It might be, especially the "first time" it happens in a game.

Case in point: Scheduled three-person college game. One partner doesn't show. I'm trail in front court. Dribbler moves from my side, across the court to the FT line extended and looks as if she's going to continue down low.

I "automatically" turn away from the play to watch the post on my side.

My partner is "automatically" looking at the post play on his side.

Dribberl stops the dribble, holds the ball, starts another dribble, holds the ball again. All players stop. Dribbler drops ball and begins to walk to the other end.

Partner and I sheepishly look at each other and blow the whistle.

See, it was the "out" official on that side of the court who should have had that call. Problem is, there wasn't one.

I think Julie hit the nail.

I was at the University of Wisconsin last night watching what was supposed to be a Division-I basketball game.

I instantly became jealous at the 3-man mechanics used. Short distances, no need to come far on the floor, no long switches. That's where I gotta get :)

Looking at the differences between 2-man and 3-man closely, it is just amazing how much easier it is to cover a court with a third person. I'd gladly take 2/3 of a game fee every night to work 3-man in varsity games. But here in WI, there is no 3-man at the high school level. Ever.

Rich

Rich, you hit that nail on the head. Court coverage with 3 whistles is so much easier than with 2 whistles. I've had cases where I know that something happened, but no one could see what it was because we were either in transition or a difficult position to see AND a third pair of eyes would have been looking at that exact location.

3-Person Crews
 

Our 3 metro conferences use 3-person crews for all games; there are 3 games on one court per night - one 2-person crew does the sophomore game (girls or boys, then the opposite is held in another gym close-by with another 2-person crew), then the 3-person crew does a varsity girls followed by a varsity boys. I believe soon the whole state will be 3-person. There is much better court coverage, but the crew had better not miss a call 'cause all you hear then is "there are three of you out there and none of you saw that@!#!"

As far as three person working against you. It sometimes does. It should work in your favor. You are more likely to work ballside if you do three man. But by the same token you are not as ready to move quickly to get the position when you do two man.

I had heard the metro conferences in Milw are experimenting with 3-whistle crews????

Could be. I was making an assumption I shouldn't have made. I'm not in Milwuakee. I do know that the state tournament is played with two-man crews.

As a current "tweener" official. It is BY FAR easier to go from calling 2 person to 3 person, then from 3 to 2 person. I always ask my partners before doing a two person crew if they just did a 3 person or not. Then go over the differences. A couple of times early in the year I would have an official come across the lane (as in three man) which or assignor permits but doesn't require, but on transition forget to return to their side of the floor. ALways interesting for sure.

I work both 3 person and 2 person here in MN (sometimes in the same day) and yes it can be a challenge going back and forth. This is why a good pregame is so helpful no matter how much ball you have worked (together or not). As far as HS switch there is talk of it coming to tourney play in MN as well as making it optional (at least down here) for regualr season games via request. There has been no descision yet so everything here in MN is still 2 person. (they may work some 3 person HS in MPLS ST. paul) Working some 3 person I definately know the benefits of it. However the most frequent concerns I have heard from coaches AD's etc. is the cost as well as the availability of qualified officials. Some small schools in my area are struggling to make ends-meat as it is. So if you take average of $85/night (JV+Varsity) times the number of home games a school has in a season (about 25) one can see the cost concern. I personally would be willing to take a slight paycut to work 3 person in HS but I am not so sure all in my area share my opinion....