Question: helping your partner(s)

[Adam]

First of all, I'm right there with you on the "literally" thing. That, and "myself."

Anyway. Generally, I wait for a partner to ask for help unless I'm certain there's an aspect he didn't see. OOB calls, back court violations, etc. I've given information and allowed my partner to stick with it or change his call. I volunteered info as lead on a BC violation my partner called once. But it was a special circumstance when the ball had come out of the lane and I knew the T didn't see the defense knock it into the BC.

However, if I'm certain he saw everything and think he simply made an error in judgment, I'm waiting for him to request more info. Otherwise, it is his call.

Does this help?

[Y2Koach]

It does help. In the situation above, if you would have seen the pile of bodies on the floor and your partner called the T for hanging on the rim, would you talk to your partner and see if he would change the call?

[Adam]

If I could have caught him on his way to the table or before? Yes.

If I knew he was "less experienced" than me? Yes. Actually, it depends more on how I view his standing in the association. If, for example, it's the association president, or a long time varsity official respected by everyone, I'm probably not touching it if I am sure he saw the bodies. If I think there might be reason to think he didn't see the bodies, I might offer the info.

Did they communicate prior to the calling official reporting the T? This is when I would have offered the info.

If it's another JV official, I'll try to catch him.

Really, in this particular play, there are quite few dynamics at play.

[Y2Koach]

Not sure about the specifics, but from my vantage point, it seemed like the Lead was watching the shot after the airborne shooter released the shot. That's why i assumed he didn't call a block or charge. I have seen the Trail ref do my games in prior years and know that he has more experience than the Lead, although the Lead was older in age. There was no communication between officials, and the Lead (calling official) made a very emphatic "hand T" when he made the call and without hesitation headed straight to the scorers table.

[Adam]

At the very least, I'm sure this lead to a nice little talk in the locker room afterwards.

Looks like L didn't really give T an opportunity to help him out. In this situation, it sounds like you almost have to let him live with his own call.

[cdaref]

Coach, hopefully we as a crew have had a pregame meeting and discussed giving input on calls. Generally our discussion would be: "if you have info on a call of mine, come get me, ask me if I saw what you saw and then give me the chance to change my call. If you have to, go ahead and blow your whistle and get my attention."

The main problem, though, is that with differing areas of court coverage it may be that the the partner didnt get a good look. But a good crew will help their partner out when possible. As a general matter, though, if the call is in my partner's primary area, I am going to let it stand since I didnt have the look he did. But if I see a clear mistake, my partner and I will discuss it.

[cdaref]

In your particular situation, I take it what you are saying is that he was hanging on the rim as a safety issue because of the bodies on the floor. I have to say, I am going to presume my partner saw that. I probably wouldnt have given any input on that T call.

Believe me, (1) you dont want the officials watching in each others areas and (2) you dont want the delay of each official checking with the other on all those kinds of calls.

It would have to be a pretty big miss that I saw clearly and felt strongly about for me to give input to change a call.

[Y2Koach]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

At the very least, I'm sure this lead to a nice little talk in the locker room afterwards.

Looks like L didn't really give T an opportunity to help him out. In this situation, it sounds like you almost have to let him live with his own call.

I agree from an officials standpoint. from a coaches point of view, it would really suck to "live with" an obvious missed call that leads to a possible 4 point swing and a personal/technical foul added to the players total.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Y2Koach

I agree from an officials standpoint. from a coaches point of view, it would really suck to "live with" an obvious missed call that leads to a possible 4 point swing and a personal/technical foul added to the players total.

Honestly, I understand your thoughts on this, and it's unfortunate. I mean that literally.

However, cdaref alluded to the can of worms that gets opened when officials start offering help on judgment calls. Unless you have good reason to believe your partner didn't see something vital, or if you really think he doesn't know a certain rule, there's not much a partner can do. We can't over-rule anything, regardless.

In a situation like this, I'd like to think my partner would stop and at least tell me what he has before reporting. He's got to walk in my direction to report anyway coming from Lead.