NFHS Mechanics Question (3)

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

1. Managing the game does NOT include being taken away from your duty to assist your partners by a coach. That's called leaving your partners in a lurch and expecting them to cover for you.

My motives for being at midcourt largely deal with administering sub....not for carrying on a conversation with the coaches. It does put the T in a spot to be equally accessible by both coaches but far enough into the court such that an extended conversation is not likely. Even so, communicating with coaches is as much of your duty as calling the violations on the floor.

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

2. It depends where those players are standing. If they are right on the 3pt arc and contesting for position, then the T had better be down by the 28 foot mark to see if they break the plane of the 3pt line. The C is busy watching the FT shooter for that same violation and can't focus on both spots. If the majority of the players are back by the division line or behind, then that is where the T should be, and not to be chatting with the coach, but to be observing those players.

How often do you see players contesting for a position on the perimeter on the first of multiple throws? For that matter, how often do you see them contesting for position on the permiter for any FT? Even if I'm down by the 28' mark and they to break the plane on the first of two FTs, I'm not going to call it unless they're running in as if to rebound....calling it only if it is obvious....not splitting hairs.

In the 2-man game, the T (who sets up in the same spot as the C in 3) can cover the permimeter players just fine for a situation that happens once every few seasons. No reason adding a 3rd official diminishes his ability to see it when it needs to be called.

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

3. While the mechanics are suggested guidelines and I agree that the most important thing is for the crew to understand their responsibilities and be able to handle them, the mechanics are what they are because these methods have been tried and tested by many officials for years and found to give the officials the best probability of being in the right position to see the action and thus make the correct call. When a better way of accomplishing this goal is found the mechanic is changed.

Like I said, there is often more than one valid and equally effective way to do things....all of them tried and tested by officials for years in different regions. They may have different pros/cons but ultimatly balance out about the same. One is sometimes picked over the others, not becasue one is fundamentaly better than the others, but so that everyone is on the same page. My way is not necessarily better than your way nor is it worse, just different. And, if the entire crew is together, it can work just as well.

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

They aren't just what someone sitting around a table thinks about where people should stand. They are the official mechanics for good reasons. It is my opinion that too many people have an inflated opinion of themselves and believe that they know better than these many people with many years of experience and unjustifiably alter the prescribed procedures.
More often than not that leads to problems.

The people I hear teaching the 3-person T at the division line on the first FT are college assignors, NBA evaluators, and long time/accomplished college officials. They are not some rogue hotshot individual deciding randomly where to stand. They arguably have more/better experience than those that are on the committees making the decision.

Keep in mind that some states write their own mechanics books and disregard the NFHS book entirely. Are you saying that the leaders in those states are not qualified to establish a valid and effective set of mechanics?

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

My motives for being at midcourt largely deal with administering sub....not for carrying on a conversation with the coaches. It does put the T in a spot to be equally accessible by both coaches but far enough into the court such that an extended conversation is not likely. Even so, communicating with coaches is as much of your duty as calling the violations on the floor.

I've never understood why some people think that they have to be three feet away from a sub in order to beckon him in.
Can't you bring the sub in equally well from the 28 foot line?

I must have a different definition of communicating with coaches than many others. I have no problem giving a coach an explanation of an unusual ruling or a rare situation, but I'm not interested in hearing his gripe after a simple foul call. Coaches don't have the right to argue and contest the officials' decisions during the normal course of the game. Sadly, most officials don't take these rule provisions seriously enough:
10-4-1 . . . Commit an unsporting foul. This includes, but is not limited to, acts or conduct such as:
...
b. Attempting to influence an official’s decision.
...
e. Objecting to an official’s decision by rising from the bench or using
gestures.

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

How often do you see players contesting for a position on the perimeter on the first of multiple throws? For that matter, how often do you see them contesting for position on the permiter for any FT? Even if I'm down by the 28' mark and they to break the plane on the first of two FTs, I'm not going to call it unless they're running in as if to rebound....calling it only if it is obvious....not splitting hairs.

Yep, the "nothing's going to happen" attitude. That is until it does and bites you in butt because your not ready for it.
Do you make the same contention about the Lead official? How often do you see players along the lane line contesting for position during the first FT? Why can't he stand on the FT lane line or way out in the corner on the first FT? Why do you think that the NCAA insists that he be in proper position?

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

In the 2-man game, the T (who sets up in the same spot as the C in 3) can cover the permimeter players just fine for a situation that happens once every few seasons. No reason adding a 3rd official diminishes his ability to see it when it needs to be called.

So what's the purpose of having the third official? You obviously think that the C can handle this without him. I guess you are in the same school of thought as BNR and would allow the T to go get a cup of coffee during the first FT.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

I've never understood why some people think that they have to be three feet away from a sub in order to beckon him in.
Can't you bring the sub in equally well from the 28 foot line?

No I can't see them from that far away since I'm blind.

Who said anything about being 3' from the subs?

The point is that you can see the goings on at the table area far easier when you're standing on the division facing the frontcout than you can from the 28' mark with your back to the table.

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Yep, the "nothing's going to happen" attitude. That is until it does and bites you in butt because your not ready for it.
Do you make the same contention about the Lead official? How often do you see players along the lane line contesting for position during the first FT? Why can't he stand on the FT lane line or way out in the corner on the first FT? Why do you think that the NCAA insists that he be in proper position?

Anything the trail will need to call will be just as easy to see from the division line. Your point is irrelevant.

What would you say if the NCAA was the one suggesting the trail be at the division line on the first of 2 FTs and move to the 28' mark on the last FT? Hmmm.

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

So what's the purpose of having the third official? You obviously think that the C can handle this without him. I guess you are in the same school of thought as BNR and would allow the T to go get a cup of coffee during the first FT.

No, the T has other duties and is tending to them at half court and is providing secondary coverage of the FT activity from the division line and will move into a different position when there may be a rebound. There is NOTHING on the first of two FTs the trail NEEDs to call that can't be seen from the division line.