My season started -> Girls Middle School
 

Item of interest -> two held balls in 4 quarters. [1 in 3rd; 1 in 4th] :)

Lucky you!!
 

OH LUCKY YOU!! :)
In my opening game last Thursday, if we called one, then we called ten.:(

But, how many times did you have correct for the new FT lane spots?

Didn't have to correct; not even once. :)

How About An X In Front Of The Table ???
 

Were the new lines on the floor marking the top lane space, closest to the free thrower?

(I bet I can find a new basketball court diagram image on the internet, showing those lines, but it's still too early for me to post any image, even an on topic image. I'll think I'll wait until I get out of rehab. I don't want to screwup any progress I've made. Maybe if I look, but don't post. That can't hurt? Can it?)

I don't think any of those lines were ever removed U.P. here from a previous change, so yeah, they were there.

The 7th grade girls game I did last week was 10-9. Not after the first half, or first quarter. Final score. One team had fewer than 10 fouls, yet managed to have a player foul out. Which led to this exchange:
Me: "#13, that's your fifth foul."
#13: [Blank stare].
Me: "That means you have to leave the game."
#13: "I can't play no more?"

In the ensuing 8th grade game, a player earned a T for dropping the F bomb under the basket when an OOB call didn't go her way.

I like how the other county around here combines the 7th & 8th grade girls into one team (and the 7th & 8th grade boys into another), instead of having separate 7th and 8th grade games.

In our local rec league (we don't have school teams below HS level) we have to combine 3rd/4th, 5th/6th and 7th/8th grade girls only because we don't have enough of them sign up to have separate teams at each grade level. On the boys side, we have enough so that each grade has separate teams. If we had more girls sign up, we would separate them, also. This season, we are playing "interlocking" schedules with two neighboring city rec leagues so we have had a series of officiating meetings to come to a "meeting of the minds" (which leaves me out) to agree on rules for these games. Each of the three organizations has slightly different rules at the different grade levels. We start with HS rules, then modify for grade level. Pretty much, the other two have agreed to use our rules since we have been around doing this for over 30 years and they are both under 7 years in existence. I think next year, they will just adopt our rules for all their games.

You must have let them play. Way to avoid those game-interrupters.

Snaqs,
I never saw 4 hands on the ball for more than two seconds.
Also, I never saw [make than *called*] any traveling violations with 4 hands on the ball, so I didn't have to call the *held ball bail-out*.

Our local Rec Leagues are similar to what you describe. Boys have no problem fielding teams. One league has a G13-18 Division, which as you can imagine, has a real disparity in size, maturity, and level of play - 30 point blowouts are to be expected.

And, I only wish (seriously) we had as many coordination meetings and training sessions as some of you discuss on the Forum. Some of our leagues are not run as efficiently or effectively as I would like to see and could learn from....and yes, I have volunteered, and sometimes, even been taken up on my attempt to assist. Oh well. :(

So that's college thru grad school? Oh, wait, those are ages, not grades.

Since the season occurs entirely during the school year, we use grade level, not ages. That way, we don't have to go through all the crap other sports do regarding verifying birth certificates, etc. Believe me, if a kid claims to be in a lower grade than they actually are, we know it within about 5 seconds after they register because they'll get "outed" by the other kids. Actually, it's never happened, to my knowledge. Plus, if a kid is good enough to "play up", we direct him to a competitive league. Ours is purely recreational.

BTW - how do you get "held balls" in a girls game? Was Hillary Clinton playing? http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...s/laughing.gif

Did They At Least Take Down The Peachbaskets ???
 

Figures.

Yeah, BillyMac. I'm U.P. in the sticks of Michigan's hardwoods, but perhaps you need a short lesson on hardwood floors.

Actually it does figger. There had been quite a few floor *hash* suggestions for high school sports, the year after nearly every gym floor in the area was refinished.
Adding a hash is relatively easy, but stripping and eliminating a hash is much more difficult to blend to the overall appearance, because the tincture of time fades and yellows a clear coat, while the wood is generally unchanged under an opaque hash. If the paint were removed, it would leave an un-yellowed floor which would be very visible, almost as visible as the original hash.

So, assuming your area is *better*, I ask, "How much better?"

We Have Sticks, And Boondocks, Here In Connecticut Too ...
 

I think you misinterpreted my simple "Figures" answer. I was commenting on gyms in general, all over the country, including here in the "Land of Steady Habits": no X at table, no coaching boxes, old 28 foot hash marks, no lines three feet toward the baseline from the block (which aren't needed anymore), no "shadow" division line through the logo at center court, hashed semicircles in the lane, etc. I'm sure that only a few gyms in my area will have the new lines on the floor marking the top lane space, closest to the free thrower.

We even have a special rule here in Connecticut: Coaching Box must be marked. If home coach and/or home management refuse to designate coaching box with tape, the home team will not use a coaching box for that game. However, the visiting team will be allowed a coaching box. Notify Board Secretary or Commissioner the next day.

Well that certainly answers the question then, doesn't it? ;)

It seems that everyone had been anticipating moving the rebounders up a space for the past few years; almost since they eliminated the last space. While the NFHS denied it a couple of times, it just felt inevitable. It would have been foolish to remove it until more time had passed anyway.

Aside from that, while I've seen the X at all varsity gyms I've worked, I can't say the same for middle school and JV gyms. Wouldn't expect many changes in the MS gyms.

Well, I worked my first MS girls double header yesterday & boy was it brutal!
A team: 14 - 6
B team: 12 - 2
Yes those were the final scores.

The kids had fun & that's really what it's all about at that level. I just worked on getting back in the habit of using HS mechanics & posititoning. Play calling was very selective :D
Both games, neither team reached the one & one.

At that level it's usually none-and-none. ;)

MS & Milestones
 

My middle school season started bak on Septmeber 18th and marks my 25th year in basketball.

Most of our local middle schools merged with an adjoining league, so we are trying to adjust to the new rules. The biggest differences being:

(1) We now have a single 7th grade game and a single 8th grade game. No more A & B teams.

(2) We now play 5 periods. First half is three 4:00 periods where every player must appear at least once in the first half (barring injury, etc) and that no player can appear in more than 3 periods.

Yesterday we traveled to a (new to us) team in our new league that only has black uniforms that they wear home and away. I sure hope nobody else in our league wears black road jersies or that will be a disaster waiting to happen. :eek:

Also, yesterday, my friend got his first direct T in his MS coaching career. He went almost 3+1/3 seasons without one, so I'm impressed. :D

In terms of interesting scores so far, our 7th grade team won a game 28-3 Tuesday and then lost Thursday, 11-8.

Just curious as to what was the reason?

One of the referees warned him about partially being on the floor and warned if he got on the floor again he'd make him sit the rest of the game. Coach said 'whatever' and walked back to his seat and the referee whacked him without whistling it.

[sidebar]
Not quite the way to end a T-free streak, but after starting his coaching career 10 years ago as a screamer and getting his fair share of whacks, I believe this is only his second direct T in about 6 years, so he's mellowed out quite a bit. I have to give him some credit for that. Part of it also goes to his assistant for our 10 years together -- an older gentleman who has coached for 25+ years who finally let him know that if he got a reputation as a hothead, it would hurt him in the long run.
[/sidebar]

Kinda interesting though that later in this game, the home coach was on the floor arguing a call, yet he wasn't whacked. :rolleyes:

Edit: I'm not saying my friend didn't deserve the T. But I do think nothing good comes from an official and a coach verbally sparring from 50+ feet (15¼ m) apart. I would think, though, that an official, although human, should know that yelling at a coach from that far away may not be good game management.

When I do the public MS games, I make sure there's an X in front of me, especially since I have 5 different colors of tape to choose from now ;). Of course, the janitors always remove my X at the end of the day, so I gotta put another one down for the next home game.

For CYO season, since I got tired of coaches in front of the table and blocking my line of sight (my #1 peeve when I'm the official scorer), I took time to put an X down and mark the 14' boxes. Since nobody else was using our gym facility, those markings stayed all season long. We'll see if they are still there if I return for another year and we use the same gym. :D