1st game of the season
 

Let's start this tale of intrigue by saying I was working my first varsity boys game of the season and it's 2 man. We're seeing more 2 man in this area for budgetary reasons. I'm beginning my third year as a high school referee and my second as a varsity referee.

4th quarter, home team sinks the second of a 2 shot free throw, and they are now behind 2 points with 11.1 seconds on the clock. I'm the old lead, new trail. There is a timeout called. As the timeout ends, I ask the home team coach, help me with your strategy, are you going to foul? He gives me a blank look, so I assume no, but I really wish he would have answered so I can have a little insight on his expectation.

The visiting team (team B) successfully inbounds the ball to the short near corner. They immediately get trapped by team A. Initially I have a clear view of Player B1 and the defender A14. I have a B look at the other A player (A12) who is trapping.

Player B1 holding the ball, spins away and I have a terrible look at him now, only see the backside and no view of the ball. I quickly move for a better angle and I see him jump in the air. He tries to pass the ball and A12 prevents the pass by getting a hand on the ball, so I blow and run in. The players crash to the floor as I'm running in with a held ball signal.

My partner who was on the opposite sideline about three point line extended, closes in and I see he has a foul signal. My first thought is "oh crap". The players on the floor stand up with no incident and me and my partner confer. He tells me A14 clearly held him...so we go with that.

I had been working all summer long on crashing in on jump balls while blowing air into my whistle but holding my held ball signal until I can make sure that the players are okay and after taking a quick glance at my partner(s) to see if they have a foul signal.

I think the fact that the team A coach saw me with a jump ball, got him emotionally high because his team had the possession arrow and then he crashed hard when my partner had a foul. Had I held my signal just a tad, I would have seen my partner and then we could have just went with foul. I think the coach still would have been pissed but maybe not as badly.

These are the lessons I love about basketball. Stories like this happening every night across the country.

I wouldn't ask a coach what his strategy is. Just referee what you see with awareness of the game situation.

In our local kids rec league, since we are also of a mind to help teach the kids, in a situation in which a team might want to foul, we usually tell the coach to tell his (or her) kids to make sure they're going for the ball if they are going to foul. That's not unusual for us to do at all. Usually the coach will say something to the team like, "Did you hear that? Make sure you do that - OK?" It's especially good to do at the 3rd thru 6th grade level.

A double whistle on this play in a corner in two man? Do I understand correctly?
Was this in the backcourt?

I recently worked a 6th grade boys AAU tournament. Close game Team A just cut the lead from 6 to 4 and called a quick timeout. Coach came out to speak to my partner and I following his TO. He told us his team was going to foul if they didn't get the quick steal. I told the coach to make sure his players were making an attempt at the ball. My partner tells me he is going to call an intentional foul if that occurs. "It is a point of emphasis this year" he says. I just looked at him and said "your call" as I was walking away.
Somehow 20 seconds ticked away with no steal, basket or intentional foul. I was glad to avoid that one....

That is mostly correct. We were about 80 feet away from the rim and the new lead, old trail was on the sideline opposite side, if this was 3 man, he would have been in great position as a C. It wasn't exactly in the corner, but it was on the other side of the paint from where he was.

Thanks for your feedback. I debated this last night after the game because I had never done it before. Keep in mind the coach was close to me, so I didn't have to go anywhere to try and get this information. I feel if the coach can give us some insight as to his strategy, even though we still referee the play, we may end up avoiding unwanted situations.

Another example where this information is invaluable is a team is up 3 points and they go for a foul to put the other team in the position to shoot free throws. If we don't know they are trying to foul, we may view the first contact as inadvertent or incidental and then we catch the second contact, which is inevitably in the act of shooting a long range 3.

Others have thoughts?

Yep. Call what you see.

If it was a foul in the 1st quarter, it's a foul in the 4th quarter.

If you feel it's a situation where a team would normally strategically foul, then get the first one.

No need to ask the coach anything.

I have found that some coaches like to offer up that information knowing the clock is not on their side. But I do not seek it out.

A mentor once told me if you seek out one coach you better seek out the other, otherwise this could viewed as playing favorites.

Yep, if you ask the first one, you should ask the other if his strategy is to try to avoid the foul.

WOW is my first thought.

Like others have said, I wouldn't ask the coach what his strategy is. From what I'm picturing in my head, your partner had NO business having a whistle on this play unless a non-basketball play act occurred. This would apply in 2-man or 3-man.

Did you guys talk about that after the game?

I'm sure you're picturing it properly. If I had been the other official, I might have looked because all the action was on those three players, but I wouldn't have come over on a call unless my partner completely froze. But as I already had a whistle, that wasn't the case.

Not extensively, but when we conferenced briefly during the game he said he had a clear view. After the game, he simply said everyone in the gym is looking at the three players involved, so he felt he should help out on the only active players out on the court.

Everyone in the gym is always watching the ball. You and your partner needed to have at least one set of eyes (in two man) not watching the ball. Your partner screwed up and gave you a lame excuse to try and justify it.

He's right, if this is 2004 (or some such year when the FED had this philosophy).

Wow, really? This is a varsity official with this mindset?