How do you know?

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

Some thoughts that come to mind are:
* If there are differences in where the partners are calling fouls (e.g., I'm not calling anything on the perimeter, but he is; I have a few off ball calls, and he has none)
* The coach complaining about lack of consistency
* Asking my partner at breaks, "What did you have on that last foul?"
* Maybe consciously peeking into my partner's area at times

The first one seems legit, others not so much so.

How do you know whether you are on the same page as your partner?

None of that stuff matters. You switch all the time. He calls a foul on one team as the trail then you switch and he gets to call it on the other team.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Cobra

None of that stuff matters. You switch all the time. He calls a non-shooting foul on one team as the trail then you switch and he gets to call it on the other team.

Fixed it for ya. With the new 2-person mechanic, when trail calls a shooting foul there's no switch.

[Back In The Saddle]

Having a few "real" games experience with the new mechanic, it does sometimes seem to keep the same official at the same end more. That can be because one team is fouling the shooter more often, it could also be because one partner is calling more shooting fouls. Time will tell whether the new mechanic leads to less evenly called games.

[Back In The Saddle]

I appreciate the point of view of those who have weighed in about how switching evens out the differences between how partners each call the game. I do not disagree.

However, what I really want to discuss is crew consistency. Even if switching evens out the effect of two partners who are not on the same page, not being on the same page still causes problems for the crew. So, I humbly reiterate my question...

How do you know you are, or are not calling the game the same way as your partner?

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

How do you know you are, or are not calling the game the same way as your partner?

Experience.

Even if you're looking in your area, you still know where the ball is. You still know (or should know) what type of foul your partner called.

So, if your partner is calling lots of fouls on the player defending the dribbler, then you should call more "handchecks" or "holds". If your partner is calling lots of fouls on players driving for lay-ups, then you should call more "shooting fouls." etc.

(And, the other option is for your patner to call fewer, etc.)

[constable]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

Having a few "real" games experience with the new mechanic, it does sometimes seem to keep the same official at the same end more. That can be because one team is fouling the shooter more often, it could also be because one partner is calling more shooting fouls. Time will tell whether the new mechanic leads to less evenly called games.

I think this is part of IAABO's ( and a number of other states and one province's ) rationale behind not adopting the new mechanic.