calling it but dealing with the annoyances afterwards

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I have not called a three-second violation in forty years and I have only been officiating for 38 years, .

But, seriously, I have found that I have called fewer 3-second violations in the last eighteen years or so because of how the game is now played than during the first twenty years that I have been officiating. I think that in today's motion offenses, a player who stands in the paint is a negative to his team's offense rather that a plus.

One should remember that the Tower Philosophy applies to contact foul situations and not violations BUT know when and when not to call a 3-second violations is a judgement that comes from experience. I really do not have a problem with young officials calling a 3-second violation strictly by the rules, because it is a learning experience. I know that when I was a young whippersnapper in the peach basket era, I was known to call my share of 3-second violations.

MTD, Sr.