Thanks for the clear post. I think there needs to be more effort in our area to use game film along with rules sessions to help put all of us "on the same page" with regard to block/charge. I do think there are a fair number of blocks called in which the defener does nothing wrong but the contact draws a blocking foul... I have made a few of those calls myself and wish to improve!

Not necessarily. The defender is primarily responsible but is not solely responsible.

Just as A1 gets head/shoulders past B1, B1 stops moving. Then A1 cuts back towards B1...making contact in B1's side. This is NOT a foul on B1.

One thing I'll add.

The term referee the defense, shouldn't be literal. You can't have tunnel vision on a defender.

I think of it as seeing through a match up.

1. You need to be aware of your defender(s).

2. You need to know the status of the ball.

3. You need to be positioned to see between the players.

Too much focus on either of the first 2 will make the call harder, but if you have #3 every time the other two become much easier.

refereeing the defense is the best way to get the call correct....my rule of thumb on block/charge calls: see where the contact occurred on the defenders' body - chest/center-mass-area generally means a charge (note I said "generally"). If a defender is stationary and the shooter changes/adjusts his angle so that the contact is outside the chest/center-mass-area, then I've got a block, if anything (although the defender may have had LGP, he didn't move to maintain it....)

If I'm reading you correctly, that is simply wrong!

How could you have a block on a stationary defender? If he had LGP before becoming stationary, he is not required to maintain it if he becomes stationary....a stationary defender doesn't need LGP. LGP only grants the defender the privilege of movement at the time of contact. Even so, I contend that he still had LGP (assuming it had it to start with). The fact that the shooter ran into him says the defender was in the path of the opponent. Getting head/shoulders by the defender doesn't automatically cancel LGP.

That should be a charge or nothing....never a block.

Agree. If the defender is stationary and he got there legally, he's always entitled to his spot on the floor, LGP or not.

What about flops?
 

I ref the defense and always try to remember that the defender may move anywhere except into the dribbler, thus, I never have a problem calling a charge as often as warranted, but something that bothers me is the flop, i.e., incidental contact followed by a kid hitting the floor like he was struck by a train, we're supposed to call a tech foul for this but I never have, so I am left with not calling a charge because the contact was incidental even though the defender hit the floor, of course, the spectators and coaches see nothing but the kid on the floor and want some call (even a block), but they don't get it from me. You know what you hear, "You gotta have something on that!" Maybe I should start calling the tech foul but it seems like a tough sell. What does everyone else do?

I do not call Techs in that situation. I think I would only call a T when there is no contact at all. If there is some contact (meaning they touch) then I will either not call anything or I will call a block. Usually when you call a block they will get the message. Save the T for the most extreme situation. Some will disagree, but I have never seen a T for this kind of situation. I have told coaches as well, "He flopped and if you want me to call a T on them I can do that." Coaches get the message too.

Peace

Correct.

If you watch the defense for violations, you'll miss 95% of all violations committed but should get the basket interference calls right. Referee the defense means to focus on the defensive player before the contact vs. watching the ball. Referee the defense is a popular term, but it really took me a while to fully understand it rather than just playing lip service to it. If you are focusing on the defender, you'll pick up the subtle things you may not see such as a bump that redirects the dribbler.

For me on those bang-bang block charge calls, I really look at where the contact is. If it's smack in the middle of the chest of the defender, I go PC and if a coach asks that's exactly what I tell them. It's my main discriminator between a block and charge. Others may ask all the usuals, did they obtain and then maintain LGP, who initiated contact, etc. They are all pertinent but I believe that you can use the point of contact to also answer some of those questions. If the contact is smack in the middle of the torso, I'm pretty sure the defender got there first and offensive player initiated the contact. It's not an answer to every situation, but I think it's a good start to developing your philosophy regarding the block/charge. Make sure you talk this over with your partners as consistency as a crew is what's important and that's really all a good coach wants.

Mregor

Mregor