Big mess in my biggest game!

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

I'm in my third year, and I'm not yet working varsity. I did get my best schedule yet this year, almost all boys JV. The best matchup I have this year is the biggest school in our area at the one city school in our area last Friday night. They are probably two of the three best varsity teams in our 24-team league this year, and both JV teams are pretty good too. So I was really looking forward to this one.

I was in a good mindset because I had what I felt was an outstanding game two nights earlier. For this game, I had a good, experienced partner and we had a good pregame.

We got underway and the home coach was on us from the beginning. The gym was at least half full and it was fairly loud, so he could get away with more volume in his voice than normal because there was a lot of noise in the gym. The first chance I got to talk to him, he was complaining about contact on a rebound and he wanted a foul. I told him I saw it but I thought the contact was incidental and didn't affect his guy. His response? "Incidental huh? Since you are going to use words like that, let's see how much incidental contact you call tonight?" I didn't really understand him but so be it. I felt like I gave him a chance to have a civil conversation about what each of us saw, and he chose to be a whiner instead, so I decided to give up on that.

Later in the first, I am lead. H1 is attempting a three from my corner. V2 is jumping out at him. I can't get deep enough (wall four feet behind end line) so I'm pretty much looking at waist down because V2 looks like he might land under H1. He doesn't and the shot is coming up short as my partner calls a foul. From the trail opposite, probably 50 feet away. Ugh.

Now into the second quarter. Home commits a foul in the act of shooting. We are lined up for a visitor FT. I am lead, and after giving the ball to the shooter (V1), I see something in my peripheral vision. I turn and see V2 and H1 above the arc on my side in each others' face, and V2 shoves H1. I hit the whistle, look at the shooter who still has the ball but has it cocked, give the "no shot" mechanic, and hustle over to V2 and H1. Both guys sort of "squared up" before I got there, but neither raised their fists. H1 pulls up his shorts a little, that "I'm ready to fight if you are" move. V2's teammates pull him away and nothing more happens with me in between. So I start toward the table when I hear my partner hit his whistle. He has a T on H2. So now we are both going to the table.

At first I have enough sense to keep my eyes on the players. I'm trying to think about several things: Do I have a tech on V2 only, or V2 and H1? And if I have one and he has one, do we shoot them and what do we do with the ball? And, was V1 shooting his first of two for the original shooting foul, or the second? Meanwhile the home coach is in our faces as well telling us it shouldn't take this long as we start to discuss. Then the visiting coach wanders in because he doesn't want to miss out on whatever lobbying is taking place. Somewhere in the middle of this H1 has wandered over in front of the visitors bench, but the visitors' assistant coach is shooing him away, highlighting for me the fact that I had my eyes off the players.

I decide I have a technical on V2 only. My partner has one on H2 (fortunately I catch it as he is reporting it as H3 and we put it on the right guy), but they were separate acts about 10 seconds apart. So we decide we have to shoot both of them. He is convinced we then go to the arrow. I think we penalize them in the order they happen, so since H2's tech was last, and therefore the visitors free throws for them are last, the visitors should get the ball. But he is still convinced, and he is the vet and the R, so I defer on that.

So now it is me and V1 walking back out to shoot the original shooting foul. I realize I still don't know if he has one or two shots left. I concoct a brilliant plan: I will say to him, "you have one shot left, right?" That way if he has one he will agree, and if he has two he will object. He says "right" and we shoot one. Then we go to the other end for H4 to shoot a pair for V2's technical, and then back down for V4 to shoot a pair for H2's technical. Lastly, we go to the arrow and give the ball to the home team at midcourt.

There are still 5 or 6 minutes until halftime--long enough for me to screw something else up. I saw a guy enter the lane early on an FT but froze on it for some reason. So I was determined not to miss it again. Later in the quarter, the same guy went in early. However he 1) wasn't my responsiblity as he was in the first space opposite and I was the trail and 2) was an opponent of the shooter but I blew my whistle anyway with the ball in the air. Gah. The shot went in. I said "inadvertant whistle, shot counts" and we moved on.

One last thing from the first half. I report a foul on the home team, and the ball has gone to the opposite end of the floor, with no one moving to get it. I decide to get it myself. As I'm reporting, the home coach is complaining. Just as I turn and run to get the ball, he says "I just want to know if this is intentional", meaning are we intentionally shafting his team. That made me hesitate, but I already had my back to him and had made a couple steps away. I thought it would look bad if I wheeled around and pinned him, rabbit ears or something, I don't know. So I passed and just got the ball.

Halftime. One of the varsity guys, a guy I really respect and have known for a long time, was there for the whole mess. He came in and asked us about it. I laid out the whole mess and he said "so then you went back out to shoot the first shot for the original shooting foul" and I almost punched a locker. Yep, the whole mess happened before V1 shot either of his two shots. I don't know why he didn't object to me telling him he had one left. Grrr. Also, as I was telling the story, I realized my foul on V2 should have been intentional because the ball was live, but with the technical that followed, I guess it didn't matter. He also says he would've pinned V2 and H1 for squaring up, and that H1 had to have done something to prompt V2 to shove him.

We get a moment to discuss the foul on the three, and the varsity guy told my partner he should've passed on that. I'm not sure, but it makes me feel about 1% better that it wasn't such an obvious foul.

Last thing, I ask the varsity guy what he thinks about how much more I should take from the home coach. He says he would've pinned him by now. So now my partner and I go back on to the floor. He says that I shouldn't pin the home coach just because the varsity guy says so. I should use my own judgment, which I of course agreed with.

First play of third quarter, I'm lead. Home misses a shot and a home player commits a foul trying to rebound which I call. As I'm headed up the sideline toward the table, the home coach is complaining and stomping his foot. So I pin him. 13 seconds into the quarter.

Lastly, late in the third, a home player tells me that my call "f***ing sucks" so I pin him too. Now I'm up to three, and my partner's one makes four. Fortunately the visitors have cracked it open a little, up 10 or 11, and the home coach has settled down. Visitors go on to win by 15.

Comments?

[Adam]

I'd have tossed the player who said your call "f***ing sucks."

[doubleringer]

Wow! Quite a night. First of all, it happened, treat it like a learning experience, and move on to the next game. All of us have some ugly ones under our belt along the way and add some to it every now and again. The best thing you can do is figure out "why" and then drop it. Next time out it'll go better.

How was he pregame? It sounds like there was some ball watching going on. As far as the T situation, sounds like a good old fashioned goatf#@k, which in my area is one step beyond the cluster f#@k. How was your communication with your partner in this situation? Your post details your line of thinking, but it doesn't seem to tell us what the discusson between you and your partne was. In a case like that, I may even send both teams to the bench quickly (because you have sporsmanship issues) so you and your partner could discuss what was going to happen without having to worry about the ugliness escalating. As far as getting it right, who know? Definitely a had to be there. It sounds as though neither you or your partner had a clear idea of what you had on the play when you hit your whistle, which is always a contributing symptom to a goatf#@k.

As far as the coach, you should have stuck him early. He was teeing off on you from the get go in subtle ways. The varsity guy was right. I had the good fortune to have worked quite a bit of smaller school varsity before I worked the larger schools in my area. I was not about to take crap from a lower level coach. My first time through the league, I think I was having to call 2 T's a week. After that, the coaches figured out that I had a decent grasp of my job and I wasn't going to be worked. They seemed glad to see me on their games and I still have good conversations when I show up for varsity games and I run into them. They'll respect you more if you take care of business.

Lastly, your partner told you not to T the coach only because the varsiy guy said you should. What level does your partner work? My point is, yeah, you can't go headhunting because of what an official that isn't on the game thinks you need to ding the coach, but the official in question has an understanding of what is acceptable in your area and he thought the coach was over the line. I'd have taken his advice and, not making one up, but finding one to call. At some point you will be hoping to work with the varsity guys and they are going to want partners who take care of business when you have to.

[referee99]

Originally Posted by A Pennsylvania Coach

So now it is me and V1 walking back out to shoot the original shooting foul. I realize I still don't know if he has one or two shots left. I concoct a brilliant plan: I will say to him, "you have one shot left, right?" That way if he has one he will agree, and if he has two he will object. He says "right" and we shoot one.

... you are not alone here. There is an entire officiating crew available to help. Your partner should have knowledge and the scorer will have a detailed account of whether it is the 1st or 2nd throw. Get it right.

Whenever I find myself concocting a brilliant plan on the court, I make it a point to bandy myself about the face and head for a few moments. Once the urge passes and I get down to using the resources I have available.

The clock is stopped. Take your time and get it right.

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by referee99

... you are not alone here. There is an entire officiating crew available to help. Your partner should have knowledge and the scorer will have a detailed account of whether it is the 1st or 2nd throw. Get it right.

Whenever I find myself concocting a brilliant plan on the court, I make it a point to bandy myself about the face and head for a few moments. Once the urge passes and I get down to using the resources I have available.

The clock is stopped. Take your time and get it right.

This is excellent advice. This is a situation where you should be at the table making sure the scorer records everything correctly...when getting ready to go back to administer the FTs, just ask the scorer, "Hey, I want to double check. We have a two shot foul to take care of here, we haven't shot any of them yet, have we?"

The whole thing was definitely a CF, and also shows one of the challenges of 2-man officiating. You needed to get with your partner, but that means you have to have that conversation while also watching the players. If you need to (not saying you did - I don't know how long your conversation actually took) send the players to their respective benches.

As for the rest of the post, it sounds like you got rattled but I doubt it was as bad as you seem to think. You gave the coach an opportunity to discuss plays throughout the night and he chose to disregard that offer. At that point he'd be on 'watch' with me. I'm not advocating looking for a chance to ring him, but his grace with me just shrunk considerably. That said, he probably needed to be whacked earlier. Good job taking care of business to start the second half.

The reach by your partner on the shot doesn't help things, but it will happen from time to time. Just move on. Not much else you can do until you can talk about it at half/after the game.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by doubleringer

Wow! Quite a night. First of all, it happened, treat it like a learning experience, and move on to the next game. All of us have some ugly ones under our belt along the way and add some to it every now and again. The best thing you can do is figure out "why" and then drop it. Next time out it'll go better.

Had a game last week that went very well for 98% of the time. Then we had a major CF (as some would say)! Oh, the V guys let us know it, as a matter of fact, that's all we talked about at the post game. I knew we had kicked it. It was hard to remember how things were going so well before then.......I was in the dumper!

Next game was much better!

Live and learn. Move on and don't let it happen again. NEXT!

[Loudwhistle]

I'll bet every reff on here with even a little experience has had games like this. You had a few screw ups but the cool thing with you is you're willing to listen to how to improve. Meditating on how to improve or change things for the next game is very important. I've worked with some guys that won't change their ways and continue to be a sucky reff! Some of the areas that you feel bad about you will most likely improve on since you know own them with your mind. Good luck and thanks for an interesting post, I feel your pain.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by A Pennsylvania Coach

I told him I saw it but I thought the contact was incidental and didn't affect his guy. His response? "Incidental huh? Since you are going to use words like that, let's see how much incidental contact you call tonight?"

"Coach - knock if off now or you're going to get an incidental technical."

[Rich]

Originally Posted by A Pennsylvania Coach

We got underway and the home coach was on us from the beginning. The gym was at least half full and it was fairly loud, so he could get away with more volume in his voice than normal because there was a lot of noise in the gym. The first chance I got to talk to him, he was complaining about contact on a rebound and he wanted a foul. I told him I saw it but I thought the contact was incidental and didn't affect his guy. His response? "Incidental huh? Since you are going to use words like that, let's see how much incidental contact you call tonight?"

Was there a question here? If he's just making comments, it's probably not worth addressing right here. Although you found out he really wasn't going to be civil at this point, so maybe it was useful.

Later in the first, I am lead. H1 is attempting a three from my corner. V2 is jumping out at him. I can't get deep enough (wall four feet behind end line) so I'm pretty much looking at waist down because V2 looks like he might land under H1. He doesn't and the shot is coming up short as my partner calls a foul. From the trail opposite, probably 50 feet away. Ugh.

Ugh is right. Nice ball watching.

Now into the second quarter. Home commits a foul in the act of shooting. We are lined up for a visitor FT. I am lead, and after giving the ball to the shooter (V1), I see something in my peripheral vision. I turn and see V2 and H1 above the arc on my side in each others' face, and V2 shoves H1. I hit the whistle, look at the shooter who still has the ball but has it cocked, give the "no shot" mechanic, and hustle over to V2 and H1. Both guys sort of "squared up" before I got there, but neither raised their fists. H1 pulls up his shorts a little, that "I'm ready to fight if you are" move. V2's teammates pull him away and nothing more happens with me in between. So I start toward the table when I hear my partner hit his whistle. He has a T on H2. So now we are both going to the table.

Here's something: Anytime the two officials have to get together like this, and especially when there's a contentious situation just prior, get the players to their benches EVERY TIME. Problem with letting them on the court is that you can't concentrate on your conversation with your partner OR the players well enough.

At first I have enough sense to keep my eyes on the players. I'm trying to think about several things: Do I have a tech on V2 only, or V2 and H1? And if I have one and he has one, do we shoot them and what do we do with the ball? And, was V1 shooting his first of two for the original shooting foul, or the second? Meanwhile the home coach is in our faces as well telling us it shouldn't take this long as we start to discuss. Then the visiting coach wanders in because he doesn't want to miss out on whatever lobbying is taking place. Somewhere in the middle of this H1 has wandered over in front of the visitors bench, but the visitors' assistant coach is shooing him away, highlighting for me the fact that I had my eyes off the players.

Double T it and move on. Use the book if you're not sure on the FTs.

One last thing from the first half. I report a foul on the home team, and the ball has gone to the opposite end of the floor, with no one moving to get it. I decide to get it myself. As I'm reporting, the home coach is complaining. Just as I turn and run to get the ball, he says "I just want to know if this is intentional", meaning are we intentionally shafting his team. That made me hesitate, but I already had my back to him and had made a couple steps away. I thought it would look bad if I wheeled around and pinned him, rabbit ears or something, I don't know. So I passed and just got the ball.

Don't be a ball chaser. Stand there and stare at it until a player gets it. And on the coach's comment, you should've whacked him.

Third year? You did a lot of things right, IMO. You'll learn from the rest.

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

Thanks for all the insight and encouragement. About to leave for a tripleheader (boys freshman, 8th grade, then HSJV) so I've got a good chance to move on.

As for moving them to their benches, yep, should've done it. They generally did it but for some reason the one kid, maybe the instigator of the whole thing (the one who got shoved) was down at the other end.

As for the FTs, advice I got later from my mentor was that I should've checked with the scorer. That one hit me with a "duh!" At the time it just didn't occur to me.

It just felt like one big backslide to the days where I'd make a mistake and know it, then think about that mistake long enough to make another one. And so on. I thought I was beyond that!

Next Friday I'm back in that same gym for JV boys again, against another good opponent. Should be interesting!

[StripesOhio]

Originally Posted by A Pennsylvania Coach

Next Friday I'm back in that same gym for JV boys again, against another good opponent. Should be interesting!

No it shouldn't. Approach every game/team/school like you've never seen anybody before. When I go to the same school multiple times, the only person I pretend to remember is the AD. Far as I'm concerned, never seen the place before.

Just a good mental check for me.

[KJUmp]

Thanks for sharing that. As a newbie working HSJV (with my first game w/ the states top team next week) I learned a heck of a lot from both your post and the replies.
I can tell from the tone of your post, you're learning from this, filing it away and moving on. That's the important thing.
Of the many things I've learned from the vets here relative to coach's working us is, if it's not a question don't respond. If it is a question, a quick answer at the appropriate time in the game is all that's needed. The less said the better. If they're getting out of line Warn then Whack...or just Whack if it's really bad. And that in most cases taking care of it early is the most effective. Not being critical of the way you handled it BTW; what I'm trying to say is I think/hope I've got the handle on that aspect of game management.
Now as far as the whole V team free throw/technical foul sitch....there's my fear. Crap hits the fan fast and furious in a big game and (like you) I lose track of what's going on, my mind freezes up as to how to properly apply the rules to enforce the penalties I/we just dished out, etc. Ugh! Everything gets ugly in a hurry. Again, you and your P did fine, you got through it, got done, and got out.
What I learned from this part of your sitch:

1) Get the teams to the benches while you and P sort it out. (Thnx RichMSN)

2) The clock is stopped...don't rush, take your time. (Thanx Ref99)

3) Go through things slowly and in order with your P, who shoots how many where, in what order, AND how, where, and by whom is the ball getting put back into play....properly.

3a)Continue to study the proper application of A/P and POI throw-ins.

4) Utilize the official scorer to not only get everything down, but to help (if possible) on something like..."did we shoot any of the FT's yet."

5) Reread rule book&case book sections regarding sitch's where 2 opposing players "start going at it"...proper foul to call and penalty that's attached to it.

Thanks again for sharing it all. Hope your triple header went well.
PS: I learned about not chasing the ball here last year from these guys.