Making Calls out of your primary.
 

We all know that good officials, like good players, have good vision of what is happening on the court and use their peripheral vision to get a better perspective beyond what is happening immediately in front of them. At the same time, officials and players are expected to do the job they are assigned and venturing out of their assigned task can have consequences, good or bad.

For example, a player is supposed to set a down screen for his teammate to pop out to the wing, but sees that his defender is cheating over to anticipate the screen; should the player do his job and set the screen anyways, or break off of the plan and slip the screen to make himself available for an uncontested layup? How does that affect his team and/or teammate?

And how does this relate to the officials? Well officials are supposed to focus on the action in their primary areas, but with so much going on and 10 players for 2 (or 3) officials to officiate, things can get difficult. Multiple players cutting from one area to another, bodies getting in the way of lines of vision, peripheral vision, angles and perspective. When an official notices a violation outside of their primary area, what should he do? Risk stepping on the toes of or offending his partner to make the right call that his partner may have missed due to obstruction/angle/etc? Ignore the violation and just focus on the happenings in his primary area? What is more important, the ego of his partner or the good of game? How do you react if your partner makes a call in your area? How do you explain an obvious call that goes uncalled by your partner when it's obvious you saw it? Do you even bother explaining it when questioned about the call/no call?

I know this might be a touchy subject.
Please discuss without name calling or hair pulling.

I trust my partners. If I see something in their area, and it makes me say "Oh, my" then I let it go. If I say, "Oh my God!" then I call it. If I miss something, I'm glad it was picked up by my partners. If I passed on it for a reason, we'll talk about it.

Geeze, what fun would that be? :)

From what I've seen, there are different philosophies for different levels. There are some common threads throughout those levels. One common theme is if you call outside your area on "normal" calls, more often than not you're wrong. I believe another common theme is if you see a non-basketball play (punch, kick, etc.), come and get it, no matter where it is on the floor.

Some differences involve "getting the play right" vs. "letting your partner live and die with the call or no-call". One school of thought is if you are watching your partner's area, who's watching yours? Others will say is it fair to the kids if you have information that will allow a proper call to be made, why not make that call? Sometimes, depending on the play situation, your area of coverage will change and expand. A good example would be at C - if all the players are on T and L's side of the floor, I'm not gonna sit back and say, "Whew, no one's in my area, time for a nap". I'm going to expand my coverage across the floor and help out with screens off-ball.

I don't know if there's any right, one-size-fits all answer. Sometimes it will depend on your partners that night. Sometimes it depends on the supervisor, or the general philosophy of the area.

I agree. Most of the calls I make out of the primary is when working in the slot position. These are mostly off-ball, secondary defenders, or a "hooking" foul from the post turning towards the basket.

Primary Coverage Area, Etc. ...
 

From my pregame conference with my partner:

Lead’s Primary Responsibilities
Primary coverage area. Post play. Illegal screens at elbows.

Trail’s Primary Responsibilities
Primary coverage area “works the arc”. Weak side rebound coverage. Drives starting in primary. Last second shot, basket interference, goaltending. Bring subs in.

Stay In Your Primary, It Must Be Obvious To Come Out Of Your Primary
If something is there that needs to be called, call it. Seldom should have four eyes on the ball. We’re not going to have too many double whistles if we are doing this right. Keep in mind your boundary line responsibilities and last second shot responsibilities. Put the ball in play where it goes out of bounds,
or where the foul is.

Out-Of-Bounds Help
For out-of-bounds help, let's get it right. Come together for a change if needed. If I have no idea and I look to you for help, just give a directional signal. No need to come to me. Just point. If I signal but I get it wrong, then blow the whistle and come to me. Tell me what you saw and let me decide if I’m going to change it.

Two-Point / Three-Point Shot
If one official incorrectly signals the number of points, the other official will simply blow the whistle immediately, discuss the play with our partner, come to a decision, signal the correct number of points to the table, and resume the game. We will only correct if we are 100% sure.

Last Second Shot
Let’s let each other know when there’s less than a minute in each period. 99% of the time, the Trail will be responsible for the call. Let’s both have an opinion in case Trail’s not sure. How will we handle a full-court pass when the Trail is stuck in the backcourt?

Goaltending And Basket Interference
99% of the time, the Trail will be responsible for the call. Lead can help out on a quick shot in transition, when Trail hasn’t made it into the frontcourt yet. Let’s remember that it’s never basket interference or goaltending to slap the backboard. Coaches and fans always want it, but we can’t award the points.

Press Coverage
Help each other. New Lead will wait at midcourt.

Also, I really like this earlier statement from JugglingReferee, short, to the point, and easy to remember: "If I see something in their area, and it makes me say "Oh, my" then I let it go. If I say, "Oh my God!" then I call it."

Here's a relavent discussion.

Got two e-mails yesterday from two different esteemed officials, also talking about generally calling out of your primary. Both officials used the exact same quote....one saying that he heard it from a noted clinician and the other saying that that he heard it from a Final Four official. The quote was <i>"If you're right, you're wrong. If you're wrong, you're f**ked."</i>

I was at a camp recently and during the classroom session on floor coverage the clinician (D1 for 15 years, just attended his second NBA camp in Vegas) made an interesting comment. When there are 2 officials there should be virtually no calls made out of your primary. The areas are so large and there generally too much happening in your primary for you to get a good enough look at something to go fishing in the other pond.

Such is not the case with 3 officials. If 8 of the players are on the strong side, the C should have taken a step or two in and expanded his primary to help with off ball screens, knees to the butt, etc. that the lead and trail would be screened from seeing. Additionally, on many drives the center AND trail can usually take one step and have a very clear view of the play as it unfolds. Many times the C will actually have a better view of the movements of the secondary defender than the L. That is why, according to him, most calls made by a 3 official crew should be double whistles...most of the fouls are very close to the "primary" of two officials.

Hmm...they seem to be consistent.

I think those comments pretty much sum it up for me.

At camp a couple nights ago, my partner had a whistle right in front of me on a marginal block/charge that I no-called. (Defender was already off-balance, and falling backwards before the -- slight -- contact.) At the break, the observer said to him, "If I'm the coach, I can't wait for you to come report that foul. Because I am going to be all over you for why you called something that the guy who was 6 feet away from it said wasn't a foul."

I think the key part of this previous response is in red...if you see something off-ball outside of your primary that needs to be called, then go get it. If it's on-ball, it better be (as a good Canadian friend of mine would say) "for God and Country" before you blow it in front of your partner.

OK, this is also relevant for me because with my nearly one whole year of experience, I find myself with wandering eyes on occasion (you will all be happy to know I am doing it less and less! at least I think I am).

I try very hard to stay in my area, and I tell my partners this exact line during pregame, so they know that I know that they may be concerned about my straying... I don't think I do it a lot, but a situation like a call in the paint where most players are packed in there- I might see an elbow to the back or a hold from behind that my partner might not see. If its off-ball, I'll get it right away. If it's on a drive or a rebound/tap, I TRY to hold my whistle to see if my partner has anything. If he passes (or didn't see it) and I decide to get it, I usually come loud with a "FROM BEHIND" or other verbal indication that hopefully lets the lead know that I'm not trying to poach or make him/her look bad.

Or is this still a bad idea no matter how you slice it?

Z

I'm sure opinions will vary, but I've been told to do the same thing. Give the official time to get the call (he/she may be coming with a patient whistle) if they don't blow & you're 100% then come in strong "hold backside". It works for me & it shows that you aren't attempting to step on your partners toes. There are some talented officials out there, but I dont think any has mastered the art of seeing thru people to get fouls from behind. IMO, that's being a good partner.

There are times when we need to go out of our primary to call the obvious. To me, the first key to going out of your area is that the whistle should be patient. I also think that the call should be one that even the blind grandpa in the top row can see. Lastly, especially when working with officials you know well, you can see that they have been straight lined or cannot see the play clearly. In these cases, to me, it is ok to go out of your primary.

Do you change this philosophy at all when working with junior or young, new refs?

Situation: I am one of the older, more experienced refs in two local youth, rec leagues. Often the assigner will match me up with new or very junior officials so I can help teach, mentor, etc. As has been discussed here, I like the "Oh my" vs the "Oh my god" theory, but should I be looking to help any more with a young novice vs an older pro? Or, do I just get with my partner at TO's, half, and after the game to discuss and not poach or call out of my area?

I obviously don't want to watch the entire court and want to stay in my P. Sometimes though, with the level of play and age of the players, I don't want the games to get out of hand. Thoughts?