Noticed a mechanic that I do

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

So I had a very good JV/V double header today. The V game was first, ended up being a 40-37 contest, with a chance to tie at the buzzer. The JV was an 8-point spread, but only because Team A sunk their late-game FTs.

At times in both games, each team took turns playing tough defense. In our provincial camps, we learn quite early to reward good defense. So when you've got a deep 10-second count going on, you're going to immediately switch arms once you reach the FC.

What I found is that:

• when a team is playing aggressive defense (often from BC to FC as mentioned above), my 5-second CGC starts right away - and continues in that fashion for that possession or until aggressive defense ends
• when a team is not playing aggressive defense, or if Team A is adept at passing the ball around, I would keep hitting only "1" on a CGC, so I just don't count it (it's kinda pointless). Team A just passes or dribbles to > 6' anyways. Therefore, my 5-second CGC is delayed to see if Team B will actually qualify to start a CGC.

I'm not sure if I explained that well.

Does anyone do this?

Juggling,
While I can see your point, you are potentially being unfair to the "non aggressive" team. You are, in effect, changing the rule from a 5-second count to a 6-second count because you don't think a team is playing aggressive defense.

You can easily make the argument that if a team is not pressuring in the backcourt, you don't start a 10-second count -- kind of pointless since there is no backcourt pressure to slow down the dribbler.

The same applies to an inbound pass after a basket when the other team is not pressing. But, what happens if the other four players run to the other end of the court? The defense then alertly starts to play defense. Your count should have been at 2 or 3, but you did not start it since there has not been any backcourt pressure.

Our crew tries to ALWAYS start a count on EVERY closely guarded situation, backcourt situation and throw-in situation simply because we just never know for sure when a player will NOT pass the ball in one or two seconds or will dribble the ball off of his/her leg or will not have a teammate to whom to inbound the ball.

It also tends to keep us all more focused on the game. But, that's just our crew. In watching many, many games over the years as a coach, scout, athletic director, league director, parent and spectator, there are more referees with your technique than mine.