I need some strong advice.....
 

So I'm getting the middle of the road Varsity games now. A definite move up from last years high end JV and lower Varsity games. I'll have lots of threads and rant and raves coming up but for now I need to talk about crew consistency.

I hear all the time about crew consistency but what if you and your partner are just off on it. I mean way off. A little background first, in our area we have alot of money refs,by that I mean refs whose only consideration if the night was a success is if we got off the court in under an hour and 10 minutes. That attitude also seems to bring out the worst in mechanics, game management, and everything else that embodies a crap official. Another great by product of the "money" ref is they let alot of contact go cause more fouls means longer time on the court. And hence lots and lots of games turn into slugfests....I don't like it.

So how can I endeavor to call a consistent game when partner lets everything go and I'm trying to do my deal which is more of a middle of the road approach. Letting them play through some contact,getting the obvious, things like that. I am really frustrated and don't know what to do.

Example. I'm Trail,player drives from partners primary we have all kinds of colliding ,falling, pushing, shoving and partner has a no call. Now I'm lead and I come up with a call on a similar play. And so it goes all night.

By the end of the night I have called like 75% of the fouls.

Ranting is good for the soul.....So is this the way it's gonna be or are there things I can do to get comfortable with this.....

Stick to your guns
 

You HAVE to stick to your guns. Corny, but the old "two wrongs don't make a right" does come into play. If you want the respect of knowledgeable basketball people (and presumably the state folks you want picking you for a state finals tourney), how can you do otherwise? The trick is in the gray areas, of course. If you have "money" guys sliding one way, don't be obnoxious in going the other way, calling things that wound send those same state experts to the rule book to double-check you're right (even if you are).

I'm not sure I can offer great advice as I sometimes (not at all so far this year, thankfully) run into this situation at the sub-varsity level when partnered with varsity guys. Whether or not it is viewed as such by my brethren officials this is the most important game at that time for all parties regardless if it's a 7th grade girls game or a varsity match of state playoff teams.

What I try to do is call my game and concentrate on my primary and make sure I'm getting what's there, not making stuff up to compensate for a partner who may be taking the night off, and definitely not consciously going to their primary to "help".

While it's great when you are "in tune" with your partner(s) there is also satisfaction to be gained from knowing you did a good job yourself. When coaching baseball I tell the kids there are a million things going on the field, about five of which you have influence over. You can get distracted by the other things or concentrate on what you can influence. I've been trying to use that philosophy this year when officiating and seems to be working so far by trying to be objective in what I did well, need to improve, or when I kicked a call.

This is what I call a sticky situation...
 

My suggestion is two-fold, for whatever it's worth (maybe .02, maybe not): (1) make sure your "money" partners switch with you on every whistle you can and (2) if you can't be consistent with your partner then at least be consistent with yourself. If you're the lead on the V end of the floor and call contact on the shooter, then you better be calling the same contact as lead on the H end of the floor.

When a coach eventually asks you about call discrepancy (and we all know one of them will), you simply state "Coach, I'm calling my primary as consistently as I can" or "Coach, I didn't see the contact you saw...it was in my P's primary, you'll have to ask him about it." No matter how much you want to, NEVER throw a partner under the bus to a coach. It makes us all look bad in the long run.

Good luck and hang in there! :)

For red: By using the words 'my' and 'I' your are indirectly throwing your partner under the bus. (IMO)

For purple: "Coach, my partner had a lot better look, you'll have to ask him about that play"

Are you assigned partners or can you choose. Here, I get to choose my partners and have been very careful finding the "right" kind of official. I have my partner for 2 man, and we have two others that rotate working with us in 3 man.

If you get stuck with what you're calling a "money guy," in pre-game try appealing to his sense of how the game is best officiated. Use "we need to..." and emphasize that you're a team. Appeal to those noble motives and that love of the game that brought him to officiating in the first place.

It doesn't always work. But I think it's the right place to start.

Assinged. We have over 300 refs in our assigning pool. I have consistently been assigned the "money" refs. It could be just a function of where I'm at in the pecking order. First 12 games this year I have had 7 of these refs.

Be yourself, call your game, and there isn't much you can do beyond that.

Someone is going to notice you doing it right.

But do not over extend and get into making calls all over the floor.
That is just going to make the issue worse for you and easier for your partner.

If it is an elephant and has to be made that is one thing, but let your partner hang himmself.

Thanks
 

Hey thanks for all the suggestions. There's a couple I can grab on to and hopefully, NOT , :rolleyes: use tonight. But I'm glad I have some fresh eyes to look at stuff like this.:)

Here is my $.10 worth of advice....

It all starts in the pregame. I know that there are guys that do not like to do a pregame regimen. However, when you are new to the group or you do not know the partners, then this is essential.

Have a script for pre game. I have one, it is on a card and make the pre game a team effort. Talk extensively about advantage, disadvantage and displacement. Also talk about protecting the shooter.

Include a review of what the crew knows about each team. Also talk about consistency as a crew and that there are three teams on the floor. Your job is to be the best team on the floor.

Include in the process some what ifs and how are we going to handle.

On floor, work the heck out of your primary. At first time out, come together as a crew and discuss a couple of plays that have happened and ask your partner what he saw.

Your words to the coach should always be, "Coach, I had the same exact call. I trust my partner. He/she was in position to make the call." or "Coach, I do not know but I will talk to my partner and either he or I will get back to you."

Review the plays at half and discuss if you are following your pregame. Do not count fouls. Sometimes it happens that you have a whole bunch more fouls.

Post game, discuss again and ask the coach to send you a tape. Review the tape with an open mind. Find out if you are too tight or partners are too loose.

Chart the tape:

Grade all violations: Correct, incorrect, missed or can't see on tape and where each of you called from. Also note of whether they were in your primary or not.

Grade all fouls: Correct, incorrect, missed or can't see. Also mark where you had double whistles. Chart the distribution of fouls by primary, L,T and C. Note whether they were primary or not.

You may find out more from tape review than you do during / after the game. Share the info with your partners. See if you can open some dialogue. At the end of the season, I would put together enough data and share with your mentor / person you admire. Cut a number of clips in video to share with mentor and get some feedback.

You do not need to do every game but do the ones that felt good and the ones that felt bad.

Hope this helps....

Find the highest person in your association that you think does a great job, and ask them what to do. The politics are as important as the calls you make.

Try These ...
 

Coach is questioning a partner’s call:
“Coach, that’s a good call, as a crew we have to make that call.”
“We’re calling it on both ends.”
“Coach, he/she was right there and had a great angle.”
“Coach, we’re not going there, I can’t let you criticize my partner.”
“Coach, he/she had a great look, but if you have a specific question, you’ll have to ask him/her, he/she’ll be over here in just a minute.”

Not gonna throw my partner under the bus, but I personally would not say this part if I didn't believe it.

I don't have a lot to give as far as what to do with the money men. Just have two thoughts for you to consider:

1. You've moved up this level because of what you have been doing.
2. These guys are still at this level because of what they do.

Seems pretty obvious to me that you need to not only keep on doing what got you here, but continue working on what will take you to the next level.

Best of luck to you.