. |
Obviously they are good officials. That is why they were chosen for a TV game. Getting the calls right is always the most important thing. How many of us can say that we haven't had our mechanics slide a little bit on a critical call in an intense, down-to-the-wire game when we were selling a call?
That being said, they really should try to use NFHS mechanics in a HS game and leave the college mechanics in the bag. "Ref the game that is being played in the gym that night." My first couple of college games, I had a lot of HS mechanics. By my third game of switching back-and-forth, I was able to "turn on" the appropriate set of mechanics. It's not that hard. |
I was actually thinking along these lines last night. I worked my first college games of my career this season and I'm already noticing that my HS mechanics are not as sharp. I find myself getting sloppy with stopping the clock and sometimes even getting a fist in the air (this only happens when the play is clearly my call) and I just give the mechanic for the foul. On my way home from last night's JV game I decided that I have to go back to square one for a while and get my mechanics sharp again.
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Guy, guys, guys, calm down for a second. :D
It is very clear to me that these officials are very capable to work this style of game. If you read what I had said earlier, I could not find many calls if any where I had a problem with. I did not watch every single minute, but what I saw they did a very good job. If I had worked this game and used the specific mechanics these officials used and I had an evaluator sitting in the stands, the officials would have heard about not stopping the clock. I main camp that I attend every year is a camp run by the head clinician and rules interpreter in the state. He is all the time getting on officials for many things I saw during this game. Things like not stopping the clock and not coming to a stop when reporting a foul would be something he would mention if I was working a game and the evaluator had the opportunity to talk to us during halftime or after the game. I will also confess that I have been doing some things not entirely on purpose that are not perfect as it relates to mechanics. I have gotten into a really bad habit of not giving a proper team control foul signal when I am calling an illegal screen. Not sure why I do this, but I have done this and I am completely aware of it. I also have for the last few years done a "pointing that way" when I have called an offensive foul of some kind to indicate the team on defense is getting the ball. I do not know why I started doing this, but I have and for some reason have not stopped. By no means am I perfect when it comes to NF mechanics. I must also note that states can come up with their own mechanics if they want to. That came directly from Mary Struckoff herself a couple of years ago. States do not have to follow all the NF mechanics if they choose to and this is why I was asking were things in Georgia different and these guys were just doing what is allowed. I know our state had a couple of differences that are not listed in the book, but they usually are not related to signals. I am sure when one of the games that will be on national television some might notice those differences when everyone has a chance to see those officials work. Peace |
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Peace |
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GA differeces
In GA, we are allowed to walk & report fouls on the way to the table. In addition, we can use two hand mechanics to report fouls. Stopping the clock is encouraged but not mandated. I was at the game and Precision Time was notbeing used.
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