I have just started basketball officiating this year. I began by calling league play this spring and I am still learning on how to apply the rules. Here is the question:

A1 has the ball and B1 is guarding. B1 gets picked and B2 collides with A1 as A1 comes off the pick. I allowed play to continue, but my partner took my head of at the break for missing the call. He said that I should have called the foul on B2. I didn't make the call because B2 didn't see A1 coming off the pick and it looked like incidental contact.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated in helping a gourd green official get better.

The way I read this A1 is dribbling, and a screen is set legally. A1 uses the screen to brush off B1 and then B2 collides into the dribbler. If this is what I am reading then A1 may have been fouled. If it was a sight bump it may be incidental but if it affected the dribble, knocked the ball away, dropped him to the floor you missed the foul.

The screen was set legally. It was more than a bump, but B2 ended up on the floor and A1 took the shot. Does that change the call.

And even if you DID miss it,
why would a ref be "taking the
head off" of a first year partner?

This is uncalled for, and NOT a way
to teach and help you improve.

I hope you get matched with more mature
and competent partners in future. It
sounds like you are sincerely aiming to
improve and do a good job. Good Luck.

I have called with a different person each week and the results have been mixed from very professional to very unprofessional. It would not have bothered me as much if it hadn't happened in front of the scorer's table with the two coaches present. I don't mind catching flack from coaches, fans or players (Dad called for 20 years and I was in a gym he had to clear, so I understand what goes with the job), I had just never expected to get it from someone I work with. At least it was league play and not regular season.

What you need to realize is that we can't make a decision on judgement calls without having seen the play...it was more than a bump sounds like a foul, but we didn't see it...just getting the shot off should not cancel the calling of a foul...work on reffing the defense - watch the defensive player, not the player with the ball - and that will help you in these situations...

On another note, I whole-heartedly agree with Marty - your partner had no business reacting that way...doesn't help you learn, makes him look like a jerk, and makes the rest of the game tough to work together...

Keep asking questions - there's lots of good advice here...

Strictly looking at the defensive player, I should have called the foul. Thanks for all of the information. I plan on using this area for advice.

Do you mean A1 was able to play through the contact and then
shoot or do you mean he was able to get the shot off
*despite* the contact? If it was the first you have a good
no call. If it was the second you missed one. But here's
something else to ask yourself: did the contact surprise
you? Often a new guy wil be surprised by secondary contact
off a screen or from a defender coming in to help (often
the not-so-new-guys get surprised too! :) ). Anyway,
plays like this are good think about & to add to your
mental catalogue.

I would have to say that he made the play in spite of the contact. I will file this away for future reference.

Whether this was league play, regular season, pickup, whatever. Your partner was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG to do that to you. If s/he had a problem with your call/non-call, they should have talked to you away from everyone else and asked you what you saw or did not see. This is the way you learn -- talking with each other and not putting your partner down, particularly in front of someone else.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dan_ref

Quote:

Often a new guy wil be surprised by secondary contactoff a screen or from a defender coming in to help (often the not-so-new-guys get surprised too! :) ).

As usual, Dan makes a great point. Why do we sometimes get surprised? Usually, it's b/c we're too focused on the offensive player; we don't notice what the defense is trying to do. So what's the solution? Try to open your focus to take in the offensive and defensive player. Focus a little more on what the defender is doing. If you're "officiating the defense" then you see that collision coming and can better judge who caused the contact.

Chuck

Just to reinforce what others have said, we really can't make judgements on this type of call without having been there and even then we may have seventeen different answers. The only twist I can add is who initiated the contact? I can see your play happening several ways, one being A1 makes a move around the pick and finds B2 in his path and contact occurs either initiated by A1 or with both players moving towards each other. In the former you have to realize that B2 is entitled to that spot on the floor and there is no time or distance to be there when defending a player with the ball as long as he has both feet on the floor. It could be a block, charge, or no-call.