Thoughts from a coach

[TheOracle]

Originally Posted by bainsey

The following was posted on our state basketball's message board, thread entitled "Stop Officiating the Scoreboard!" I'll just post the OP (there are some interesting replies) for now...
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Why do some official [sic] believe that they have a right to try and even the playing surface by adjusting the play calling for the inferior opponent?

In four different games this season I was informed by 4 different officials that they were not going to make on obvious foul or travel call because, “Look at the score board!”

Do the rules of the game change just because of the number of points up on the score board?

Is this reason to allow for excessive contact by an inferior defender?

At what point does an official decide they have the right to change the rules of a game?

What this really comes down to is, why do some officials believe that they are bigger than the game?

10-15 years ago officials were essentially taught to make attempts to avoid lopsided foul counts. This was done under the guise of "game management". There are still older D-1 officials who decide when the "game needs a call" or a "team needs a call", and do so. In the case of blowouts, some guys just want the game over with and others don't want to deal with calling fouls that won't affect the game. Complacency affects a lot of officials, despite the fact that few admit it. Problem is, most of the folks on this message board work very hard, so they do not get complacent very often. But it happens a lot more than you think. Watch some films.

Today, we go by the film. If it is a foul, call it. Younger officials at the higher levels will get penalized for not doing so. It's the evolution of officiating from art to science. Until most officials buy into that and execute it, the perception will be there and have some validity. Some guys refuse to flex in 3-man at the high school level. That always cracks me up.

The perceptions of coaches and fans are valid. They may not always be right, or may rarely be right, but writing their opinions off, when some officials do exactly what the coaches and fans complain about, doesn't help officials as a collective group.