Tough Spot in 2-Man

[stiffler3492]

I'm lead on the end line. The ball is on my side, as I can see out of the corner of my eye, but it's up near the division line. The ball goes out of bounds on my sideline. I didn't see who it went off of, partly because my eyes were shifting from my primary to my line, partly because I didn't have a good look at it anyway.

Luckily my partner knew who knocked it out of bounds.

Any techniques you guys use for this tough spot?

[Adam]

Exactly what you did. One of the toughest calls to make is your OOB line in your partner's primary; especially a call in the backcourt as lead.

Some areas give this to the trail anyway. In my area, this is still the lead's line, but the trail will normally help with the call.

Hit the whistle, then look to your partner for help; he should be expecting it.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Hit the whistle, then look to your partner for help; he should be expecting it.

Agree. When in doubt, stop the clock first. Then figure it out. You've got two officials out there. You both should be able to figure it out, and if not, there's always the possession arrow. But get that damn clock stopped.

[Back In The Saddle]

This is part of my regular two-person pre-game for both tough spots (sideline above FTLE and end line beyond the far lane line). Depending on how my partner feels about it, the lead will either whistle, signal stop clock and say, "Help!," or whistle, signal stop clock and give the official deer in the headlights stare. Either way, trail should already be expecting to help with this call and will respond by giving a clear direction signal, which the lead will mirror. And, on the rare occasion when the lead is so preoccupied with play in his area that he doesn't see the ball go OOB, the trail will simply whistle it and make the call.

[stripes]

In my pregame, I ALWAYS have the trail make the call on ALL OOB above the FTLE. It would be very rare that the lead will be looking anywhere near the area where the ball is and the trail will be on ball for the play and should be looking right at the OOB call. BITS referred to the "deer in the headlights" look that partners give each other at times (one of the things I hate) and, on this call, it can be avoided by having the official who is on ball make the call.

This is standard practice in my area and required a lot of concentration to break when I moved and refereed in another state fo a couple of years. I actually had one game where I was lead, the ball went OOB above the FTLE on my line, I was busy working my area and had no idea it went out, the ball was bounding OOB with my partner staring at it, and my partenr sat there watching the ball waiting for me to blow my whistle. Once the players stopped playing, I looked at my partner (who was still looking at the ball) and finally blew my whistle for the OOB. I had to ask for help, which my partner gave and we went on (looking like two morons IMO). At the end of the quarter, I asked my partner why he didn't blow his whistle and all he could say is that "it was your line" and I was waiting for you. I agreed that it was my line, but asked if we would have performed any better as a crew if he had blown the line and we continued to play without the awkward silence. IMO, he was so concerned about calling the lines as outlined that he helped us to lose credibility by staring at the ball and then signalling only after I asked for help. It was obvious that I didn't see the play and he looked like he didn't know what to do until I asked for help.

Just my opinion.

[jritchie]

Haven't called a 2-man game in 3 years, wouldn't know how to revert back to 2-man if I had too! They need to just go ahead and make it mandatory for all states, would make life so much easier for us officials!

[Kelvin green]

Originally Posted by stripes

In my pregame, I ALWAYS have the trail make the call on ALL OOB above the FTLE. It would be very rare that the lead will be looking anywhere near the area where the ball is and the trail will be on ball for the play and should be looking right at the OOB call. BITS referred to the "deer in the headlights" look that partners give each other at times (one of the things I hate) and, on this call, it can be avoided by having the official who is on ball make the call.

This is standard practice in my area and required a lot of concentration to break when I moved and refereed in another state fo a couple of years. I actually had one game where I was lead, the ball went OOB above the FTLE on my line, I was busy working my area and had no idea it went out, the ball was bounding OOB with my partner staring at it, and my partenr sat there watching the ball waiting for me to blow my whistle. Once the players stopped playing, I looked at my partner (who was still looking at the ball) and finally blew my whistle for the OOB. I had to ask for help, which my partner gave and we went on (looking like two morons IMO). At the end of the quarter, I asked my partner why he didn't blow his whistle and all he could say is that "it was your line" and I was waiting for you. I agreed that it was my line, but asked if we would have performed any better as a crew if he had blown the line and we continued to play without the awkward silence. IMO, he was so concerned about calling the lines as outlined that he helped us to lose credibility by staring at the ball and then signalling only after I asked for help. It was obvious that I didn't see the play and he looked like he didn't know what to do until I asked for help.

Just my opinion.

Very well said!.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by stripes

In my pregame, I always have the trail make the call on all out of bounds above the foul line extended.

Here in our little corner of Connecticut, we have three schools of thought on this.

Old timers use the old NFHS mechanics. The lead has the sideline all the way back to the far endline.

Brand new officials are taught by the training committee that the lead has the sideline back as far as the division line. The trail has all the lines in the backcourt, including the far sideline in the backcourt.

Others go with an "option" in the IAABO manual. The lead has the sideline back to the foul line extended. The trail has the rest of that far sideline.

I just wish that we could come up with one mechanic and stick to it. When I make such a suggestion to those in charge, I'm always told the same thing, "Pregame it".

Question: For those of you who use the second, or third, option (above) does it change whether, or not, you're in a half court set, or in transition?