First Game in 4 Hours!

[Rich]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Never said it did.

The "shots" I call are related directly to the referee's responsibilities. Most specifically, that's addressing any issues that might occur with the table crew and the proper administration of the game. I can't, and I'm not going to, over rule a call but as the R I'm going to make sure we properly penalize anything that's called. We're going to discuss situations as needed and if a decision has to be made, I'll make it.

For example, this happened in a game two years ago when we had a fill-in.

Second half, A1 is holding the ball in the low post when B1 attempts to grab it. A1 is doing a good job avoiding the held ball when there's a whistle from the trail. TWEET, "TIMEOUT!" He grants a timeout to Coach B. Coach A gives me a "WTF" look? I have to agree.

We grant the timeout to B. After the timeout, I explained to her that A1 had possession of the ball and that the timeout should not have been granted. As such, it's A's ball on the endline.

Had I not been the R, the situation could have been more difficult to correct.

Why? Any official can screw that up and once the whistle blows the only choice is to enforce it as an IW and give the ball back to A. I can make that mistake if I'm the R, U1, or U2. If the R granted that timeout, I would make sure that I stepped in and made sure that we got it right.

I don't see any magical powers required here.

I usually let the junior person (if I'm working with a stranger) "be the R" if only to let that person lead the pregame, etc. Once the game starts, it's usually obvious if one official's stronger than the other, anyway.