Refereeing the Defense

[Junker]

Originally Posted by blindzebra

You shouldn't take the term literally and get tunnel vision on the defender.

The goal is knowing if the defender has attained LGP, not watching him/her continuously.

A better way to think about things is positioning to see through the play. If you concentrate on getting a look through, you will be aware of the defense, the status of the ball and other match ups beyond on ball.

This is good advice. I consider "referee the defense" more of a mindset than anything. You have to be in position to see the whole play in your primary. If you feel like you're missing violations on ball handlers, one thing I did early on was pick a weekend tournament or something and really concentrate on getting all of the travels you see. Then do the same for illegal screens and such. Gradually you'll build your skills.