Partners not on same page....

[Freddy]

Of course, this is all after the fact. But perhaps this idea might be useful to keep the same kind of thing from happening again with your next new guy/gal.
A favorite thing to do in a pre-game is ask a partner new to me the question, "What are two or three of your favorite pet peeves, that is, what do you see partners doing and you say to yourself, 'I hope this new guy (me) won't do that tonight." This opens up the opportunity to express one or two things during the pregame which, though not necessarily pointed at the new partner, will come across loudly and clearly with the likelihood that the new partner will adjust to the pet peeves you've expressed.
This was a successful, non-offensive way for me to deal in advance with not a few "That Guys" assigned to me for the first time, whose shortfalls I had seen in games I've observed previously.
I began to do this because of a similar situation two years ago--partner wouldn't call a thing, nor use any mechanics, approved or not. Called the assignor who was unaware of this and adjustments were made to his schudule for the benefit of all. I think he went on to volleyball or something.
Contributions by posters of this discussion board helped me come up with a good list of pet peeves.

[Treeguy]

I had something similar. We had a BJV game and the first half went good. V had about 8 or 9 fouls and H about 5 or 6. At half, my partner comes to me and asks me to stop calling fouls in his area. I did not realize I was doing it, just following the play from my area to the basket, mostly at the lower box an my side as the trial. I said OK. The second half, I swallowed my whistle for play in the paint when I am trail. Bad mistake. I let about 5 or 6 fouls go for V and 1 for H. Fouls were about 9 to 2 in favor of H. V couch reasonably upset. After another no call he goes berserk and I T him. As I was reporting the T, he walks to my partner and lets him at it and he T's him for the second time and he's gone. Should never have happened. A valuable lesson learned at the expense of the coach. Next time I will talk it out with my partner and let him know I will follow drives to the basket that are near to my side. Most of these fouls were open to me and he is looking through players.

Am I wrong?

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Treeguy

I had something similar. We had a BJV game and the first half went good. V had about 8 or 9 fouls and H about 5 or 6. At half, my partner comes to me and asks me to stop calling fouls in his area. I did not realize I was doing it, just following the play from my area to the basket, mostly at the lower box an my side as the trial. I said OK. The second half, I swallowed my whistle for play in the paint when I am trail. Bad mistake. I let about 5 or 6 fouls go for V and 1 for H. Fouls were about 9 to 2 in favor of H. V couch reasonably upset. After another no call he goes berserk and I T him. As I was reporting the T, he walks to my partner and lets him at it and he T's him for the second time and he's gone. Should never have happened. A valuable lesson learned at the expense of the coach. Next time I will talk it out with my partner and let him know I will follow drives to the basket that are near to my side. Most of these fouls were open to me and he is looking through players.

Am I wrong?

No, you're not wrong.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Treeguy

I had something similar. We had a BJV game and the first half went good. V had about 8 or 9 fouls and H about 5 or 6. At half, my partner comes to me and asks me to stop calling fouls in his area. I did not realize I was doing it, just following the play from my area to the basket, mostly at the lower box an my side as the trial. I said OK. The second half, I swallowed my whistle for play in the paint when I am trail. Bad mistake. I let about 5 or 6 fouls go for V and 1 for H. Fouls were about 9 to 2 in favor of H. V couch reasonably upset. After another no call he goes berserk and I T him. As I was reporting the T, he walks to my partner and lets him at it and he T's him for the second time and he's gone. Should never have happened. A valuable lesson learned at the expense of the coach. Next time I will talk it out with my partner and let him know I will follow drives to the basket that are near to my side. Most of these fouls were open to me and he is looking through players.

Am I wrong?

Assuming 2 officials:

1. It is his primary, but not an ideal area for him to have.
2. He should be crossing over to get a good look at these plays.
3. It's an area where you should hold your whistle a second before getting the call from T. Give him a chance to make the call, but I'd get them.

[rockyroad]

In situations like this, presentation is everything...rather than giving your partner a lecture - which I guarantee you is exactly how it came across to him - ask questions. "Partner, what are you seeing on those drives to the basket?" or "Partner, what is the defender doing in the post that I am missing?" Your partner will respond way better to that kind of presentation, as opposed to "You..." followed by anything.

I have learned that it is way easier to get a crew on the same page when I don't act like the teacher lecturing a student.

[bainsey]

Originally Posted by Treeguy

Most of these fouls were open to me and he is looking through players.

Am I wrong?

Probably not. It's called a PRIMARY coverage area, not an EXCLUSIVE coverage area. I always tell a partner that if you see something in my PCA, call it. I'm not territorial.

That said, I still kicked a call recently in my partner's area.

I was the trail, and had a shooting foul. The coach thought it was a clean block ("why didn't HE call it"), and my partner thought it was, too. My partner nicely spoke to me at halftime, with the "trust your partner" message. Indeed, I broke the rule about calling out of your PCA. I wasn't late (I was way too quick), nor was I right.

Still, I appreciated his thoughts. Many partners will simply not say anything, and grumble about behind your back. That doesn't help anyone. I have far more respect for a partner that tries to give constructive criticism.

[eyezen]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

.

Hello stranger!

[Adam]

Originally Posted by eyezen

Hello stranger!

Old thread, he's still on sabbatical.

[eyezen]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Old thread, he's still on sabbatical.

oops!

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by eyezen

Hello stranger!

This thread is about a year old.

I almost missed that too.

Peace

[Tio]

This is something you unfortunately will always deal with.

My advice is to be REALLY good on your plays. Don't try to put the same weak calls into the game as your partner. Don't change how you referee.

Coaches will watch the film and see that your partner sucked and you did a good job. And will hopefully then rate accordingly.

As far as what you could have done, it depends on your relationship with the other official. If he is your peer, and you have a good relationship, I would definitely try to engage him by asking things like: "How do you feel the game is going?" "Are there any calls we didn't like?" Hopefully, you can start to have some honest dialog and improve things for the rest of the game.

If this other official is a "bigdog", I wouldn't waste your time. They are usually set in their ways and you don't really have the standing to approach them. So just be the BEST that YOU can be.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by freddie_g2001

Situation is this; I am sure everyone has called a game with someone that you are not on the same page with. I worked a championship tournament and My partner and I were not on the same planet. He was calling all over the floor, and "Breathe on you" fouls. Anyway, At halftime, I tactfully said, and in a polite way, I said, "partner, If you would just slow down a bit and referee the result of the play, Some of the fouls you might not have to call. He got very Defensive and Actually got Upset and felt he was being talked down to. He actually made the comment that He hates how Officials do that and etc. He also told me, "I called you to go work this game with me, Don't forget that. And it was him that did me the favor, etc. I said Ok, Got it and tried to change the subject. I didn't want to upset him anymore because we had another half to work. So we went out to work the 2nd half and because i didn't match his calls, We looked terrible as a crew. I wasn't about to make up fouls to be on the same page with him. Guess that made us very "INCONSISTENT" as the coaches like to use. I really tried to be a good partner but because he called everything, It looked like I didn't know what I was doing. I honestly didn't mean it in a degrading way but I can say, I will be ok if we don't work together again. Wondering if anyone else has had a partner that you just didn't blend in with.........Thanks for your input in advance.........freddie_g2001 at Yahoo.com

No matter how sweet you sounded, not very tactful IMO. How about "Am I letting them bang too much" This gives him a shot of 'fessing up' that he was a little over officious in his calls. If he doesn't bite, you know what kind of second half you're in for.

That said, so what if you hurt his feelings. You expressed your concerns and while you may be off his Christmas card list, he may adjust his calls for 2nd half which is really your goal.

What level? Sounds like JH tourney.

Edit: Sorry, just saw old thread responses