transitioning from 2 whistle to 3 whistle

[Da Official]

Originally Posted by bainsey

For what it's worth, I got thrown into an unexpected 3-man situation two months ago.

I was working the typical 2-man crew in a JV game, when my partner tore his Achilles in the second quarter. I ran up to the locker room to alert the varsity officials, who had just arrived. My partner and I finished the half somehow (he stayed near the division line, I tried working lead on both ends...whew!).

In the second half, I was expecting that only one would fill in, but the veteran pair announced to me that we were going 3-man. I'm a 5th year official, and I hadn't taken the 3-man training, figuring I wouldn't need it until next year, at least. I haven't really looked at the 3-man mechanics in the book, so I got uncomfortable quickly. I admit it was a bit disoriented at first, as my partners had to tell me where to go and how to get there. I only had a vague idea what the center's PCA was. In time, though, the pointers settled in, and I got the flow of it.

Simply put, if I can figure it out with zero training, you should be fine after studying the book, and a lot quicker than I did.

I'm not really sure you actually "figure"d out 3 Man in one half of a basketball. It took me 2 camps and about 15 games for me to even attempt to say I've figured it out.......but to each his own.