The Toughest Calls in Basketball

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

How about you teach your players to do things right in the first place and then you won't have to worry about how a crew calls a game? Teach them to play defense, set their screens, get rebounding position, etc, the way the rules dictate - then you won't have to worry about it during the game...and teach them to play correctly no matter what the other team or officials are doing or calling...that way there is no "preparing" for a next crew - just play the game.

I have to agree with Coach P a bit here.

Unfortunately, though, individuality in officiating is part of the game. The best players/teams learn to adapt. I remember calling an 8th grade girls' game with a partner my age who was also very used to reffing college IM games and watching NCAA D-I games. We both were on the same page and passed on a lot of minor bumps where no advantage was gained, but the coaches might be used to a foul being called. One team picked up on this and played more assertively. The other team just whined about it for the entire game. I'll let you guess which team won (and which team had a bench technical against one of its coaches).

I'm pretty sure that baseball umps have a saying to the effect of 'you might not like my strike zone, but I'm the one behind the plate today.'