The Toughest Calls in Basketball
 

I thoroughly enjoy the time I get to spend with my reffing brothers and sisters, especially when we talk about the toughest calls each of us makes and how we handle the call. I would like to hear the challenges you all have and how you handle them. For me, I regularly look back on travel calls and when to "let one go" and how technically specific I need to be, especially when reffing a jr high, frosh or JV game (where my temptation is to let all but the obvious go to enhance game flow). Also, which calls do you see refs struggling to get right?

The toughest call to make is traveling. In Jr. High, I look to see if it gave the player an advanage. Once we get to high school, I nail them. They will learn sooner or later

That's easy - it's the false double multiple non-contact personal technical foul during a dead ball with the coach out of the box and a timer's error combined with basket interference during a free throw by the non-shooting team in double overtime when the visiting team has their captain wearing a hard brace.

I mess that one up all the time. But I do get icing correct most of the time as well as a balk.

DAMN - where's those meds??? :confused:

JH level, I call them unless we're on a slick floor. They need to learn now. If we're talking 7th grade C game, I'll let some slide. I hate making them judgment calls, but you have to sometimes. Below JH, generally look for either advantage or distance; if they go more than 10 or 15 feet, I'll call it. HS (including frosh, soph, JV, etc) they all get called if I see them.

Toughest call for me right now is figuring out how much "chirping" is too much from the coach (HS only, lower than that, the answer is "zero."). It's getting easier, though.

I've been told I am way too tolerant with coaches. As a coach, and knowing how they sometimes feel during a game, I let alot go. I will fire up a T for any cursing but have never had to do it as we cover the insta-T in the pre-game. I've only given one T the last 3 years and that was to a player in rec league...nary a one in all the HS and Jr High games. My partners have ripped off quite a few, however...

Mark:

Your play is easy to call I would expect my first year students to make that call. The most difficult call I find is whether to have Italian or Chinese for dinner after the game. :D

MTD, Sr.

Had four coaches and two players last year. One JV coach just couldn't control himself after I told him I'd heard enough. One AAU coach, same thing. Another AAU coach screamed an obsenity after a no-call. Last one was an AAU assistant coach stood up and screamed his disapproval with a traveling call.

Players were easy; all JH. One dropped an F-bomb and the other performed the post-foul-call shove on the player that fouled her.

I'm getting it down with more games, and I've found that talking to them keeps the tensions down during the game so they don't get to that point as often as when I was newer.

Huh, I usually have food. ;)

Tell them to stop eating beans during halftime. :p

I think handling bench decorum is by far the thing that separates the best official from the guy who cannot stop working JH games. This part is so subjective and changes from one game to another and sometimes one quarter to another. Block/Charge are often easy, traveling is one of the most difficult calls to make as well, but nothing compares to how you handle coaches and players in very confrontational and difficult situations.

Peace

I think the toughest call to make in basketball is the right call. When you know something just happened but because you where in transistion, got straight-lined, or somebody just stepped in front of you. You can't guess, either you saw the disadvantage or you got a no-call. Sometimes a no-call is the best call. Sometimes there can be contact on the play and it's not a foul. Sometimes the player can step out of bounds, but because you didn't see it, you got no call, even if the entire gym saw it. Getting the right call is not as easy as you think.

Well, that's getting specific, isn't it...:rolleyes:

Well, it is tough to make the right call when you don't know the right rules.

Agree with that completely. It's almost impossible to make hard and fast rules on how you'd handle a certain situation without actually being there and being able to exercise your own judgment. Every coach and player is different, and so is every situation. You just do what you feel is right for that particular play at that particular time in that particular game. The officials that can adjust and defuse these situations instead of throwing gas on the fire are usually the ones that are going onward and upward.

There's a time to be a hardazz and there's also a time to turn a little bit of a blind eye. The better officials can recognize those times.