Little help here?
 

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I had two specific plays and I’m trying to figure out the best way to handle them. In camp I’ve been concentrating on reffing the defense and avoiding watching the ball, especially on shots from perimeter. When I’m trail I take the shooter up, bring him down, and then get the rebounding action while watching for the ball hitting a strap or overhead equipment or even the air ball. But as lead with a shot from the perimeter I’m not watching the ball. There are two situations that have zinged me on this.
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(1) I’m lead. A1 shoots a three and it goes in. At the time it sounded funny to me and out of the corner of my eye it didn’t seem to slow down, so I thought “air ball.” B1 grabs the ball, stops but is dribbling, starts forward, stops again, still dribbling, and looks at me. I tell him “Let’s go.” He never did take the ball out, but remember, I’m thinking air ball so… let’s transition. A2 loses his mind: “Are you kidding me?! Come on! You have got to be kidding me!” I look over and see that he’s addressing me. Whack. I learned later that I kicked the OOB violation because A1 made the shot and B1 didn’t take it out. (This was A2’s third outburst so I’m good with the T. The first one was mild and raised my antennae; the second one was medium-hot and got the stern warning.) Here’s the prob: If I’m lead and staying off the ball, how do I see that I’ve got an air ball or a pretty swish on a loose net. I know that the ball lands in a certain area on a made basket but this one was different. Out of the corner of my eye it had the angle and momentum of an air ball so I was corn-fused. I feel bad for T’ing the kid (after the fact) for my screw up but of course I’m not going to let him hoot and holler the way he did.
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(2) Again I’m lead, A1 takes a shot from the perimeter and the ball goes in but comes out of the freakin’ side of the net because of a broken thingie on the rim (you know, that little squiggly thing that attaches the net. What’s that called?). B1 grabs it and starts to transition. Coach A is hollerin’ about how the ball went in. I blow the whistle to stop the play and confer with my partner, who’s even more of a rook than I am. Yes, the shot went in.
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Soooo here’s my question: How do we get the pushes in the back and other rebounding shenanigans at lead without missing whether the ball went in or was an air ball? Is this just a “open yer court vision” thing and if so is that something that will get better with time? Argh! So much to watch.


Thanks.

Not your responsibility to know if the ball went in from lead. You parter(s) at T and/or C need to help with this. They should be able to see the ball go in, or not, from the corner of their eye and still focus on the shooter if they are in the proper position.

I had a shot that was short but close enough that it snapped twine and sounded like a made bucket and then went OB. I just stood there because I thought it was a made shot. I think a partner finally helped me.

It's not your responsibility to know if the ball went in. If I'm the trail (or center), I don't start transition until I know that the ball has gone out for the throw in so I can help the (former) lead in cases like those you described.

Ciao

I disagree with the first two responders. I think that it is your responsibility to know that the ball went through the basket. It's not your primary responsibility, but you have to have enough awareness of this in order to properly administer the game.
Perhaps you are so focused on your area of coverage that you are failing to glance around the court at your partners and pick up where the ball is located every few seconds. You MUST do this. If you don't how will you know when to rotate?
Being aware that the ball went in is just about the same thing. You have to have an idea of what is happening in other areas of the court even though you are taking care of your primary.

Apples and oranges. Knowing where the ball is, in order to take an appropriate position, doesn't require to focus on a particular spot. Looking at the ball to see if it goes in does and may divert the lead's attention from their primary, which is much more important: the moment when the ball is near the basket is crucial for fouls during rebounds; the partner(s) can help in dubious cases. With experience, the lead will know if the ball went in in the vast majority of cases, by taking a good position and a good angle.

Knowing if the ball went in while missing a push for position at rebound would be poor officiating.

Ciao

I'm going to agree with Nevada. Your primary is called your 'primary' and not your 'exclusive' for a reason: that's where your focus should be. But you need to have ball awareness, as well as awareness of your partners, to follow the game correctly.

As a general rule, a quick glance at the ball or at trail to see if he's headed down the court (which trail will do after a made basket) are compatible with being a quality lead official. That's not to say that you watch the shot or the ball go through the net, which is not lead's responsibility.

Finally, on a court with known issues, you need to communicate with your partners, who will have the same problem you did when they are lead. Perhaps center could give a "made basket" signal to help out. Work it out so that you're all on the same page, and help each other -- that's why there's a crew.

On the three, your partner should have been giving the touchdown signal; which you should have seen out of the corner of your eye.

In general, get a bit wider.

In your first situation, rather than telling him "let's go," ask him a question that sounds rhetorical. "Did it go in?"

I had this happen on a FT, but the players saved me. sounds like team B really didn't know what they were doing.

Twice, In Thirty Years ...
 

Note eg-italy's quote of "vast majority of cases". I've been doing this for almost thirty years and, from the lead, I've missed the ball going in, or not going in, twice, because I was watching rebounding action.

Once I noted a flip of the net out of the corner of my eye, thought the ball went in and then out of bounds, after which I let the nonscoring team inbound the ball without me administering the throwin. Turns out the shot missed short, flipped the net, and went out of bounds.

Another time, the shot went out of bounds like a rocket, so I thought it had missed and went out of bounds. I blew the whistle and was about to administer the throwin when I discovered that the shot went in. This was the first game of the season, the nets were a year old and were really loose. The athletic director told me that the new nets were on his desk and he hadn't gotten around to putting them up yet.

In both cases, my partner, the trail, immediately bailed me out. It is the responsibility of the trail to watch the ball once it gets up near the basket. How else can he, or she, catch a goaltending, or basket interference violation, or "touchdown" a made three point shot from his, or her, primary?

Here, in our little corner of Connecticut, we've been taught to keep our eyes down as the lead. Watch for those rebounding pushes, grabs, and elbows. Trust your partner, the trail, to take care of business up near the basket.

guilty

Just what I wanted to point out. Don't assume anything in a case like this: go for the "out of bounds", if you don't know for sure that the ball went in. The trail will come to rescue. I've seen the opposite: the ball didn't go in and the lead didn't call the "out of bounds". You can imagine the embarrassment for a very late call. It's easy to smile and say "well, I was looking down" after an undue call; it's not that easy for an obvious missed call.

+1

Ciao

"The story you are about to see is true ...
 

... only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."

That's what happens when you depend on spell check to fix typos. Or should they now be called "keyos"?

Steve.

Amen brother, that is how I've been taught...

Or Was It Steve Grommet ???
 

Steve Eyelet?

Ah jeez, Edith. :D