Some of us officials, that are doing post-season, have been sitting around talking about what the evaluators can possibly "ding" us on at the tournaments.

In regards to fouls...one official stated that we should give the closed fist sign before we go to the player control sign. (He is backed up by this in the NFHS signal chart) But, many of us do not give the closed fist first, just right to the hand behind the head and then the direction we are going. (Trying not to close fist the direction like the women's mechanic)
What are some of your opinions on this particular item?

We talked about table side counting, not crossing your body with the directional signal, hand "flick" away from the FT shooter, etc.

Any other "little" items some of you can come up with would be appreciated to allow us to discuss.

Dude

Raising a fist on a player control foul is the proper mechanic. It allows you to make eye contact with a partner if there's a double whistle. It helps avoid the dreaded "blarge." My guess is that there's rarely a "blarge" when both officials raise a fist before giving their preliminary.

Agree on PC signal....call the foul first, then indicate type. Best reason, as BktBallRef stated is to give that split-second separation on a double whistle.

As far as signals, just keep them clean. Not crossing your body, etc is just a part of that. I've never been one to obsess on the table-side counting issue. As long as its clearly visible and neat, you're fine.

Most important things I believe in playoffs (well, anytime, but especially in the post-season) are clock and table awareness, and a patient whistle.

Make sure you polish your socks.

Iron your socks as well.

Here are a few more nit-picky questions:

1) Officials Manual, Pg. 44 275. "During the intermission between quarters...the Referee shall take a position with the ball at the division line on the sideline opposite the table indicating the direction of play with the placement of the ball."

What does "indicating the direction of play with the placement of the ball" mean? Ball on floor in direction of play? Ball in hand in direction of play? (Hard to use hand signal while holding ball in direction of play)

2) Concerning Technical Fouls...Do you switch on a T? Some Officials like to administer the foul shots that called the T, some do not.

3) Concerning the Jump Ball...Officials Manual Pg. 29 213. "The Umpire will go in the direction of the ball."
See Diagram 14 on Pg.28 Officials Manual

C'mon now, we all know the Referee almost ALWAYS stays as Trail, no matter which way the ball goes...don't we? ;)
(Seriously, I have pregamed the correct way before and my partners have looked at me with the "deer in the headlight" gaze.)

What say you on the above?

Dude

Fist in the air, bird dog, hand behind the head and then the direction we are going? Seems like alot for player control.

1) Facing table; ball on left or right hip.
2) Switch on all fouls; don't consider a "T" as special, consider it as just doing' bidness.
3) Try it; you'll like it. It's a very smooth mechanic.

No need to bird-dog or point direction on a PC foul. There's only one player in control of the ball, so no need to bird-dog him. Also, since the PC is always on the offense, no need to point, since we're obviously going "that way!"

For many years, I went directly to the PC signal, and didn't use a raised fist. I've come to the conclusion that the avoidance of the blarge is much more important than the instantaneous "sell" of giving the secondary signal immediately. Just my opinion.

Chuck

You gotta be thinking TC, now
 

NCAA Tourney Ref,
Uh,oh!
I just thought, ... I am not sure that I have bird-dogged all year. Hmmmm. :rolleyes:

By RookieDude
2) Concerning Technical Fouls...Do you switch on a T? Some Officials like to administer the foul shots that called the T, some do not.
___________________________________________

I think that they officials that like to administer their own T do so to get away from the sideline so they don't have to listen to the coach give him an earful about the call. I know it is not the proper method, so don't jump all over me telling me this is the wrong way. This is just the reason I've been given by the officials that do this.

Going "Opposite" accomplishes the same thing.

1) I agree with mick - facing table, ball on left or right hip.

2) We have the calling official put the ball in play opposite the table.

3) We like to have the umpire follow the ball on long tips, in some cases this means the referee will become the lead.

Just my humble opinion.
Blackhawk

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ChuckElias

Quote:

For many years, I went directly...

Chuck --

You are way too inexperienced to use the phrase, "For many years..." which makes your upcoming weekend all the more terrific!!

juulie

Realize, though, that administering the T means that when the ball goes the other way, you'll now be trail AND tableside. When the coach is teetering on the brink, I want to be acroww from the table during the T, and then down on the endline and away from the table when the ball is at the other end.

I've been about 50/50 this season.

50 percent of the time I use one wrong mechanic and the other 50 I use a different, equally wrong mechanic.

On a PC foul that is not a blarge (elbow, swim move, push-off), I usually come right to the head.

On a blarge coming right up the gut where there could be a double-whistle, I come up with the fist first, but then seem to always follow up both the right hand behind the head and a left fist. I also have this nasty habit of firmly saying "that way." I'll punish myself by not letting myself work rec ball this Sunday :)

On the subject of blarges, I had four of them in the first quarter of the game the other night. All four were called PC fouls -- two by me and two by my partner. Didn't set well with one coach, but the worst he could come up with is that he'd never seen so many.

He doesn't have me working his game. I call a lot of PC fouls, mainly because I know what the phrase "legal guarding position" means.

Rich

4 blarges in one quarter. You are asking to catch it from both coaches. One blarge should have been enough for both of you. I have never had more than one blarge in a game.

I do hope you talked to your partner at halftime. You are showing the entire gym that you aren't on the same page and are now in for a long night. Hope you had patient coaches.

Coach, although my initial reaction was the same as yours, I have to think that he means only that there were four bang-bang block/charge plays and all four of them were called PC fouls. At least, I'm really hoping that's what he means. . .

Upon further review, I would agree. He is using blarge to indicate a close block/charge call. In that case, no prob.

Rich - don't insult your judgment by calling them blarges. The official who has it in their primary is, and should be, best positioned to make that call. If both of you have perfect view of that call, somebody isn't doing their job. If it's in your area and you call a charge, you better have seen it as well or better than your partner because you both shouldn't be fixated on the ball and the immediate play around the ball. There are 10 players out there, somebody has the on-ball stuff and somebody better see more than that. And if you do have the best view, then the partner's view is just an opinion, and should be considered to be much less informed then your call.

As for 4 charging calls in the first quarter, that would be a rare one. May cause you to reflect a bit as to whether or not you were seeing the play, especially if you think each patner saw each call diffrerently. But if you think you saw it well and made the right calls, it's a series of good calls that led to a statistical anomaly. Strange happenings are not necessarily wrong, but they can be used as a bit of an eye opener or to sharpen your concentration, especially if the partners don't agree on the calls that led to the anomaly.

Coach, at the start of the season I had three charge calls in the span of two minutes. In every one, the charge was taken by the same defender and committed by the same player.
All of them were easy calls because the defender was in position for 4 or 5 steps by the dribbler. After the third one, the coach told his player; "Two more stupid plays like that and you save me a lot of frustration. Maybe you should think about a pull up jumper, or changing directions when you drive the lane. You're makeing it too easy on the officials!"

He could have left off sentence number three, but at least he agreed with my calls.

I'll tell my players stuff like that all the time - maybe not in those words precisely, but along the lines of "you are begging the ref to make that call." And he is right - if you are going to make contact, at least do it in ambiguous circumstances so you have aq 50-50 chance. Don't crash into someone who has been camped so long that the official couldn't possibly miss it.

BTW - I'll take it that you agree with the full gist of my previous statement - 3 charges in a row is rare, but rare is not necessarily wrong.

When administering the T, where do you stand? It's kind of hard to see if the shooter steps on the line when you are low. Has anyone ever had a free throw violation shooting a T?

Trail should be assisting. He doesn't just hold hands with the non-shooters.

Last game of the season last year, a sectional playoff game, we had NINE player control fouls in the game.

It was amazing to actually see two teams that knew how to play defense with there feet and not their hands!

If a quick drive to the basket is coming from the trail's primary, he should stay with it all the way because the lead, who was previously looking off ball, may not have seen the entire play. Both referees would have a perfect view of the call, and both would be doing their jobs. ;)

Thanks - that clarifies things a bit. Since trail is staying with the drive:

1) Is he watching ball and not defense, or trying to follow ball and referee the defense as well (that off ball defender stepping in to take the charge)?

2) When the contact happens, whose call is it at that point?

Whoops. That is how I meant it, Hawks Coach. I haven't had a true blarge in 15 years (I almost did when my partner (as trail in 2-whistle) jumped up and called a PC foul when I was coming up with a fist and intending to call a block -- it was a bad call on his part in my opinion, but I left him take it). I shouldn't have said it hasn't happened.

The only requirement for a defender is that he establishes and maintains legal guarding position.

I'm tired of hearing grief when I call player-control fouls because the defender "was still moving."

Many officials take the easy way out and call those blocks when in fact the defensive team is being punished for playing good basketball.

Two of the PC fouls in the game I mentioned were classic "take the charge" plays that were no brainers. One was a "lead with the arm" dribbler right in front of me (and the bench). The fourth was the one where judgment was necessary since both defender and driver were moving. I just thought that the defender did his job and the driver initiated the contact.

Rich

Is this your promo?? :D
http://www.masterdigital.com/example...s/or-1711a.jpg

To see the whole play (which is why this particular play doesn't just revert soley to the lead) you gotta be watching the dribbler and refereeing the defense. You get some help in this regard because the play is moving away from you and your field of view becomes wider as he gets closer to the basket. Of course, your distance from the call increases as well. Tradeoffs.

2) When the contact happens, whose call is it at that point?

This is going to be the trail's call (again, back to the trail seeing the whole play). However, it's in the lead's primary and so the lead really needs to be aware of this one. If there are two whistles, the lead needs to give this one to the trail. It comes back to a good pre-game, good mechanics, and awareness.

That's my take on it. I'd love to hear what other people have to say on this.

Rich
Sounds like both of you did a great job (as did the defense). This goes back to that thread about one call influencing the next - and why you need to call the play you see in the way that you see it. Everybody tends to think of block charge as a 50-50 proposition, when the true ratio depends on the skill of the offense and defense involved and the plays that happen to occur that day - a lot of variation there, in reality.