Advice on how to handle mouthy players

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by ballgame99

Did a freshman game last night with a bunch of whiners. Mostly just "oh my GOD!" and "he's hacking me!!" type comments. Nothing that would, in my opinion, warrent a T on its own, although I did hear one "that's bullcrap!" I thought about Ting that one up, but stopped myself. I'm a fairly new ref so I would like to hear what an appropriate way to nip this stuff in the bud. Because once they started whining they didn't stop.

The one team even started making little jab comments during free throws.

Thanks.

Depending on the level of whine/comments, on a dead ball I'll do the 'come here' with finger and tell him/her I've had enough. It puts player on notice and coach of course will ask "what?" as I'm near bench. Usually, player may get yanked or reprimanded by coach and they appreciate no T was called, yet they know one is coming if it continues....everybody is different, works very well for me.