lost the shooter

[OnePutt]

BV (3-man) game with lots of fouls, lots of activity after whistles, lots of opportunity to lose concentration (which I did). The bonus sneaked up on us and we almost lost the shooter after the 7th team foul. 1) Other than keeping your head out of your nether-region, is there something you do individually or as a crew to stay in-the-moment as far as foul count? We try to stay alert and communicate with each other when there are 6 or 9 team fouls and the next foul will put a team in the bonus or double bonus. When I'm on the clock I tell the reporting official when the next foul will put a team in the bonus. But as an official, this is an area I struggle with. Adult ADD? Probably. 2) What if we had lost the shooter? How should we proceed? My inclination is to huddle and pick one as best we can.

[RobbyinTN]

As far as losing the shooter, when I call a foul I try to do two things immediately - get the number of the oen who committed the foul and get the number of the shooter. I may say "Red, 22 push, 15 is my shooter". Granted there are times it gets so busy in there but if you make it an effort to do this each time, you will find it easier to do.

[Raymond]

I track the foul counts. After every foul I immediately check the scoreboard to see if the count changes. On numerous occasions I have had the crew check the foul count when I noticed it hasn't changed on the board. If teams fouls aren't posted on the scoreboard then I track them in my head. If I lose count then on the next dead ball opportunity I will check with the scorer(s).

My crews always keep eyes on or verbally identify the shooter. Recently we misidentified a shooter going into a time-out. But the players gave themselves away coming to the line and we corrected the situation before administering any free throws.

[bob jenkins]

Start getting the shooter at 5. "15's the shooter, if we're in the bonus."

Better to have it and not need it than to not have it and need it.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by RobbyinTN

"Red, 22 push, 15 is my shooter".

Good idea for you young pups. If I tried this at my age, fifty percent of the time we'd have 22 shooting the free throws, and 15 would have picked up a foul.

When I call a foul, especially if it's an off the ball foul, and I know that we're in the bonus, after giving my preliminary signals, I will point to the shooter and say, "Shooter", hoping that my partner will pick up the shooter.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Good idea for you young pups. If I tried this at my age, fifty percent of the time we'd have 22 shooting the free throws, and 15 would have picked up a foul.

When I call a foul, especially if it's an off the ball foul, and I know that we're in the bonus, after giving my preliminary signals, I will point to the shooter and say, "Shooter", hoping that my partner will pick up the shooter.

I do this and if I'm close enough to the shooter I try to make eye contact with them and tell them they're shooting free throws, whether I'm the calling official or not.

A big part of this is court awareness and just slowing down. It takes a while to get a grasp of it. I was into my third year before I really got good at it. Now stuff like knowing if we're close to the bonus, finding the shooter, etc. comes easy for me.

The thing I hate is when I call the foul and then momentarily forget who I called the foul on. This usually happens when you have a PC foul or players on the floor and there is a scrum. I try to say the number of the player that fouled to myself as I'm going to the table.

[biggravy]

If I'm not the calling official I try to go get my partner's shooter when I rotate. Actually I pregame it that way. YMMV.

[refiator]

Don't forget that you have a 4th official sitting at the table keeping the book. your scorekeeper most likely is following the play all the way to the hoop. If by some horrible set of brain-farts and none of the 3 officials knows who the shooter was, go to the table. Your table crew can probably help to bail you out.
If not, shame on all of you.......

[Mregor]

Originally Posted by biggravy

If I'm not the calling official I try to go get my partner's shooter when I rotate. Actually I pregame it that way. YMMV.

I agree with this one. You have 1 or 2 partners out there. They should get the shooter. We pregame this as well and we always say "I got your shooter" as we point rather than giving a number to lessen chance of confusion or lack of focus.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mregor

We point rather than giving a number to lessen chance of confusion or lack of focus.

That's why I do it. At my age, I get confused and lose my focus on my way to the refrigerator during commercials while watching basketball games on television.