Introducing myself...

[bbcoach7]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Welcome to the forum! Glad to have you and the point of view that you will bring. (Plus your obvious sense of humor. )

Two thoughts:
1. The official might be trying to get another look or a better look at the player's number. I know that I have called fouls and then needed to confirm the number before I reported because the jersey was twisted or the body was turned in such a way that I couldn't clearly see the number when making the call.

2. In the spirit of your comment about coaches not knowing the rules very well and you coming to understand that, please let me tell you that you are incorrect about your pet-peeve travel. The officials making this call are right.

4-44-5 . . . A player holding the ball:
a. May not touch the floor with a knee or any other part of the body other than hand or foot.

I don't want to come off as pesky & annoying right away. I've seen what you guys can do to some poor hapless numb skull who might wander in and start popping off in the threads. So I'm gonna be careful here while still remaining true to my instincts.

Two Longer Than Necessary Responses:
1. Yes, I know what that looks like. I've done it myself, albeit as a poorly trained volunteer. But I do recall having to pause and look closer, or deviate from directly toward the table so I can see the players number clearly. This is different. He knows the #, and he's walking away from the player toward the table. I've seen him whack a kid while walking away to report & the kid was distgusted with herself because we emphasize not fouling, it was a stupid foul at a bad time, and she was mad. Not at the call, at her mistake. She wanted to punch herself in the nose. Instead she balled up her fists, stomped one foot and made a loud grunt sound. She was walking toward the bench and she was looking at the floor when she did this. Can you guess what this piece of refereeing did to this kid? Now she was reeeeal hurt and that leads to more anger. In hind sight, I should of sat her down & let her cool off. But she was my best on-ball defender (no surprise there, eh?) it was late and I needed her. Several posessions later, she goes into a corner to retrieve an OOB ball. Instead of softly tossing it to MrT, or at least making sure he was looking, she baseball passes it at his head from maybe 35' away, with at least 100% more velocity than required to travel that distance. He like, somehow spidey sensed it, ducked it, and TWEEET! She was gone. I agree with the second one. No way she can do that. But it all started because MrT went looking for it. Basketball is an emotional game for the players, sometimes they will express dissapointment that has little or nothing to do with a call - good or bad. And he doesn't seem to understand that. But he's the only official I've ever encountered like that. He actually has a good reputation on the boys side and doesn't work many girls games. As I mentioned, 3 out of 4 times he's managed to make a little girl cry. I think maybe he's got a problem with girls.

2. I used to run this play where the guard would run with the ball and slide into the elbow area on her stomach while holding it out in front of herself, then bounce it once real hard so it would go up and in. Sorry, that was bad. Don't want to destroy my already likely dubious first impression. I was referring to:
b. After gaining control while on the floor and touching with other than hand or foot, may not attempt to get up or stand.

Like I said, I coach JV girls at the D4 level, happens all the time. Not nearly as often as all the held balls, but a lot.

Thanks for welcoming me to the site here. I really think this place is cool. I have a couple b-ball coaches sites I like. But over the years I've never really found a good one that has a lot of activity like here. I don't know if you realize what you have here. You guys got it going on in here. It's very difficult to find a thread board community that has such a high number of witty, smart and creative characters as registered members. Real hard! So I appreciate this place.

And I've been reading a while. I even have some understanding of the culture in here- who is likely to urinate on my post first, who always has good advice, who seems to go off wild haired once in a while, who keeps posting even though once in a while it's evident many wish they would go away, etc. So if it seems like I'm just a little too big fer my britches sometimes, urinate on my post, and I'll simmer down, and you'll know why I act like this isn't my first rodeo.