nightmare of a partner
 

Hey whats up fellow officials. I'm on the new side of officiating. Anyway today was my 10th game of the year, been pretty busy I worked for two weeks but i just didnt want to rush into it now im comfortable and have 8 this week and 7 next week. Anyway i had a bad partner tonight but i didnt show it. Started first with pregame which he had no clue about 1 and 1 situations, what a player vs team control foul was, and how the possession arrow works!!! Anyway first quarter is sloppy he goes in wrong position and doesnt shows a weak whistle, and the coach knows. A couple times he said white ball but pointed black!! and then gave it to the wrong team. Next he didnt watch my hand as it was held high, and threw the ball in play when the subs were coming in. Next, he didnt know correct positioning on free throws. It was frustrating, into half time i was nice and asked questions and asked if he had any questions. Second half the home team is down 14 and they come back in the 4th quarter he called about 3 or 4 you could tell continuation buckets plus the foul which turned to be a game changer!! it was frustrating... and worst of all we have to work games together again this week!!! and i picked these games up last minute.... man ole man can this week be over

Mike,

I've worked with that guy, too. And a long time ago, I was that guy. Everybody starts out somewhere, and nobody is really as good as they think they are.

Help the guy if you can. If you can't, then just get through the games as best you can.

Mike -

You have just described everyone on this message board.

My advice after 20 yrs is to keep your mouth shut.

I am sure that scrapper and myself could still make those mistakes today.

If you start talkin to people about this you can come off as a "know it all."

And then dudes won't want to work with you. Hang in there and just do what you were taught.

Who knows he might be on a different message board sayin the same about you......

I think nearly all of us have either been that horrible partner or worked with him/her. In retrospect, I find myself asking "What did I do to make him/her a better official?" Most of the time, my answer is "nothing". It's my belief that we all have an obligation to help our fellow officials improve, knowing there will be those that have no desire or capacity for improvement.

ouch man. poor OP came in here to vent a bit and you tell him to keep his mouth shut.

But honestly thats how it works out, sometimes you just have to live with it. Especially because we were all beginners at one point...hang in there!

Got keep those rookies in line !!!!!

And don't forget to buy the beer Mike when you work with a vet !!!!

What exactly do you mean by this statement?

Mike- When we're on the court we're judged as a team, not individuals. It's both (or all) of our responsibilities to make sure the game is officiated as accurately as possible, despite the shortcomings we all face in one aspect or another. Keep on track and working hard.

I was wondering the same thing; I see more officials err on the side of not counting a basket than the other way.

Most definitely. There are a lot of fans and coaches (and unfortunately too many officials) that incorrectly deem a foul "on the floor" even though that has nothing to do with the call.

Rationale for calling it that way..."This ain't the NBA!" :rolleyes:

Retort: "True, but the rule is virtually the same for both."

Haha yeah...I can and have used this line on a coach. Still doesn't make it easy when a partner comes in gunsablazin' waving off a shot and yelling "on the floor!" on a similar type play...

That's what pregame/halftime/post-games are for. :D

What i meant by that was, A1 would dribble in the lane get bumped (whistle) dribble dribble shoot, count the basket. Obvious on the floor calls.

Me too. Tough when you're working with someone who incorrectly waves one off and then you count one just a few minutes later.

Ya I just asked if had any questions and i said good job after like i normally would. Your right im not going to get down on the man. Even though he was an older gentleman i would guess 40s or 50s so he cant be that out of it. But i have another this week with him. So we will see how it goes, but the players, coaches, and fans new he was out of sync and took advantage of it. But ill keep yall updated. But your right im not going to look like a donkey ya know telling him what he should do

Two points...

1. If the play happened as you said it did, that wouldn't count under NBA rules (which I'm assuming was what you were referencing by "continuation calls")

2. Avoid using "on the floor." The fact that the foul happened while the player was on the floor has no bearing on whether a foul is a shooting foul or not. It's all about the habitual shooting motion. If something must be said, "before the shot" would be better.

+7

Never, Ever ...
 

Agree. These three words should never be used by officials in describing a continuation play and the act of shooting.

I prefer, "No shot".

I use "No shot" as well and wave off the shot before giving the preliminary signal for the foul followed by the throw-in spot or signal how many shots we're shooting for the bonus.

I'll use this too along with the mechanics zm1283 described...the important thing is getting rid of the phrase, "on the floor." :D

Well, there usually is a shot. So, I say "before the shot."

Whatever happened to "one man, one vote"? :(

It went out with the 19th Amendment.

Mike,

Like others have said, we were all there at one time. I found your post somewhat hard to read. I don't think I'm alone and that is why some people didn't understand what you mean. The other thing, if you don't think he did a good job, why tell him he did? I have a growing list of things we do as officials for the sake of tradition that are useless. Telling someone they did a good job instead of "nice working with you" or being honest is on that list. Who does it help to tell someone something that isn't true?

I almost always say "nice working with you," because it's almost always true. Whether I worked with a rookie on his 2nd game, or a veteran in his 42nd year, I typically enjoy myself.

He's a democrat.

Or he is dead.

Those reports have been exaggerated, greatly.

Happens to me all the time....
 

It sounds like you are saying you enjoy working the game which is something I can agree with. There have been partners that I absolutely do not enjoy working with. IMO, those are two different things.

Guess I'm not the only 55 yr old rookie ! :o

Sorry, the important qualifier was "almost." There are exceptions, and I don't say "nice working with you" on those occasions. I'm not into lying.

Then we agree. I get the impression that the OP did not enjoy working with this officials, but said it anyway. Like you, I'm not going to lie.

[QUOTE=mikeb;706208]Even though he was an older gentleman i would guess 40s or 50s

So when exactly did this become older??????:confused:

At the risk of coming across as too critical....

For someone so young he can't find the enter key while he's typing or make a decent sentence structure, I'm guessing mid-30s would also qualify as "older." Or maybe it's just old.

[QUOTE=Snaqwells;706513]True story.