Q From 1st Year: Scrubs are comin' in the game.

[rainmaker]

Originally Posted by ca_rumperee

How about this....

JV or Freshman level (this is all I have done)
Game is pretty much decided (15 to 20 point lead, 3 or 4 minutes to go)

Into the game come a fresh crop of gangly youths, who are clearly not the top players on either of the respective teams.

My approach is to let these guys play. I am going to call fouls, and nothing is going to get out of hand, but my approach would be to not be as stringent on travelling, illegal dribble, etc in an effort to have the game flow and let these players have a chance to get shots and score some points -- make some plays.

Again, these are Freshman/JV games. Is this a common approach? What are the philosophical issues here? "Travel in the first period is a travel in the fourth period" takes a backseat to letting the kids play.

Thoughts?

If you are going to slightly adjust your tipping point for calling the eensy-teensy violation things, you do it on the basis that you are watching more closely for contact and don't see the ETVT's. You watch more closely for contact because kids at this level are less likely to play cleanly, and less likely to play through. You don't necessarily call it tighter, just pay more attention. "Let 'em play" is blue language in my dictionary. "Watching closely for illegal A/D" is good game management. It's all in the verbiage.

[kbilla]

Other good points made so far about working til the end for the sake of your own practice. It is true that this IS a good time for you to work on your own recognition with things like travels, other violations b/c there is a good chance that you will see a few of them...but if you are comfortable with your own abilities in this regard, then loosening up a bit on these violations isn't a terrible thing in this situation IMO...

[Smitty]

Why do you think you're doing anyone any favors by not calling violations? At the high school level, if these kids have any hope of getting more playing time, they have to be able to play the game. Not calling traveling, illegal dribble, etc. is not helping them get better. At any level in high school, you should call the games consistently, start to finish, for their sake as well as your own.