Selling the No Call?
 

I was officiating a varsity girls game this week and the game was close...triple overtime. I was trail and the ball was weak side low. A1 was in a jam and passed the ball back out to A2 but the ball was slightly tipped by B1 (not many people saw the deflection...especially the B coach) and sailed down court. A ran after the basketball and picked it up. Some of the B players (especialy B1) were in pursuit but a few sort of laid back thinking they were going to get an over and back call plus the ball. I did not blow my whistle...the B coach went nuts and so did most of the fans...that didn't bother me as much as I thought it would (being a new ref and all).

I was with a veteran official. He liked the no call, but recommended I start "selling" my decision with the tapping of the fingers demonstrating a deflected pass when the ball was tipped and heading down court. He said it's a good way to let everyone know you saw what happened and have made a decision...thus minimizing the emotion already built-up in the gym.

I've been told not to use this or any hand motion on a no call because it's simply not an official signal. However, this guy was great in giving me good feedback and I have to admit his comment in this particular case made sense.

Thoughts and I apologize if this has already been discussed?

I've used the finger-tip on these sorts of plays to communicate what I've seen on an over & back or OOB call. I think they are fine if not over done. One "no-call" signal I would not use is when you have nothing on a blocked shot. You know, palm to palm to indicate the contact was on the ball. You don't want to be signalling "no foul" as your partner is blowing the whistle.

in officiating, much like life, information is important -- dont make a habit of explaining yourself all the time, however there are situations where is helps a lot

I had a partner tell me the other day to save the explanations for the big calls...I think he was referring to additional motions/comments one might use in a big call situation. I hear what you're saying though...thanks

Helps you partner at T out too if done from the C.......

I'll use the "foul tip" signal on occasion, but I usually wait until A has picked up the ball again. I prefer to not be seen as giving either/both team(s) an advantage in this situation.

I will, however, do it before a violation is called in 3-person mechanics (as Jurassic said), but only if my partners and I have pre-gamed it.

I would agree with Dexter (love your show on Showtime, BTW) that you should make the "tip" signal probably only when you think it might avoid a wrong call from your partner. You don't want to give a signal that might cause a team to get an advantage (or disadvantage) if that's the only result of giving the signal.

I've been told to use signals like this as part of a quick expanation after the fact, but not to give the signal during the play. The exception has already been mentioned: if you think the signal will help your partner at Trail.

The other thing I remember now is I didn't attempt to re-position on the tip. I remained in the front court (sort of frozen) as ball and players ran into the back court...the ball was not picked up by A1 until she was well into the lane. I could have at least gotten to the 3 pt line had I reacted. My body language probably gave everyone the impression that a dead ball was forthcoming. I should have sprinted or at least started moving into a lead position and then give the tip as A1 picked-up the ball.

I never thought about it from the 3 crew perspective (at C). Good point.

Thanks

How can the ball be weak side? Weak side is the side without the ball. Strong side is the side with the ball.

From NBA.COM: "When a team is on offense in their opponents' end of the court, the "strong" side is the side of the court where the ball is located. The "weak" side is the side of the court opposite the strong side (away from the ball). Imagine that there is a line that extends from the basket to midcourt, dividing the court into two equal parts. If a team starts their offense with the ball on the right side of the court, this is the strong side. However, as the ball gets passed, if it ends up on the left side, then that becomes the strong side. When a point guard sets up his team's offense, his teammates run the play using both the strong side and the weak side. "

Some people use "weak side" to mean "the side opposite the ball"; other people use it to mean "the side opposite the Lead official"; some people use it interchangeably.

From the context of the original post, I think we can infer that the poster was saying the ball was on the side opposite of the Lead official.

Yes.
Not sure why I said weak side...I was thinking I was "opposite" the ball (Ball always being strong side). I'll double check my use of words in the future...thanks.

Don't sweat it. Everybody was new at some point, even Jimgolf. Just keep posting and reading. Glad to have you here.

Just a quick story about this very scenario . . .

I was watching a men's college basketball game this past Thanksgiving on South Padre Island. Ball "appears" to be deflected by the defensive player into the backcourt. Trail gives the "ball tipped" signal indicating that there would not be a backcourt violation. Apparently the Center did not see his signal but did have a bead on the BC violation because he (the "C") blew his whistle and ran over to signal a backcourt violation. Made the Trail look really bad, especially when they began to debate the call . . . From my vantage point in the front row right in front of the play, I think the "C" should have been watching the his half of the court instead of watching the ball. :)

I agree with many of the other posters in that there are some situations when you may want to use this "ad lib" signal, however, as one poster said, be certain to cover this in your pregame so as to avoid miscommunication. Personally, I don't use the signal because I don't want to have a situation like the one above.

The problem with the situation above wasn't the use of the signal. The problem was a failure to see the signal. Big difference.