Most common mistake by refs

[Berkut]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Really?

I watched a JV game last week where they had between 50-60 fouls and at least 20 of those I would've passed on. I'm not exaggerating.

If anything, this is the pattern I see at my games. A little bump, no advantage, foul. What's sad is that nobody seems to complain about it. At the varsity level, they would.

Part of this, I think, is the difference between JV and Varsity basketball.

As someone who does mostly JV at the moment, the difference between bad JV basketball and decent Varsity is pretty huge as far as

A. What kind of contact a player can play through,
B. The ability of a defender to pressure without fouling, and
C. The players ability to grok what is being called and adjust accordingly.

At the varsity level, the guy getting the little bump plays right on through it - at the JV level, he takes two steps dribbles the ball off his face, falls down, and takes out a third player in the process. So you tend to be a little quicker on the whistle.

I watch plenty of Varsity games and think "Damn, that looks a LOT easier to officiate than JV...." The speed and size if faster and bigger of course, but the players are often under MUCH better control on both sides of the ball.

And as a Varsity football official who still does a lot of JV, that is often true in football as well.

Of course, the fact that JV games will generally have less experienced officials has plenty to do with it as well.