Trail..."splitting the court"
 

Worked with a good veteran official last night (using 3 person mechanics)...he's worked about 10 years of basketball.

I noticed, when he is trail, he likes to move up the court in a position about half-way from the opposite sideline...when the dribbler is on the opposite sideline.

He said he likes to get near the middle of the court, depending where the dribbler is, to get a better position.

I asked him about his positioning...he called it "splitting the court".

In your opinions, how far is too far in relationship to the T and C when "splitting the court"?

Is this in the b/c during transition? If so, he is staying 1/3 away from the dribbler instead of 2/3 away.

As T in 3-man, I might come 10' away from the sideline. In 2-man, I go where I'm needed. I have even forced an east-west rotation, because I refuse to get trapped not seeing something in that 'dead zone' - across the DL and still shallow for the L.

If it is just the one-on-one pressure situation, the T should go wherever he/she needs to go to ref that match-up. If there are more than just those two back there, then the T needs to be aware of the others and not get caught in the way of the players. So I have no problem with the T "splitting" the court if he/she needs to. If the C has hung back, then the T obviously doesn't need to go that far over there.

I was taught as a 3-person trail to go opposite the way the ball is moving. So as the dribbler goes towards the C, I will "flatten out" as T and move towards my sideline. That puts me in great position once the C picks up the ball so that I immediately have backside coverage. It also makes it so that I only have 3 or 4 steps to the C position rather than the 9 steps that it takes if you "split the court." I'm not saying that your partner is wrong... there are a million philosophies about position. It's just different than how I was taught - sounds more like my old 2-person training.

In 2-man when the ball is in your primary you try to work towards the center of the court when it goes to the opposite side of you, which is probably what this official meant by splitting the court.

That's what I was looking for...an articulate response that I agree with...and one that my veteran friend can see and digest.

...and as others have said...not necessarily wrong...just a different philosophy.

Thanks zebraman...also, are you going to one of the "big shows" this year?
If so, which one?

Articulate? I hope that was nice. More than 3 syllables and my public schools training is overwhelmed. :)

I'll end up at boys 4A, 3A or 2A depending on how some chips fall. How about you. Tell Vince I said hello OK?

I have seen several college games where the T "split the floor". I've also worked with guys who call college games that use the mechanic in high school.
I recently decided during the second half of a blowout game to try to "split" myself. About the third time down the floor, A1 made a long skip pass to A2, who started a dribble down the sideline.
Coach B jumped up and yelled, "He stepped on the line". I know the dribbler was close, but from my position I couldn't see if he actually was out of bounds.
At other times, I felt like the umpire in a football game. I had the constant fear of a steal and transition that left me in the way.
I didn't see the advantage, and I personally like the mechanic zebraman described better.

I'm leaning toward the boys 1A...and I'll tell Vince Hi from one of the West side big dogs. ;)