I work with a really good veteran partner that says..."hack"...oh well.:o

I've had several coaches respond with an irritated "That's all I've got left." Ok, great. I don't know that for sure and it's not my responsibility to know that. That's what the table and the 5 clowns you have dressed up on your bench are for.

I get it. The coach's irritation is from the game and the pressure to win...whatever. And then you ask them a question that to them is obvious. But good staffs have an asst tell you what the coach wants or a coach can give u the full or 30 signal or just flippin say what they want. It takes a nano second.

Sometimes it works out that I do know what they have left but it's not a conscious effort.

Uh Oh....somebody here very sensitive to word hack

Kids' game awhile back, I said hammered to coach and table for a few chuckles

That is exactly how I feel. Well said - made me chuckle because it is dead on...

I have a general idea, as a good table may tell me previously where we are. If a coach becomes aggravated because he didn't indicate what kind of TO and I have to ask, I'm really not worried how that effects my rating from him, much like I'm not concerned what he thinks of a call I made. Never had someone gripe yet. I ask respectfully and most coaches indicate prior to having to ask what they want.

That said again, if I know for certain, of course I proceed without asking.

After all, I am fullor30.................can't change to coachuhave2

Yeah, uh, I did that in my first and second year, too.

Bless me, Striped Father, for I have sinned...

...since we are confessing to our "Striped Father"...;)

I use "BOOM" while giving the "T" and during my "player control" signal.

He's Alive ...
 

That's Awesome!:D

Hey fellow officials...leaving to do my 6th BV game in 7 days...probably won't be on the forum till I get back to work after Christmas...

So...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...AND TO ALL A GOODNIGHT!

Me, neither. It's just one more (minor but they all add up) game management technique.

That's the one! :eek:

Back to the OP:

Until you know all the coaches and they know you, I'd recommend against sarcasm, facetiousness, and other forms of irony. If they joke with you before the game, you can feel free to joke back, but on the floor it almost never plays well.

If a coach makes a comment that gets a rule wrong, I won't argue with him about it. Learn the useful expression: "That's not the rule, coach."

When you say that, be right about it. :)

He's A Genius ...
 

Just say the number of the rule. "Sorry Coach, that's a misapplication of rule four". Most coaches don't know that there are only ten rules. They'll be amazed that you've memorized every single rule in the entire rulebook by number. The higher the number you quote, the better it sounds.

I had a conversation about this about an hour ago with one of my friends who is a rookie in the NBA this season. He told me that the "rule" has been to answer questions and not comments. He went on to say that isn't necessarily what we have to do because some comments must be addressed.

What brought this up was a game he was at today where one coach was an irritant and the other coach followed suit - the just kept making comments and calling out "ref". He said it was to the point where it was getting on his nerves in the stands. I can imagine he is more in tune with this than the regular fan since officiating is what he does for a living. The point is, the officials on the game didn't address the comments. Another reason he said they should have addressed it is because they were one 50/50 play away from either of the coaches going off. He said when that happens we often wonder why and it could have been prevented by addressing - through conflict resolution skills - the coaches earlier.

I guess, maybe I'll try it.