technical situation following regulation

[jpdennem]

i had a situation tonight in which i assessed a technical foul following regulation. The game involved a yellow and a white team. The yellow team had just won the game by two points when immediately #8 white charged at me and my partner screaming how bad we f*&^&^* suck. He sadi this about three times and then ripped off his shirt. I blew my whistle which stopped everybody (celebration, tournament final 7th and 8th boys club)and everyone calmed and tried to figure the situation out. I signaled the "T" signature and then proceded to the scorers bench. My "partner" walked by me and said, "games over". I had already made my decision to deal with this situation. Still nobody is controlling this kid. I walked over to yellow and told them that i assesed a technical and for a shooter. I walkedover to the foul line to administor the foul shots. I looked up and the clock had already been turned off and the other official was changing his shoes at the scorers bench. I proceded to do what i beleived proper and gave him the foul shots. when i walked back over to the scorers bench i was berrated by the scorer for assessing the technical. I wondered if anyond else has had this situation. I beleive if officials let kids do this at that age they will continue to think they can do this in high school. Any thoughts?

[Jurassic Referee]

Good job,jp.You were right to assess the T.You don't have to take that crap,and the kid will never learn anything from this situation if you don't do something about it.If you ignore it,the next official that this kid gets may run into the same problem.If he really gets out of line,you can make it flagrant,also.Tell the scorer that the T must be entered in the book,so that there is a record of the kid's behaviour.The scorer was out-of-line for berating you,also.I'd think about reporting him too.This has got nothing to do about being thin-skinned.It has got everything to do with the amount of abuse we are expected to take,especially at this level.However,you never shoot foul shots after time has expired unless they will affect the outcome of the game.It doesn't affect the outcome in this case,so you don't shoot 'em.That's covered in the book somewhere,as well as in the "summary of penalties" at the back.

[dblref]

I agree with what you did except for shooting the F/Ts and JR described. I had a similar situation this year in a boys JV game. Team A won by 20+ points and coach told me that my partner and I both f***ing sucked. I told the scorer to record a T in the book. Coach said I couldn't do that because the game was over. I told him to spend some time with a rule book.

You also got screwed by your partner. Whether I agreed with my partner's call or not, I would not be at the table changing my shoes while my partner is administering free throws -- whether they should have been administered or not. Just curious, but was there any discussion with him after the game?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

JP's post is a very good learing situation.

1) The game was close. Had the officials covered end game scenarios in their pregame? Were the officials communicating among themselves during the closing minutes of the game? Were the officials communicating with the scorer?

2) Good communication among the officials and with the scorer during the final minutes of a close game allows the officials to get off of the court quickly at the end of the game, thereby limiting the officials exposure to idiotic conduct by coaches, players, and fans.

3) It appears from the original posting that this was not a school sponsored game, i.e., officials changing shoes at the scorer's table after the game. These types of games makes it difficult for the officials after a close game sometimes. Many times there are no further penalties for a player or coach who gets disqualified from a game for a flagrant foul.

4) Yes, a technical foul (even a flagrant technical foul) can be called, as in ther posted scenario. But I think that an official has to pick the battles he can win. If this StateHSAA sanctioned event, where a player or coach can be suspended from further competition for committing a flagrant foul, then by all means take care of business. If it one of theses competitions, that are sponsored by some organization who is trying to raise money for one thing or another, the officials should just grab their stuff and get the heck out of there.

5) If this is a StateHSAA sanctioned event and the officials do have to take care of business. The official should just assess the technical (tell the player and coach that a technical foul has been assessed and whether there is a disqualification or not) and then make sure the foul goes into the book (the official can have the scorer bring the book into the officials' dressing room to assure that the foul was assessed and put into the book; the officials do not want to hang around the table explaining what is happening to the scorer in that environment). If the free throws will not effect the outcome of the game, then the officials should get the heck out of there.

Addressing the partner, who changed his shoes while the free throws are being shot, is difficult. I think that if my partner had assessed a technical foul under circumstances in the original post and this was just a spring tournament where there are no post-game sanctions involved, I believe that I would have been dragging my partner off of the court. I know that I have a partner that would have been dragging me off the court if I were in the same situation.