Closely guarded

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the rule (I'd prefer a shot clock and a holding distance of 3 feet like the NCAA), but I have my arm swinging the entire game (it seems). The coaches expect it (on defense) and it's a POE.

CMHCoachNRef will be happy with that!

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by grunewar

CMHCoachNRef will be happy with that!

Grunewar,
Dang, you beat me to it!

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Had a tight BV game last night that ended up going 2OT and was won by the visiting team by one point (home team had a look at a 3 at the buzzer and missed).

Late in regulation, the home team was settling for a last shot and there was about 15 seconds left. Guard has the ball just inside the division line and the defender steps up and closes within six feet. I started a 5-second count. The defender never close to less than about 4 feet, but the rule was satisfied and I kept counting. Once I got to five, I whistled the violation (there was about 9 seconds left) and pointed the other way.

Home coach wasn't happy. First he asked how I could make such a call in that situation, then he claimed the defender wasn't even guarding his player. Bah. I was the new lead, so I didn't really stick around.

My partner almost had a similar call (on the dribble) in the first OT, but the kid dribbled away from his defender. On a timeout he said to me, "they have three assistants on the bench and none of them saw us swinging our arms?"

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the rule (I'd prefer a shot clock and a holding distance of 3 feet like the NCAA), but I have my arm swinging the entire game (it seems). The coaches expect it (on defense) and it's a POE.

RichMSN,
First of all takes guts (I mean that in a very positive way!!!) to make the right call in that situation. Of course, I am in your camp on this one. When I referee such a play, I try to get my count started as soon as the player is being loosely guarded at 6 feet -- I mean closely guarded at 6 feet.

As a coach, I CONSTANTLY watch the officials looking to see if the count has started. If we are on defense, I tell the defender to step forward, generally, to get a count started. When we are on offense, I am counting along with the official -- and giving instructions (PICK IT UP!!! or retreat or go by him or REQUESTING a timeout).

If a coach (and his assistants are NOT watching you -- ALL FORTY minutes of the game, in this case -- shame on them!!! To turn it around, had you not counted OR not made the call, you would have been unfair to the defense.

Nice job -- other than the overtime part