The "Carry" are we all calling it the same?

[ChuckElias]

I agree that the carry rule is not necessarily a "no brainer". Sometimes it's blatent, and those are the easy ones. But the "hesitation dribble" or the crossover or the dribble that goes all the way around the back are often tougher to judge as to whether the ball came to rest in the dribbler's hand.

I ended up selected to work the final of that tournament(the equivalent of a State AAA final) and called the player the first time he made the illegal dribble. Guess what ?- he didn't even attempt it for the rest of the game. Does that tell you something???

Not necessarily. You found either a smart kid, or a smart coach who knows how to adjust to the officiating. And I'd submit that neither of those things is all that common. Most coaches would rather yell at you than tell their players to get set on a screen. Most players either don't know what they've done wrong, or don't care (they are going to "play their game"). This is especially true if the call is not being made consistently.

I once called carrying on the same player 4 times in the first half of a college game. The coach asked my partner what I was doing. My partner said, "They sent out a letter to crack down on the carrying. He [meaning me] is just the only one who read it."

Not everyone will adjust. So if your whole board isn't on the same page, it will just cause you grief. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be called (obviously, since I called it 4 times in a half). But if you are strict about it, you'll get grief, b/c a lot of your brother officials are weak on that call.

Chuck