Lesson from a young guy
 

I find these boards very helpful for a young official like myself, so I'd like to contribute a situation from my game last night and what I learned from it.

3-person crew, B-JV.
In the second half I was the L during a play where there was a loose ball in the corner of the front court between myself and the T. I went out to call the direction even though it wasn't my sideline (it was the Trail's sideline). I called Home ball, and he came in to correct me, so I changed the direction to Visitors.
That was my first mistake. Call your own lines on out of bounds. I was right to follow the play to the corner watching for any contact/fouls. I should not have blown my whistle and called a direction.

There's more...
Late second half, close ball game, I called a foul on the Home defender (plowed through a screen). I accidentally punched (indicating an offensive foul) and had to reverse myself again. I reported the foul on Home and proceeded to get an earful from their coach.

Not done...
As he turned away from me I heard some inexcusable language and T'd him.

Still...
At the next timeout I was on the block when a fan walked down the baseline and made a semi-racist comment about black history month and the Home coach (who is black). He obviously disagreed with my T. I've thought about booting him from the gym since then, but I'm not sure if I would given the chance to do it again.

In the locker room...
My mentor, who came to watch me, opens my eyes to what went wrong. I'm convinced that had I not poached the out of bounds call (later reversed), and didn't make the wrong preliminary signal (later reversed) on that foul, I wouldn't have arrived at the situation where the Home coach got T'd. I realize everyone is responsible for their own actions, but as an official, if I can avoid situations like that by being on top of my game then that's the best possible outcome.

Questions/comments/feedback/anything is welcome.

The fan is gone. He can read about it in the papers, if he can read.

Always know where game management is located. That fan should have been escorted out. That kind of crap is inexcusable.

The other stuff will come with time. Slow down. You do not have to give a prelim signal on the foul immediately. In some cases, a double whistle might happen and a blarge could occur. On OOB, if there is no whistle on the other line, I have sometimes blown my whistle and raised my arm to stop the clock, but deferred to my partner for the call. Going from 2 to 3 makes it hard to adjust sometimes.

Hard to say what is right without being there. As this was a JV game and many of those coaches complain no matter what you do. Maybe your mentor said this for many reasons, but I have no reason to say he was wrong or right for that matter.

Peace

Okay, when I give the wrong prelim on these plays, I'll give the coach an extra second's explanation if he seems like he wants one. "Coach, I had defensive foul all the way; I just signaled it wrong." He needs to accept this explanation and move on. If he doesn't, it's on him. Everyone does this now and then, especially early in your career. It gives you good practice dealing with coaches. :D

As for the line call, it's always a good idea to try to focus on not calling other lines, but it's a good idea in and of itself regardless of whether the coach was an arsehole about it all.

Sorry Coach, Inadvertent Whistle ...
 

Don't feel too bad. Been doing this for thirty years and twice, not just once, but twice, I've called rebounding fouls on A1 "fouling" A2. Really. Twice. Stuff happens.

Also, a defender plowing through a screen actually more closely resembles, in appearance, many team control or player control fouls than typical defensive fouls. The mistake is not that unlikely with a newer official.

Good self critique and obviously you learned something from all four things that happened, which is how you get better.

this is so spot on. like the original poster, i'm a newer guy myself. one weakness i made a pre-season goal was illegal screens, plowing through them, etc. they happen so fast, and i can get confused in a heartbeat. this year has been better, and me slowing down has helped a lot. still, i need a lot of improvement in this area. if i'm not ref'ing, or watching a game live (watching other refs) i'm watching a college game on tv...i try to focus on the area where i see this situation might happen.

+ 1

That's what I was thinking as I read.

Understanding what you did wrong, listening to others corrective criticism, and then working on those areas will help you improve.

Many of us have been there.

I used to have the bad habit as the C of blowing my whistle when the ball went out on the endline on my side of the court. HOLD THAT WHISTLE! Not my line. Got it!

Keep working at it. Good for you!

Kick the fan out. As for the others, no big deal. Just be more aware and you'll be fine.