Selling the No Call?

[NURef]

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?