I've had a chance to watch a lot of of the Tourney, and I don't know if I'm seeing things, or what.

I'm seeing next to no foul calls in the paint by the Center official. I mean none. Nada. Zip. What I think I am seeing is a lot of Lead officials calling across the key.

Whatever happened to that textbook "Center Call", where a guy in the post opposite the Lead gets hacked?

Am I seeing things? Do I have my 3-man mechanics wrong?

I noticed the same thing. I chalk it up to these mostly being older officials. They used to do it that way (call across the key) when they started back in the days of two man and they continue to do it now.
Personally, I think that it really sucks to see the Final Four officiated incorrectly. They call traveling during throw-ins, give foul-tip and clapping signals on blocked shots, point the direction on an OOB call and then point at the player it last touched (which often looks like the official is changing his call and pointing the other way), and for the most part ignore the primary areas of coverage.
Officials that are currently not working at this pinnacle cannot possibly watch these guys and aspire to be like them. They are also further propagating incorrect rules knowledge and mechanics. "Do as I say, not as I do." rings true here.

I have seen it.
 

I have seen the Center make many of these calls during the season and the tournament. Not quite sure what games you have seen, but I have seen many double whistles with the Center official. But the Center is only going to make so many of these calls to begin with. Their job is not to just call things in the paint, but screens and other action away from the ball or in a place where his partners might have an overload of players.

Peace

I've seen a lot of "on the back" calls from the L. I saw one in the Kansas game where the L had 3, count them 1,2,3 players in front of him and he called a foul on the back on the 4th player. From the camera angle (C-side) there was no way he could have seen a on the back.

Oh, Oh!!
 

Bart,

you are going to get it. There is no such thing as on the back, or over the back. Push, Push!!!!

Re: Oh, Oh!!
 

Woodee,

I am sure Bart is talking about the type of call that is being made, not what the rule indicates. Many camps or clinicians talk about the L not making the "over the back" call, but saying that the C or T should be the one to get that. I think he is just refering to the teachings that many of us have had.

Peace

I am not working at this "pinnacle" and will probably never be but I think I and a bunch of other officials here would give just about anything to "be like these guys" Being a molecular biologist send me some of your DNA, I will clone two more of you and then every game will be officiated perfectly with the correct signals and perfect mechanics. These guys are the top 3 college basketball officials in the game this year as VOTED BY THEIR PEERS (assignors) I really don't understand your rationalle behind bashing D1 officials at every opertunity you get. Could it be jealosy???? These guys are the best in the business. end of story..... Give them the props they deserve. Again JMO

Boy are you out to lunch.

I wasn't "bashing" anybody, nor do I really ever take the opportunity to criticize the D1 officials. I was simply curious about some oddities I thought I was seeing, and wondering if perhaps my perception of the mechanics (that are hammered home at every evaluation and camp we attend) was wrong, or if there were other factors at play. Or if the TV perspective skewed things at all.

Your post was unbelievably condescending, insulting, and out of line.

Go soak your head.

Knock, knock, knock, knock!!!!
 

Canuckrefguy, he was not talking about you. He was addressing Nevadaref. Your question was very legit and asked in the proper spirit. And you have not come all over this board talking about D1 Officials and what they are doing wrong. Relax, relate, release!!!

Peace

Hmmmmmm, yeah, I see that.

I think I'll just take all that venom back, now.

(insert casual nonchalant humming and whistling here)

Sorry, MN guy.

This is the only game in town. I do think its good to talk about and critique the officials. This is how we learn.

Championship game, and several good "C" calls, including that really tough block-charge call....that could have gone either way IMHO.

I take it all back!

As the "basher" I'll be happy to respond.
First, every criticism that I listed in that post was 100% true. All of us on this board know that we are told at camps and evaluations over and over not to do these things or use these unofficial mechanics. I think that it is totally legitimate to point out that these top dogs on TV do these exact things. They should be held accountable for it, too.
Second, you're right that these D-1 officials are the top in the game. What they are not, is above criticism or error. I will happily listen and learn from my mistakes. They should do the same.
Third, I do not believe that being selected by the assignors/ NCAA Men's Committee necessarily equates to a selection of their peers. My opinion is that this is a highly political process and that favoritism likely plays a much bigger role than merit. JMHO.
Lastly, whether true or not, my self-confidence makes me believe that I could do just as good a job, if not better, than many of these guys. I feel sorry for any official who does not believe the same about themselves. While I would give a great deal to be WHERE these guys currently are, I would not want to be LIKE them at all. I would call the game with the correct mechanics, not LIKE they do. That is my main message.
PS I was not offended at all by you expressing your opinion of my post. :)

While I stand by my earlier criticisms, I am going to do what MN 3 asked. Here is me giving Gerald Boudreaux the props he deserves for that PC foul from the C. I thought McNamara was moving backwards and took it squarely in the chest. That call was 100% correct IMHO. I do not think that it could have gone the other way.
I will also say that I was very pleased to see Mr. Boudreaux selected for this game. I saw both of his earlier tournament assignments and thought that he did a great job in some very tough situations. Did I agree with every call he made? No. But he did convince me that he is a quality official with the vast majority of his calls and the way he handled the difficult situations.

I do not know if everything you said was true. That is subject to interpretation. And having been to college camps, the evaluators do not hold officials to this standard of "proper" or "non-proper" signal mechanics as you state. Actually they want you to do some specific things and I have very seldom not seen an official do what they are basically instructed to do. Also remember that each conference has differnet standards and expectations. So what might be acceptable in the Big Ten, might be completely different in the ACC.

True, but there is a way to do it. I personally do not think calling out officials for one mistake in one game is the way to go. But you seem to think that is professional and needs to be voiced here.


Well welcome to the real world. But I always find it interesting how others become successful they always claim it is "politics" that got them there or suggest that. It is almost never the folks that are at or near the top that claim politics.


I think anyone that is successful or aspires to be successful thinks they can do as well if not a better job. But usually these guys have several years of experience at that level they are at. You do not just fall into the National Championship game. I am just a lowly HS varsity and lower level college ref. I still in certain situations have to fight nervousness when I do a big varsity or college game that I have never done before. I can only imagine what it will be like if I do a game of that magnitude.

Peace

That would be. . . not.

No offense, Nevada, but you need to get a grip on reality. Your posts over the course of the tournament reek of jealousy and/or resentment. These guys don't work the D1 championship tournament b/c they put out for the assignors, ok? Do they have connections? Undoubtedly. But they've worked for years and years to improve their game. Bottom line is that they are the best officials in the country, outside of the NBA. That's why they're there, and you and I are posting on this dicussion board.

To be fair to you, when I was in my first couple years as a JV official, I often would sit and watch the Varsity games and think, "Jeez, I could do a better job than that." But now that I do the Varsity games, I can look back and see that I was clearly not ready then.

Don't be so quick to criticize. Don't wish for your promotion too quickly. It's better to be a year late than a year early, when you're moving up.

Its easy to agree with JR and Chuck, because what they say is ture. I would disagree with the Political part when it comes to the final four officials. The NCAA officials are great officials. Just like BB teams, some officials were at the top of their game the previous game they worked and therefore where selected to the next level; i.e. from the sweet sixteen to the final four. While I hate to say this because I am a Women's official, I thought the officials did a great job in the championship game. The officials had great game mgt. For a men's game!

Nevadaref --

If you CAN do that good a job, why DON"T you? What I mean is that self-confidence needs to have a realistic view, not a cocky attitude. For instance, I did my first two real (not summer) HS varsity games this year. I did a pretty darn good job, and my newly developing self-confidence tells me that I could probably do an adequate job at any HS girls varsity game in our area, and I'd be better than an empty slot in most boys' HS varsity games. That's about a step or two above where I am now. I have quite a bit of self-confidence now, but it doesn't run to just any ball that I happen to come in contact with. Just because I'm good at my level, and getting ready to move up, doesn't mean I'm ready for anything.

Part of my self-confidence is granting ability to the refs around me, and the assignors around me who aren't rushing me into college ball. If they think I'm not ready yet, I probably am not. If I could do a good job there, wouldn't they want me?!?!

The folks around here who complain about not moving up because of politics, usually don't have much of an audience, because there is usually some other glaring reason why they haven't moved up. And even if someone gets stalled at one level, if they are really good, they have sometimes skipped over a level and moved up in spite of politics. I'm not sure whether "the system" is totally fair for women or racial minorities, but my point isn't to describe the system here, rather to point out that your "self-confidence" may be deceiving you.

Agree with the others, I thought it was a very well-officiated game. Lots of flow (despite the constant turnovers), and a ton of awesome no-calls.

As for the "jealousy" thing, I don't know where Nevadaref is coming from, and it's not really my concern. If you want to be critical, that's your right...a right we all take advantage of here from time to time.

All I can say is when it's your time to shine, I hope you deliver as well as you talk. And I don't mean that in an insulting way.