You can't go tableside all the time because where the ball is being put back in play will dictate which side of the court you will be on with only two referees.

And it wouldn't make sense for the calling official to always become the T (unless FTs are involved) because there would be no switch if the calling official is the T.

I know that.

My point is this -- I'm the trail tableside and I call a shooting foul. I stay trail, tableside (just as in 3-person).

If it's a non-shooting foul, I'm now expected to switch and become the L?

It's inconsistent and silly, but I expect that these days. At least I'll feel less guilty when I don't long switch going long 2-person next year since the whole "switch on every foul" mantra has just gone out the window.

Who cares that there's no switch? We don't switch at all in 3-person if the calling official is the tableside trail.

In 2 and 3 person mechanics, we're told to switch on all fouls (except no "long switching", of course). Told that it keeps one official from calling the same fouls all the time, etc. We were told help balance out foul calls, etc.

This is not the case in 3 person.

Rich's point is that the change in mechanics shoots down the argument that we need to switch on every foul.

Definitely not the case in 3 Person. We do not switch for a long switch in 3 person and when the Trail is already table side and the ball is in the half court, we do not switch there either.

Peace

Misty water-colored memories, Of the way we were ...
 

I believe that in my 28 years of using mostly NFHS mechanics, and more recently, IAABO mechanics, I have gone from foul shot lane rebounders leaving on the hit, changing to on the release, and now back to the hit. I keep waiting for it to change again. We already use the release for our high school private prep school games, I'm sure the public schools, and Catholic schools, will eventually follow suit.

And, yes, I do remember the Cadillac position, and I also remember working opposite. The trail was responsible to get us back to Cadillac from working opposite. Some partners weren't in a hurry as the trail, and other partners moved back to Cadillac within seconds. I guess working opposite was out of their comfort range.

Billy:

I am remember working Cadillac. Welcome to the bald old geezers club, :D.

MTD, Sr.

3-person if you're the trail tableside and call a foul and the ball is coming in tableside, where do you go? (NFHS mechanics). Right, all three of you stay where you were.

Silly, as I said.

Which is why it would be better to have the calling official always come tableside and the other two officials switch. The NBA does something like that.

Obviously, that isn't possible in 2-man. So the NFHS had to make a choice of whether it was more important to have the calling official be the Trail so he could talk with the coach or to maintain the principle of always switching the Lead and the Trail. The NFHS elected to go with the increased communication. I can see that because otherwise what is the point of putting the Trail tableside?

Never called it 'Cadillac' but I am assuming you refer to the diagonal that split the frontcourt into 2 zones of PCA.

From a coaching standpoint, I really liked the official on the table side. It really made it easy to as a quick question. I could ask and get an answer without a delay for the official to run to the other side. Here in Texas as already stated, the officials just closed down on the free throws. Looked the same to me. And if the official wanted to get away from the coach, he/she just walked 7-10 feet onto the court and take a different angle. Seemed much more convenient for all involved.

The only thing I don't like about the mechanics changes is Lead going opposite the table in 2-man and table side in 3-man on free throws. That will take some getting used to.

Like others have said, this is what is already done in Texas. I know I've never had to do it a different way like you had to, but for me, that's one of the easier differences to remember for switching between two & three person mechanics. But yes, it's one more thing to remember.