Refereeing the Defense
 

I could really use some help with the subject of refereeing the defense and what to watch for when the ball is in your primary. When doing this, I believe I’m catching the on-ball fouls pretty good but I’m pretty sure I am missing some travels and maybe other non-ball match-up fouls. Also, I find it difficult to determine who the OOB is on when there is a scramble or a tip of a hand out of no where. I’m sure my technique is flawed and would greatly appreciate some insight of you more experienced refs. Please help.

When the ball is in your primary, the ball carrier and the defender should be your primary responsibility.

I know I'll miss a few off-ball calls, because I'm watching the ball carrier.

The main ones, illegal screens should be easy to get, because they usually happen in a close proximity to the ball carrier, other ones, you probably will miss, and that's what your partner is for.

As for the OOB, when you see the random hand or arm or leg tip the ball, focus on the arm or leg a bit more...follow it up...until you see a jersey or a pair of shorts that will help you identify the person who caused it to go OOB.

With the more games you do, the play will slow down for you, and it will be easier to catch everything.

refeeeing the defense means not watching the ball so much. Even when you have the person with the ball and the primary defender... your promary focus should be the defender. There are only a couple of things the player with the ball can do... Pass, shoot, drive... You dont stop watchimg the offensive player but know what the defense is doing.... know if the offense is running a motion offense where an pick will be coming... If you are refereeing defense you should have an idea of who hit ball OOB since the ball is going at the defense righT... They are defensing the pass, defending the dribble.

Dont foucs on just two players, you have to know what is going on in the area and anticpaye plays and what they will do...

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.

Watch for illegal actions on the ball that causes a disadvantage. One of the reason why they say watch the defense is you don't want to penalize good defensive tactics. One of the best examples is if you have a lot of contact on the ball and the defender is standing there with his hands up, and the ball is brought to the defense, not the other way around; you got nothing because watching the defense, you can see that he's just standing there with his arms up and has not done anything illegal. I had one this weekend where some may disagree, but B4 got his hands up too late and it hit the shooters arm while in the release of his shoot. That's too much disadvantage so I called a foul on B4.

Don't worry about what you don't see. Just call what you do see, and remember, you got a partner.

This is a jump ball. Check with your partner first, if niether of you have it, it's a jump ball. What I do in these situations is I examined what just happened, and make a determination in the event I am not sure. What I mean if A1 has the ball, and B1 agressively attacks and knocks the ball loose (might have been a foul there but I didn't call it) and mad scramble ensues and ball OOB. We'll keep it with the offense.

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.

BZ, could you elaborate on what you mean by “Seeing through the play”? I’ve heard this term before, but I’m not sure what that means. Is this referring to an anticipation of what the defense is may do?

"Seeing through the play" means that you see both players and the space between them. Seeing the space between them allows you to see "through" the play. If you can see through the play, it ensures that you're not straight-lined. It also makes sure that you can see who initiates contact (either with the hands, or by moving into the opponent's torso).

I to like to put myself in a position where the ball carrier and defender are aware of my presence. This can help to clean up play. I also like to pick up on what offense is being ran. This give me a good idea as to where my closest competitive match-up either is, or will be. During weekday leagues I work on focusing on my primary, so I don't get caught ball watching. This also helps with seeing past the play in front of you and anticipating the next play. Food for thought.

I have had (and still have to some extent) this exact problem as well. Several partners have commented that they think I was either standing on or too close to the baseline (and also the players) and not able to watch for upper body contact and additional steps. I have to mentally force myself to back off the baseline a step or two...this opens up my field of vision both vertically and horizontally. I catch more travels when I remember to do this.

Don't beat yourself up with trying to catch every travel that occurs. This is a nit-picky call that can ruin your game if you're calling it too much. A game that has a lot of traveling calls borders on being over-officiated and it makes you look like a rookie, imo. Just referee the game and let the travels come to you. If you're not seeing it, good, that means it's not occurring, continue to play ball and keep your focus on the game and getting the obvisous calls.

Absolutely. You have to step back to get a wider field of vision.

Are you serious?

Don't worry about calling violations? Traveling is a nit-picky call? If you call a violation that occurred, you're over-officiating?

I've got to admit that you're constantly setting your own bar higher and higher. You're at the point where it's almost impossible to top yourself anymore.

A game that has a lot of travels in it means that the players are traveling a lot. That's all. We don't commit violations; we just call them.

What works in the 7/8 year-old division of your Monday night rec league doesn't work in a real basketball game. Constantly missing violations is a one-way ticket to your rec leagues, Old School.

To help understand the seeing throught the play philosophy, try this little experiment...hold a pen up about two feet from your face and look at it. Eveerything behind it should look blurry...now refocus your eyes so you can see behind the pen clearly...you can still see the pen and you can see what's going on behind the pen...that's what seeing through the play is all about - you don't want to be so focused on the two players that everything else is blurry...

Wrong, that is not all! It could also mean that the game is being over-officiated, or being called extremely tight. It could also mean that a lot of marginal travels are being called travels and the players are not really traveling. I have witness my partners, mostly new, calling the travels real tight, and most are not travels. I have also seen officials begin to call this and one leads to the next, which leads to another one, and another one and next thing you know we got a dozen traveling calls in the game. That's too many for my taste. I might begin to look the other way just to let a game develop. Remember, people don't pay to see us officiate, they pay to see a game.

True, but I contend there is a way to manage a game where you're not constantly interrupting it with your whistle, especially on little sh!t.

No, calling every violation you see will get you sent back to the minor leagues quicker than you observing when and when not to interrupt the game with your whistle.