Toughest call for you?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Block/charge is among the easiest of calls for me.

The most difficult call for me is travelling. Kids are doing amazing things with the ball these days and they're really crowding the border on what travel is or isn't.

JugglingReferee:

I have to agree with you 100%. Mark, Jr., and I were having dinner after a jr. varsity game we had officiated earlier this year and he asked me the very same question. I told him that block/charge was an easy call to make, but today's players, both female and male, have amazingly quick feet.

But I will admit to a personal weakness. I know the basket interference and goaltending rules forwards and backwards, but when I started officiating men's college games after officiating only women's college games for so many years, BI and GT would catch me by suprise every once in a while.

MTD, Sr.

[NEohioref]

Sr. Has spoken! Check your email too!

[dave30]

Younger players who are bigger than their opponent and while dribbling the ball basically back their defender up under the goal so they can shoot. It's hard to decide when it is an offensive foul or just a good move by the bigger player.

[beachbum]

The more you officiate the defense, the easier the Blk/chg is to see. but sometimes, while in the lead you have to determine if the defender gained his position before the offensive player left the ground. With some of these boys (HS) able to go in the air a half a block before the basket it can be a hard call. Especially if you are working the defense.

I watched a kid in a HSJV boys game do a little hop step just after he stopped dribbling. my partner and I kept calling traveling and the coach kept complaining.

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

traveling

[zeedonk]

Mid way into my second year, I feel pretty comfortable with the block/charge as long as I remind myself to "referee the defense" You can't watch the ball and get a good feel for block/charge IMO.

Explaining to the coach that once the defender obtains legal guarding position, he doesn't have to have both feet down AND can move (not forward) is driving them nuts.

Travelling has taken over as #1, but as long as I can view the pivot, it becomes easier, not easy....

I suspect that next year, I will be moving on to more complicated issues like, consistency in the block/charge (ie- we had a block on home team at one end, so in a bang-bang play at the other, it should be a block on visiting team) In those terms, I think the block/charge will regain its spot as #1....

Z

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by MelbRef

I'm a first year, and I wonder what's the most difficult judgment call for you guys to make.

For me, it's the hard drive to the basket block/charge call (as the lead).
(follow up question: what specifically do you concentrate on to make the right block/charge call)

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

I think the most difficult call is getting the shot off the glass/block right. Sometimes they can occur so bam-bam fast, it can be difficult to know if the ball hit the glass first or if the hand hit the ball first.

If you referee the defense, block/charge is easy.

If you'll pick up the pivot foot, traveling is easy.

MelbRef,
No offense intended at BktBallRef, but he has been at it for a considerable period of time. While he indicates the block/charge and travel/no travel calls are easy -- he means easy for HIM.

As a first year official, I would not sweat the block/charge call. Officiate the defense. These calls present themselves anywhere from 0 times a game (any game below the jr. high level and many jr. high games) to 6 to 10 times a game (varsity HS boys). If you assume that only 1/3 of these calls occur in your primary, you will likely encounter only 2 - 4 of these calls in a boys varsity game. Even if you get these calls wrong 67% of the time (assuming that there are three outcomes -- no call, foul on offense and foul on defense -- and you do no better than random guessing), you will miss anywhere from 0 calls to a max. of 1 or 2 times in a game. Not a significant impact on the game. If you happen to miss a goaltending/basket interference call (not many of these in girls games or boys games below the varsity level), you will likely miss none in a typical game.

On the other hand, a travel/no travel call can occur up to SIX TIMES every time a player possesses the ball. You have to watch for a travel when:
1. the player receives the ball,
2. while the player is holding the ball/pivoting with the ball
3. as the player gets ready to start a dribble,
4. as the player picks up his dribble,
5. as the player is holding the ball/pivoting with the ball after the dribble,
6. as the player is releasing the ball on a shot or a pass.

Included in these six are situations in which a player is diving, sliding, rolling, sitting on the floor; is potentially close to having the ball held by an opponent and having to "work" to maintain possession of the ball; is trying to release the ball for a try as the defender gets a hand on the ball, etc.

The travel/no travel decision happens up to once every three to five seconds all game long. While there is seldom a violation at the the varsity level, you still need to be aware of the possibility at all times.

Fouls on shots, fouls against the dribbler, and fouls on rebounds all happen much more frequently than the block/charge call. Work hard to get these calls right.

The other area that frequently presents itself -- especially when a team is playing man-to-man defense -- is that of legally set screens vs. not-so-legally set screens. The coach of the offensive team thinks his teams always set legal screens. The coach of the defensive team thinks that any time a defender loses his man, some illegal activity must have caused it. These situations can present themselves twice every single time a pass is made (two offensive players without the ball screen for the other two offensive players without the ball). Once again, I would work to work to get these calls right -- they typically happen far more frequently than the block/charge call presents itself.

While one can argue that these calls are all "easy" to see and make, I would disagree. You may have two screens in your primary happening at the same time -- many feet apart. Similar to the defender obtaining a LGP prior to the contact, the screener has certain rules that he must follow (foot position, time-and-space on certain screens, etc.).

Work to improve your foul recognition capability and your ability to recognize travel violations. Once you have those down (as BktBallRef and many others have done), you can worry about trying to get the block/charge call right, and other sitatuations that occur during the game. Otherwise, you will be so focused on the block/charge that you will likely miss a bunch of travels (many that occur just PRIOR to the contact on a block/charge) and other fouls.