Don't talk to my player

[SMEngmann]

Originally Posted by Jay R

I had a similar situation not long ago. I called a player for palming the ball twice in the first 4 or 5 minutes of game. While standing in front of the coach during a dead ball, I asked the coach if this was normally a problem for this kid to palm the ball. The coach's response was: "You referee and I'll coach". I didn't expect that response since there had been no problems up to this point. I said: "Understood". I figured there is no point in complaining about his response although I felt it was unwarranted. I just figured if he came looking to talk about something later in the game, there wasn't going to be a lot of dialogue from me.

As an official who also coaches, I think that was an appropriate response from the coach. If he's palming the ball, call the palm, and if someone asks you a question, answer it, but there is no need to make small talk with the coach or a player about basketball skills. It does not concern us as officials if a player is having problems doing anything basketball related, as long as we make the necessary observations and are aware of it. Bottom line: we're paid to referee and not to coach, at any level, and as a coach I might resent that comment because it can be interpreted as a swipe at his coaching ability. The coach's response was terse, but it was correct, this is how we get ourselves into trouble.