Technical or no Technical?
 

I was working a spring tournament over this past weekend and had a discussion with my partner over a technical I issued to a coach. The situation goes like this...

Fairly close game with about 10 minutes or so left in the second half when a player from white drives to the basket in my primary and hits a layup. I'm L tableside and I observed some contact, but in my judgment not enough for a foul so play continues. As the other team inbounds the ball, white coach pops off the bench and starts yelling for an And 1. I don't acknowledge him at first as he is just offering comments, but as I run by he yells "Blow the whistle son, it's not that hard" WHACK! So we administer the technical foul and the whole time I'm administering them, the coach is telling my partner I need to have a thicker skin, etc. Partner doesn't ask me until after the game why I gave the T, and after explaining to him why, he suggests I need to have a longer leash with coaches.

My main issue is this. I'm 21 and have been officiating since I was 16 and am entering my 2nd season of a full Varsity schedule. However, based on my appearance you would never know it. I'm on the thin side and I have what you might politely call a "baby-face". As a result, coaches tend to target me as someone they think they can work over. This is an issue that I find many of my partners can't understand, and it's not their fault for not being able to. Because of this, I have developed a bit of a quick trigger finger with Ts. For comments like the one above, is a T warranted? Or would I be better off doing as my partner suggested and giving coaches a longer leash? Any thoughts/input are much appreciated.

Edit: In case it's not clear, the original T was for what I perceived to be the coach talking down to me and trying to intimidate me because of my age.

The only thing I would have done differently would have been to say to him, "You're right, coach. It's not that hard at all." following blowing my whistle.

With apologies to Maryam D'Abo, your partner is 'back end of horse'.

I had a similar situation this season, where I thought a coach was trying to get in my head because of my age. I'm 23, just finished my first year (though I did a couple seasons of intramurals at school), and I'm a pretty short guy. I probably should have T'd that particular coach but for some reason I didn't.

I think you were right on.

He crapped on you. Righteous "T". He's not questioning your call; he's questioning your ability. That's making it personal. And that, you don't have to put up with. Good job taking care of bidness imo.

Btw, your partner needs to grow some balls.

Actually, my partner that day is one of my all time favorite partners to work with. He still is too, despite our difference of opinion on this issue. To his credit, he backed me 100% to the coach. It was only after the game in private that he expressed his thoughts on the T.

Thanks for all the feedback so far too. Glad to know it was as automatic as I thought it was.

I fully agree. If the OP had been my partner, I would have patted him on the back.

As for the partner, he needs a nutcheck. http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...es/nutkick.gif

This is the problem I see from this case study. I don't have a problem with the T, but you and your partner need to get together (keeping an eye on the players while doing it) and discuss the T. This does several things: 1) informs the partner so he can go talk with the coach and explain the call if needed and if possible; 2) it slows everyone down and gets you thinking exactly what needs to be done, where, and with whom; run off too quickly and you go to the wrong basket, or something similar; 3) it gives everyone the second or two to calm down and get the emotions under control.

But you need to pregame this. I say something like, "we will get together on any T -- NOT TO TRY AND TAKE THE CALL AWAY or even discourage it -- but for the 3 reasons above. I can't emphasize, however, the need to keep an eye on the players.

While I'm all for answering coaches' questions, the coach needs no explanation in this one.

Kingsman, here's your black-and-white justification: The coach gave you an order. No more discussion required.

Kingsman- I am struggling with the same issue right now as well. I am a young pup who had developed a reputation for a quick trigger. I think I have a long leash but I think that due to my age coaches try to push the envelope longer and they think they can get away with saying whatever they want to me and that I wont whack them.

After I call a T, I will get together with my partner (or one of them if there are two) and inform him which individual was charged with the T. Also, we will discuss if there are any other calls on the play and how the game will resume. Lastly, we will make sure that we know which basket we are going to shoot at.

What we will not discuss is WHY the technical foul was assessed. That is not the partner's business. If the coach or captain wants an explanation, it needs to come from the calling official.

I disagree. I just need to know that a T was given and what kind of T was given. I do not need to know why the T was given. For one that slows down the process of administration and it is unnecessary to my job. We just need to get together so we can put the ball back in the proper place or make sure we are doing everything in the right order. Why a T is given is stuff for after the game. I do not need to know he called him a name or said something specific at the time we talk on the floor. But that is just me.

Peace

LOCK THE THREAD!
SHUT DOWN THE FORUM!!!

Rut and I agree. :D

http://www.thepeoplescube.com/red/ri...ba58f20bbe.jpg

I strongly disagree. Part of my pregame is that a partner does NOT go talk to the coach that just got whacked by one of the other crew members. We need crew integrity at that point. I have had a partner do that to me twice in my career and I can remember both times VIVIDLY. It looked to everyone in the gym like my partner did not support me. Bad, bad, bad........... Those might be the only two times in my career when I had a very stern conversation with a partner after a game.

To answer Texas Aggie, there was no need for me to explain the T. My partner saw me give it out and moved where he needed to be according to our pre-game. Despite our disagreement over the T after the game, during the game I never felt like he undercut me at all.

I agree with this...and everybody else that basically had the same take. Looks like it's almost unanimous so far that having your partner explain your call is never a good idea. The calling official is the only official that should be commenting on a call.

I'm emailing this to tomegun. :eek:

You're a no good dirty rat. :)

That's good. It sounds like he (and you) handled things appropriately during the game. As for the discussion afterwards, unless he was telling you you screwed up or was being a jerk towards you, it was just his opinion. You can take it or leave it...personally, I would leave that advice behind because the Coach earned his T.

Why do we want to have secrets from our partners? If I issue a T on a player, my partners may not know why and the coach may not know why. It doesn't take a whole lot of time in our "post T conference" to go over the procedures involved and to add "Yeah 44 Blue told me he hadn't seen a call that bad since Jurassic did a game!;)" Now when my partner goes to the coach he can tell them what happened. What is wrong with that? It sounds a whole lot better, then telling the coach "I don't know". If I whach a coach, what is wrong with telling my partner why? I may have heard them say something, and they may have thought I "T'd" them for an action that THEY saw and I may have missed.
IMO, a key to good officiating is good communication. We communicate on everything else why make an exception for this? It should be more important in emotionally charged situations, which T's sometimes are. If I think that it was a 'soft' T I certainly wouldn't bring it up until we were in the locker room, and I would expect the same from my partner. Just like any other call.

Coach: "Snaqwells, why'd he give me a T?"
Me: "Coach, you'll have to ask Rocky when the game flow allows it."

All your partner needs to know (all I'd need to know), just as Rut indicates, is the kind of T given and to whom. I will inform the coach that he no longer gets to use the coaching box, then I'm watching the players on the court.

We don't communicate everything.

When you call A1 for a travel, do you tell your partner that he tried to do a jump stop and just couldn't do it right?

When you call B1 for a foul, do you tell your partner that he undercut the shooter?

When you call B2 for reaching across the plane, do you tell your partner exactly which limb crossed and for how long?

No, you don't. All your partner needs to know is what was called, not why.

In the case of a technical on a player, I will stay tableside after and if the coach wants an explanation, this will be the only time. Otherwise, if the coach receives a T from me, an explanation won't be given to anyone except my partner at halftime or after the game.

Ahem...thanks for deciding that I was the one who called the T. But since it was a three-person crew, it was actually Bhuck Elics that called the T, not me.

Fwiw, I agree with your main point here. I don't need to know what happened. If a coach asks me why my partner called a T, I will have a general idea - "Coach, he said something he shouldn't have.," or "Coach, you know what you did"...if Coach wants specifics, "Coach, here comes Bhuck. He'll give you all the details you could possibly want."

I have yet to see - in over 20 years of calling games - a T where the offending player/Coach really did not know what the T was for. Acting and theatrics aside, they know what they did.

Bhuck called the T? I figured he would have shrunk from the pressure.

+1

Judtech, I'm a big believer in communication, too, but ask yourself the purpose of the communication. In the case of a coach "T", Rocky said it best. You will typically get a "what's wrong with THAT comment?!" look, but ultimately, they know what's wrong.


And Snaq is right, too. We don't get explanations from our partners on 98% of the other calls. Why should a T be any different?

Let me throw something else in here, fwiw. For the most part, I agree in general that an explanation isn't necessary. But there may be some instances where a quick word to your partner may be necessary for crew unity in the case it really isn't clear to a lot of people why the T was given. If my partner is standing next to a coach, and that coach says something my partner feels is T-worthy, but not loud or obvious enough to others, I will want to know so I can be consistent to also give one if the same thing is said to me later. Maybe I might feel it was a quick trigger by my partner, but since they drew the line there, I will also enforce that line for the rest of the game. I seen many times where a coach will earn a T from official, but gets away with saying it again, and more, to the partners, because they didn't have the same threshold.

Usually, when my partner calls a T, I know the reason. However, there are those times when I'm down court or something similar and I don't know the reason. When that happens, most of the time I will just ask my partner "What happened?" After he tells me, I just nod and say "Oh, OK".

Whenever my partner asks me why I called a T, I usually say, "For the same reason I called the other seven so far this quarter." :D

I felt it was a great call on my part, but I respect his opinions and wanted to see what the general consensus on the board was in regards to my situation.

Now that I've been assured I was justified, I'm glad to know that I could finally bring Nevada and Rut together on an issue. I take full credit for bringing peace (however temporary) to this forum :D

There's not a damn thing wrong in telling your partner(s) what happened. BUT......

Your partner should NOT be going to a coach to explain YOUR call. EVER!! If a coach wants an explanation, he should get it from the calling official. That's what's wrong with that.

SNAQ, you know I love ya....BUT:D
Coach: "Snaqwells, why'd he give me a T?"
Me: "Coach, you'll have to ask Rocky when the game flow allows it."
Coach: "Then what the hell were you two talking about out there" or "Obviously you don't think I deserved it either"
I will agree that MOST coaches know exactly what they did.
I will also disagree about your foul analogy. When we call a foul we don't just raise our fist and say "Foul". We signify the player and what type of foul. We let them know if it was a push, hit or hold. There are those that even make a sweeping motion with their hands to emphasize the push or smack the side of the head to signify they got hit in the head. To me, no different than a "T". So my hypothetical situational conversation would be
Coach "Jud, why did she give me a T?"
Me: "Coach, you called her a bad name"
Coach "No I didn't"
Me: "Coach, it's what we heard. (HS) Now you are going to have to take a seat coach for the rest of the game" and walk away.
I usually do what Padgett does, and just ask if I don't know. However ,when I am the calling official, I also let the partner know. I'm just a big fan of keeping my partners informed. Not such a fan of keeping secrets. But that is just me.

Why do you feel the coach is entitled to ask you this question? Why are you standing right next to the coach while free throws are being shot?


The only response that would evoke from me is: "Coach, thats the end of this conversation"

Tweet. That's two, for the ejection.

I'm sorry, but when my partner calls a foul, I'm not watching him report it. Are you? 9 times out of 10, I have no idea what the foul was unless it was a double whistle situation. If I'm curious, I'll ask later.

Do you need to know how A1 traveled, or what he did to draw the illegal dribble call?

Here's one. You're L in 3-man and the C calls an off ball foul on A2. As you run down the court, A2 asks you what he did. What do you tell him? Personally, even if I saw the C give the push signal, I'm not telling A2 anything because I don't know.

Now, to your hypothetical:


It's not a secret. If my partner wants to know, I'll tell, I promise. I'm not, however, going to offer the information when it's not pertinent.

Coach: "Snaqwells, why'd he give me a T?"
Me: "Coach, you'll have to ask Rocky when the game flow allows it."
Coach: "Then what the hell were you two talking about out there"

Me: "I was just confirming that you have lost your coaching box privileges. And you have."
or "Obviously you don't think I deserved it either"
"Coach, just a reminder that you've lost the coaching box privilege, so you'll need to have a seat. Thank you."

I'm not engaging that last piece. If the coach is going to make the sort of logical leap that would make Robbie Knievel think twice, I'm walking away so everyone knows why I give him the T he's about to earn. I highly doubt he's going to let me walk away without comment, and there's nothing I can say to that to difuse it.

Honestly, if it's a lower level game, I'm ringing him up again right there for trying to split the crew. He's done.

Well you can't rightly put a muzzle on a coach (although I THOUGHT I saw that in the Proposed Rules Changes thread) so they are most likely going to say something. How you chose to respond to it is up to you. If a coach is asking me a question in an appropriate manner, then I will resond. If he doesn't like the answer and keeps it up, I'd say you asked for an explaination and I gave you one. You may not like it, but we are now done discussing it." If they are acting and talking inappropriately, then I am not going to respond until/if they calm down. If they keep pushing it, then I will send them on their way.
As for positioning, I don't want to speak for SNAQ, but I didn't say I was standing right next to the coach during the FT's. At some point one of the officials will be near that coaches area. In 2 person, you will need to inform them to have a seat, and you most likely will have the book call you over to make sure everyone is penalized properly. You will probably have to communicate with the other coach as to who/whom (don't start!) they want to shoot the FT. All ample time for the coach to talk to/at you.

I would expect no different responses than the above from you, Newz. :)

SNAQ, I agree with you on the 'common' fouls, but we also don't get together when we call a common foul either like we do with "T's". I will chalk this up to Potato / Potatoe. Just remember if we ever officiate together, I 'm going to ask!!!!
What can I say, I'm curious like a cat!!

Around here (not everywhere), one partner is expected to remind the coach he has lost use of the box.
That's the only reason I'm within speaking distance of him, though, and any questions he asks will be answered, but he isn't likely to like my answers.
If I'm feeling like a smart-a$$, I might repsond with, "Coach, remember what you said right before he blew the whistle? That's why you go it."
or
"Coach, you were part of that conversation, I wasn't; so you know better than I do."

You're right, we get together briefly on Ts, but it's to make sure we get the penalties right and nothing more.
In Padgett's games, where Ts are handed out like travel calls, there would be no need to get together because it would be old hat.

You just don't get it. If a coach is asking for an explanation of a call, it's up to the calling official to explain that call. The calling official may not like your answer that you gave to the coach. It also makes the calling official look weak if they won't step up to explain their own calls.There's no room for confusion if it's done the right way.

I know guys that would rip your head off and crap in the hole on top of your neck if you pulled that nonsense on them. Not me though. I'm a nice guy. You would hear about it though. Guaranteed.

You've officiated games with Col Jessup?

+1
well, all but the crap in the hole part. I can't handle that. :)

I like that! Hope I get to use it soon :D

HEY - I resent that. I hardly ever call travels. :mad:

Are you talking about on a "T" or a garden variety foul? On a garden variety foul why would I explain what another official called? On a "T" we are getting together, exchanging information and the calling official is heading away from the bench. If the coach wants to know what happened, with the afore mentioned caveat's, then I am going to repeat what the calling official said to me. In my view this shows that we are on the same page. You obviously feel differently.
I have seen officials get animated after a game (one came to blows, which was cool considering who was involved) when they felt their partner didn't back them up by saying "Ask them, I don't know" when there was a "T" called. So who is right and who is wrong? Maybe it just varies between associations and geography.
As for those guys doing the ripping and crapping, we all know that violence is the first resort of the ignorant!:D

First let me say :rolleyes:

I was reading this post and stopped to read the PM from BNR that included a link that sent me right back here.

I don't have much to add that others, minus the two who want to explain the call, have said. One thing I will add it using space to stay out of trouble. Using information from the CIAA camp years ago, when I have to inform the coach that he has lost the privilege to stand in this situation I keep a reasonable amount of distance, inform him/her about the loss of the box and then they get to look at my backside. I will NOT literally or figuratively go right over there and give the coach a hug while I hear how bad of a person the big, bad official is for calling a T.

Did I say this? :rolleyes: R I D I C U L O U S

Better than LT Kendrick. That guy was a sneaky *******!

Absolutely, keeping space is a good thing. If you get to close you could end up in a huddle with Bob Huggins and we have seen how THAT turns out!!! Plus, if you keep your distance and the coach continues to carry on his foolishness, then when you toss em, it looks cooler!

Yep, you're considered a referee who takes care of business and gets a Final Four assignment that same year. Kudos to Mike Stuart.

And now I'm the one coming across as warm-fuzzy. :)

I'll bring the marshmellow's and graham crackers. Who will bring the hershey bars and guitar? "It only takes a spark, to get a fire going....." (Coom By Ya is too obvious!):p

If it is as you said, and I had been your partner, you would have likely got more guff from me if you hadn't called it than for calling it. You take the check, take care of bizness: that was bizness.

Time for learning. :)

What does 'kumbaya' in the song "Kumbaya, my Lord" mean?

:DI always knew what it meant, just never knew how to spell it!!:D
So can we put you down for the guitar?

Huh? This isn't YOUR game; it is a game worked by all of you. You better make it your business.

We aren't talking about an investigative report with witnesses and a cross examination; this can be done very quickly. "The T was issued because he kicked the table after I called the foul. We're going to back everyone up, shoot the original foul shots and then the T. I'll go opposite and handle the throw-in. Anything else? Can you deal with the coach over here?"

I timed myself and that took all of about 12 second. I'd probably do it faster with the adrenaline going.

Even if it did take a bit longer, what's the harm? Rushing or looking rushed is much worse than being or acting deliberate. Again, we aren't talking about 10 minutes; maybe 30 seconds more at the most. You can't tell me that that will hurt anything.

Couldn't disagree more. You need to know what is going down in your game as far as what was said IF the calling official feels its important to let you know -- for example, if you are the R. You can always pregame and say, "hey, we aren't getting into a big discussion here -- just the brief highlights of what we need to know and let's move on." This is an area where we trust our partners to tell us what we need to know or ignore what we don't.

Can you give me an example of a call I make against a coach (T) that you don't need to know the particulars of?

Again, part of what I'm trying to do is to slow things down. When you are dealing with more than one foul on a play, especially with guys that worked a college game last night, it may take a few seconds to clarify how to proceed. Don't be afraid to take the time and the attitude of "I don't really need to know all that" makes me think you're more concerned about getting things done in a timely fashion than slowing the pace down to get everything right. My point is that this is a very dangerous way of thinking. I've seen and been in games that got royally screwed up because guys got in a big hurry. If my explanation slows all that down, it was indeed worth it.

Guys, I've done this sort of thing about 7-9 times over the last 3 years or so in hoops and probably a lot more in football (after a flag). In none of these situations did the game "stall." The risk of rushing and doing or saying something you will regret later far outweighs taking another 30-45 seconds.

We will just have to disagree then. Because I have never said anything like that in a pre-game and personally do not care of the highlights during the game. Now it is very possible I know the reason, but if it were certain words, I do not need to know the specific words. I do not really care at that time. I might ask in the locker room or during a timeout, but not when we are trying to put the ball in play after we know what is going on. All I want to know is the type of T it is, so I know all the ramifications (e.g. book T compared to administrative T). I do not need to know why what a coach or player said to get popped at that moment.

Coach questions the integrity of me or my partners. The details are not important to me. Better yet, the coach is ranting and raving and jumping up and down does not need me to tell me why. In many cases it is obvious. In many cases if it is heard all over the court that I already know. But if for some reason the words are private and said under their breathe, I probably saw the issue coming. I do not need to at that point critique the T or the details. Maybe you do, just not my concern at that point.

OK, I do the same thing but without the explanation. I just want to calm the calling official down (or me) and make sure we put the ball in the right places and have all the right people shooting. I do not need "why" to be voiced. And actually this is not something I need to know as people are around. Anything said at that time can be overheard and this can come back to hurt us. I just want to know the rulebook details and move on.

OK. I work basketball games with the same guys for most of my games for the last 3 seasons. We have had Ts a few times in our games (not as high as your number) and not once did we discuss the issue on the floor. In one case I had no idea why my partner gave a T and I was standing closer to the coach. But he did something in a gesture and got popped. The coach wanted an explanation from me and I was not giving him one. I even told him "Coach I have no idea what you did, and right now it is not relevant." Oh I forgot to say that one of the cases the coach was ejected from the game for his second T. I did not need an explanation. I trust that officials with my career and he did what he felt was right. We talked about it after the game, not during and we were fine.

Peace

Why? Don't you have the balls to explain your own call if an explanation is asked for? Maybe it's just me, but personally I couldn't look at myself in a mirror after a game if I ever said to one of my partners "Can you deal with the coach over there about the call that I just made?".

There's nothing the matter with giving a very quick explanation of a call to your partners if you feel they need one. There's a heckuva lot wrong though with refusing to give the exact same very quick explanation to the coach. That's absolutely terrible advice from both you and Judtech re: having your partner(s) explain your calls instead of you. The calling official knows why he/she made the call and should have the confidence to explain why that call was made if asked. You and Judtech are both making yourselves look weak as hell by using your partners to avoid a possible confrontation. It's the old, old story though. Some officials will spend more time explaining why they shouldn't have to take responsibility for their own calls rather than just manning up and take care of bidness.

If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. And if you won't do anything about the heat, stay away from the kitchen also.

As one who went to high school in Beaufort, South Carolina, I'm glad you shared this. I wasn't aware of it actual origin.

Crews I work on always get together before administering Techs, however, the discussion never addresses the specific offense. We are only concerned with the type of T, status of the ball at the time of the infraction, where to shoot the free throws, ensuring the table properly annotates the foul, and where to administer the throw-in.

Clarifying how to proceed has nothing to do with telling your partners "The coach ... so that's why I gave him a T"

Good job. He earned it.

JURRASIC; You may need to brush up on both your reading an anatomical skills. I never said I would NOT give the coach an explaination and I didn't read that in TEXAS' post either. IMO, it is more a logistical issue. On a T the calling official goes opposite table, on any other foul the calling official goes table side. This makes any explaination more difficult for the calling official on a T than on a "normal" foul. If a coach wants to wait until I rotate over to discuss it, again, if appropriate, I will be more than happy to do so.
Perhaps I am not paranoid enough. Since I won't throw my partner under a bus, I just operate under the premise they won't either. If I see one of my partners talking to a coach after any type of call, my first thought is not "That SOB, why is he talking to that coach. I just know they are talking about me" To me, the more a crew can show cohesion, the stronger they look. So, if trusting your partners to do the right thing, and trusting in your own skills to do the right thing, is being weak, then I guess I am ( Not weak as Hell though, because if you have EVER smelled burning sulfur UGHH)
As for having no balls, I find so much wrong with that statement. In light of the fact that you have never seen me naked or vice versa, do we really need to play "whose is bigger"? Besides, a good friend of mine who was a wrestler only had one, and he was a pretty strong/bad dude!!! (Although I do hear that when you get older they sag more!;))

In which officiating manual do you find this?

For the record, I can only recall one T where an explanation was needed; an AAU game where I rang up an assistant coach for standing up to yell at me about a call. HC thanked me after the game, stating he didn't know that rule. He may well have been truthful.

Every other T I've called and seen called, the coach knew why he got it. When they ask why, it's a purely rhetorical question that simply serves as their little protest. Sort of like when my kids cry "that's not fair" when I make a decision they don't like.

While I'm as likely as not to mock my kids when they do it, I think silence is a better option to the coach.

During a recent game, I called a ten second violation. The coach was upset [his team would go on to record one point in the 2nd half] and said, "I didn't see your count." He would have to have been blind to not see the visible count. A couple minutes later, while his team was on defense, he started "1001...1002". Tweet. The only explanation I gave was to my partner.

And did your partner explain it to the exasperated and befuddled coach?

I hope he did otherwise, he might be seen as weak and "sans nads" by others on this board!!:eek: What I can't believe is that he actually told his partner what the "T" was for. Scandalous!! What next? Interns at the White House? Gambling at Ricks?!?!
This is a great example of communication, IMO. Had "Mr Arithamtic" asked for an explaination, I would have been turning the sarcasm filter on high!! Probably ending on either "Seriously!?" or "Coach, the problem is our count starts at 0 and apparently yours starts at 1000!!" (ok maybe not THAT one)
As for the foul rotation you asked about earlier, I am using 3 person mechanics. You did pique my interest, b/c I couldn't give you a manual reference for the "T". It apparently falls in the, everywhere I work does it that way so it must be correct. It's just what I have been told from day one. I'll have to dust off the manual and see what that says. Geez, next you will tell me we are supposed to go back and fourth on the endline!!

LOL, the mechanic doesn't differentiate between Ts and regular fouls, IMS. We're an IAABO state, and just went opposite last year for all fouls. When we were table side, we stayed table side on Ts. The option was there to go opposite if the situation was particularly volatile, but I never used it.
Actually, whether the partner explains a call to a coach has no bearing on JR's opinion of his possession or lack of possession of huevos. Honestly, anything more than "you'll have to ask him when he gets a chance to get over here" is overstepping, IMO.
However, as always, when in Rome. Just don't use the stop sign. :D

Maybe you ought to go back and read what you both wrote:

Judtech- <font color = red>"Now when my partner goes to the coach he can tell them what happened."</font>

Texas Aggie- <font color = red>"informs the partner so that he can go talk with the coach and explain if needed and if possible."</font>

If YOU make the call, then YOU should be the ONLY one explaining the call if a coach asks for an explanation. Not your partner. Not ever. And if you go back and read the posts in this thread, you'll find that opinion is unanimous from all of the other responding posters.

Again, your partner should never be discussing your call with a coach. Ever!

That is terrible advice from both you and Texas Aggie. And I'm sureashell not the only one telling both of you that.

You seem to have real problems comprehending what people are trying to tell you.

And also in everybody else's opinion except for Judtech and Texas Aggie......

Yes. He said, "You have lost your coaching box privileges and have to sit down now."

I need one of the laughing smiley thingies. :D

Yet strangly absent from either of those quotes were words to the effect "So I don't have to talk to the coach" Before jumping to conclusions, you should have all the information. You just assumed that I would not talk to a coach about a situation. No one asked (except SNAQdaddy) where we position ourselves on 3 person in this situation. No one asked what we would do in a 2 person crew where the calling offiical was not administering FT's. No one asked what we would do in 3 person crew where the calling official stays table side. Knowing the answers to these questions would give you a better understanding of where we are coming from. Nope, you just wanted to jump in and think the worst of two of your fellow officials. Personally, I prefer to think the best of my fellow officials.
What there seems to be is a difference of norms in different areas. In the college or high school games called in this area, there isnt the sensitivity to discussing calls (appropriately) with coaches. Case in point: In a game tonite B50 drives to the basket and gets blocked by W44. Secondary defender W12 pushes B50 while in the air. Lead official comes out with a foul on W12. As we are on the other end, I am now standing next to W's coach. He is insistent that "it was all ball". I tell the coach "You are right 44 had a nice block, however, 12 was underneath and called for the push". According to you this is inappropriate b/c I am discussing my partners call. I should have said "coach, if you don't like it discuss it with them" According to the lead who made the call, who also happens to be one of the local assignors, pointed that situation out to the 3 'newbies' as a good example of a crew working together and diffusing a situation by calming down a coach. We teach our crews to trust each other. But heaven help you after the game if syou sell a fellow official out to a coach!
SNAQmasterflash: Yeah, if it is a player "T" then we usually stay table side. If it is a coach "T" we usually send them opposite. That way if the coach needs to have an early exit, there will be another official right there to do the honors. The thought process is that it avoids the perception that a particular official is "out to get" a coach. That's not to say the calling official on the other side of the floor wont come toss the coach!!!!

Did you get the buttered layered and extra salt? I also hope you snuck in your own soft drink, those things are EXPENSIVE!

Sometimes it's best to just sit back and enjoy the show. ;)

I'm still trying to figure out why any official needs to "explain" or "tell" anything to a coach after that coach has received a Technical. :rolleyes:

My best guess is the same reasons shows like 24 and Lost are so popular. Even refs are human and humans seem to be attracted to unfolding drama where the most unbelievable thing will happen next.

The real answer is so the coach knows the type and nature of the foul. Delay of game, behaviour, reporting error and so that the coach knows what exactly to avoid in the future.

They're only coaches for gawd sakes, if you don't teach them who will :P

It's like when a dog pees on the carpet; you either catch them right away or you have to rub their nose in it before you punish them. Since we're not allowed to rub the coach's noses in anything, we have to punish them right away; thus perhaps this response would be best: "Coach, I didn't hear it, but I would have to assume whatever you said right before the whistle is what got you your T."

Now that would fit in perfectly with my smartazz, sarcastic nature!!! I love that line, and the reaction from the coach would probably earn him/her a free trip out of the gym!!!
OT - My first year on varsity, I had a coach yell at me "You can't call that!!" I said, "Yes I can, I just did" On an unrelated note, soon after that interaction, I issued my first technical foul on the varsity level. Since then I have worked hard on the internal filter:D

I think the technical foul was clearly earned in this case.

You are very right in that as a younger looking official, on most nights, you will be the unknown to the coach. My advice would be to: 1. Get your plays right, 2. Offer professional responses to questions 3. Listen to coaches when they have a genuine concern and are voicing so in a professional manner.

I think if you follow those rules, then you just need to get games so that the coaches see that you can work and develop trust in your abilities.