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If I literally enforced every rule in the book to the T (no pun intended) as you suggest, you would not recognize the game as "basketball." It would be a free-throw shooting contest. There is a concept called advantage/disadvantage that you should really learn about. We officials have to master this concept, or we don't last long because coaches like you complain that we never let their girls "play ball." Like I said, can't win with you guys... |
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First of all, I am definitely not known for being anything but patient with coaches, BUT, I must confess, I would have issued the "T" long before you did. These are the situations that drive coaches CRAZY -- ESPECIALLY if they are overmatched!!! You and your partner know that a team is overmatched, yet your partner allows the opponent to ride the player for TWENTY FEET and BOTH your partner and YOU -- perhaps a little too much ball watching, here in my opinion -- PASS??? I have done my share of girls subvarsity games in the past. Some of these games are ugly no matter what we do to avoid it. But, in this case, by allowing the team that was dominating the game to ride a player all the way to the baseline (what if the point guard really wanted to get to the basket, but the defender's hands/arms pushed her to the baseline/endline instead?), you and your partner were at least partially responsible for the situation. If BOTH of you passed on the FOUL, why not pass on the travel, too??? In my opinion (I WAS NOT THERE, this is JUST AN EDUCATED GUESS), you did not issue a technical foul because you were not comfortable doing so, earlier. My guess is that you do not feel that the game was well played. You also did not think it was particularly well officiated, either. Try to keep your focus. Call handchecks when they cause the dribbler to go in a particular direction -- particularly if the hand stays in contact with the dribbler. Make foul calls to keep the game in control. It is up to the coaches to teach the players to play within the rules. It is NOT our jobs to modify the rules because the coaches have failed to teach them. Just my $.02 from a coach with over 30 years experience and a referee for well over a decade. |
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Once we have determined the contact is a foul, we need to call it even if it causes the offended player to lose an opportunity for a wide open lay-up. |
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There are many difficult (and bad coaches). In the case of the coach in this thread (Joe T), I think he has been reasonable in stating his case. My question to you is "have you ever coached?" I think the one thing that has helped me as an official more than anything else over the years of officiating is my experience as a coach. I can appreciate all of the hard work that they put in preparing their team for a game. I respect that. I respect them. Consequently, I have tended to get along with coaches from teams that are winning and teams that are losing. I don't take a lot of grief from them -- quite honestly, I usually don't hear a whole lot. Yet, they know when the respect is no longer mutual during a game, I have to take action with the proper penalTy. One of my pet peeves is the huge divide that officals create with coaches AND coaches create with officials. We each have a VERY difficult job to do. If we work together, the outcomes are usually pleasant. |
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And I'd have to say that I never viewed the officials the way I do now. I knew nothing about advantage/disadvantage, I was unaware of all the intricacies of officiating, the rules I thought I knew and actually didn't, etc etc. In other words, I thought I knew a whole lot about officiating until I put on a shirt and whistle and stepped out onto the court. Then I found out I knew squat. I respect coaches to a point. I don't think, for the most part (emphasis added), coaches at my level (JV and below) respect officials. They don't respect what our job actually is (as opposed to what they perceive it to be). They don't respect our calls. They don't respect us as human beings, from the way they treat us (yelling, rolling their eyes, stomping their feet, talking down, etc etc). Oh, they do during the coaches meeting, and they smile and shake hands, but once the ball is tipped they become totally different people. 95% or more of coaches, I would say, have never taken the time to not just dig into the rule book, but spend a summer reffing in their local rec league to see what it's like. So they don't know what it's like on the other side of the court. They don't know what it's like to work your ace off learning the rules and applying them on the court and doing your damndest to make sure you call a fair game and still be looked at and treated like you just killed someone's children because you dared to call a foul on someone. And they never will. And that's our job to deal with that fact. |
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Your job as a coach is to maximize the play of your team. My job is to be judge, jury and executioner (in some cases). It is our job, as officials, to be God out on the court. We decide what is a foul and what is not. Furthermore, coaches think it's their job to do whatever humanly possible in order to (I'm trying to think of the most respectful word here) influence the officials into calling a game that gives an advantage to their team. Whether conscious or subconscious, most coaches do this with what they talk to us about, when and how they scream at us, and their behavior in general. The best coach, to me, is a coach who asks me questions calmly and respectfully, or doesn't talk to me at all. I make a habit of initiating as little communication as possible with coaches because I've found that it has a way of biting me in the behind. So, in that way, my job becomes harder. Sad thing is, those coaches are very hard to find. Boy, I'm really starting to sound like a hardened cynic, aren't I? |
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I'm late to the party, and it looks like the fun has already begun. :D
Some random thoughts:
As always, just my $0.02 |
Don't question your T. Coach deserved it long before he got it. A sitting coach is usually a very quiet coach. A quiet coach makes for a nicer game. A smart coach realized where the officials line is drawn and will not cross it. If he chooses to cross it, then he knows what the expected result is.
The best thing any official can do is communicate with the coaches and players. Tell the players to get their hands off. Call a few early, they will get the picture and start playing without their hands. Let the coaches know when he is pushing the line. But still talk to them. I agree some coaches do talk down and seem as if they want to try and pull something over on you. No matter, treat and talk to them as you want to them to treat and talk to you. Until they cross the line. Give them the T before you become emotionally involved. You will feel better about it. I love how a coaches defense is always "well have you coached?" Does that really matter? Lots of great officials have never coached before. Doesn't mean that they love the game any less. Doesn't mean that they know the game any less. Coaches and officials need to realize that it isn't about them. This game is all about the kids. We can play without coaches, or at least another will step in, but can you play without the officials? Mutual respect goes a long ways. |
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If you are going to make this thing work for you, you have got to do a few things well that you don't seem to be doing very well right now. You've got to be able to communicate effectively with everybody involved: partners, players, coaches, table crew, everybody. That especially means engaging (not necessarily confronting) coaches when there is an issue, not running away from them. You've got to be able to call the obvious and what matters, control the game, and do it all consistently. You're going to have to be around a while, so people have time to learn to trust you. And you've got to exude a positive attitude and show due respect toward the game and each of the participants. You're off to a good start, and you've made some important discoveries, including that most coaches don't know the rules very well. So, now how do you take what you have learned and what you can now do and use your knowledge and skills to bridge that gap? Because the game is about them, not about us. We're just the facilitators. |
My philosophy is this:
The only technicals I regret are the ones I didn't call. I do baseball as well. I can't tell you how many T's I've called or people I've tossed ( in both sports) but I can with a pretty good amount of certainty tell you the players and coaches that I didn't T up or throw out when I should have. Been firm but fair. Develop your own threshold but remember not to allow unsporting behaviour to go unpunished for too long. If you don't deal with a problem in the first quarter, it will only multiply by the time the 4th rolls around. Finally, penalize any and all personal attacks- Do your job is a classic example of one. |
My Own Philosphy On Hand Checking ...
Defender places both hands on a ball-handler, it is a foul.
Defender continuously places a hand on the ball-handler, it is a foul. Defender continuously jabs a hand or forearm on a ball-handler, it is a foul. If the dribbler’s rhythm, speed, balance, or quickness are affected, we should have a hand-checking foul. Also. If dribbler's going east/west, less likely to call a hand check. Conversely. If dribbler's going north/south, more likely to call a hand check. And finally, advantage/disadvantage must be considerd in the case of hand checks. This is not always an easy call. |
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