Situation:
Varsity girls game out in the middle of Texas somewhere. Team B leading by 2. Player #23 from team A fouls player from team B with 5 seconds to go in game. Calling official (referee) is informed that this is #23's fifth foul. Coach and player are informed, players lineup for double-bonus free-throws. Referee is then informed by visiting team (team B) that #23 does not have 5 fouls according to their book. In an effort to make sure the books agree, the referee compares visiting book with home book. In official book, team fouls and personal fouls do not reconcile (personal fouls = 21 for game, team fouls = 20). Also, referee notices that team B #33 has no fouls, and specifically remembers calling two consecutive fouls on #33 only moments earlier. The visiting book only has 3 fouls for #23; also, total personal fouls and team fouls both equal 20 in visiting book.

Decision:
Referee decides to have official book changed to reflect visiting book (to the dismay of the official scorekeeper), allowing #23 to remain in the game.

What would you have done? After you have decided, read on:

Team B player missed first free throw. The long rebound from second free throw ends up in the hands of team A player #23, who fires a three point shot from half court. Swish, game over, team A wins by 1.

As you probably guessed, I was the ref. Thoughts?

Josh in El Paso, Texas

Based on the other errors in the home book, I would say that you made the correct decision.

If visiting book had at least two fouls on #33 in addition to having everything else in apparent order, I would say you made an outstanding call. :)

And the home team needs to replace that scorekeeper with somebody who will follow the game.

My thoughts are...I bet the Visiting Team Coach had wished their scorekeeper had kept his/her mouth shut! :D
(note to scorekeeper: always let anyone with a #23 be disqualified) ;)

Serioulsy, you had definite knowledge of the fouls on #33...I would have done exactly as you did.

BTW, are you saying "...foul on thirty-three" or
"...foul on three three"? I like the former...say the whole number.

Dude

I say "white, three three, [insert foul]". All of the mentors I have had have wanted me to use that language. Do you guys use different language when calling out double numbers (11, 22, 33...) then when calling out other numbers?

Josh

I think most scorers have fewer problems with 32 than they have with 3-2. But basically, it's personal preference.

In my area (SE minn) we are asked to report the number as it is said (twenty-two) etc. The rationalle I believe is the fact that saying two-two may possibly be construed as saying the number two multiple times thus the incorrect recording of the foul on number 2. It is a no no to say the number twice when reporting it anyways in my mind. I verbalize the color-number-and result. The less ways we find to confuse the scorekeeper the better. IMO a good pregame is needed w/ the table no matter how long they have worked as they can make an offical look very good or very bad...

What do you include in your table "pre-game"?

I tell the book to help us out and remind of the 7th foul (bonus) We as officials on the floor should be aware of this but an extra reminder doesn't hurt. Also holding up the "5" if a player gets his/her 5th foul. Also I politely ask the book to keep the possesion arrow manually (i have seen incorrect switching and this has verified the correct direction) it is also nice to have them let you know when a coach is out of timeouts. I do notify the coach when he is out but I know others that believe he should be knowledgable of what he has left and do not, but I believe that was a heated topic in a past thread. I will also let the book person know that I will be asking for a thumbs up confirmation w/ under 1 minute remaining in the game, so we as officials can leave the floor after the horn.

As far as the clock operator, I make sure they are firmiliar w/ clock start/stop signals, as well as reminding them not to put up a team foul until we have reported it. I have seen officials erroneously award bonus throws by "believing" the number of fouls on the scoreboard. I may be missing something here and others may think this is unnessary but I have found that being on the same page w/ the table saves headaches. JMO