How do I not miss the next one like this?

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by SMEngmann

Here's what works for me: open up to the court so that you have better knowledge of the ball out of your peripheral vision. Since you're reffing off the ball, you should have good knowledge of where the defenders are. If the ball is coming on your side, be ready to position yourself like a trail and be ready to be on the ball when it crosses DL. This will put you higher on the court and in much better position to referee the whole play, rather than what you did, which was to position yourself to referee uphill.

I agree with opening up. If I'm in a pressing situation, and I'm the C, I open up and move laterally down the court so the whole play is in front of me.

[BloggingRefGuy]

Thanks for all the comments, folks. I've taken all of that into consideration, and in retrospect I've come to this conclusion: while my shoulders were parallel to the sideline, I think I turned my head and became too locked in on the dribbler...which is why I was surprised by the defender who snuck in behind my head. Next time there's a ballhandler on my line but between me and halfcourt when I'm C, I'll take that a sign to get behind her. Shuffling that way along the sideline would have enabled me to pick up the defender earlier. And if I wind up behind the T...well, this is a situation where the L should rotate anyway. If she/he doesn't, I'll adjust back to the more traditional C position as soon as I can.

I lived it, I learned it, and now I'm moving on.