A matter of style?

[Hawks Coach]

RecRef
A. Small number of anybody can do anything, so your first complaint to me sounds a little picky. If the number is small, you should be satisfied and thank that small number for showing their ignorance. Helps you ignore the other comments they make.

B. Windmilling the arms is also something I rarely see. And I like my players back from the line as a general rule, especially for baseline inbounds to get space for an over the top pass. You'd be surprised what a difference those few feet make. So again, if you don't know what we want to do offensively, I don't want your philosophy on how close my player stands to the line.

C. If a player is entitled to a space and appears to be hindered from getting it by an oponent occupying that space, you help correct it. In women's rules, if A tries to take a third space when they can only have two, you correct it. Under NF rules, if A lets B have a space that she could have, oh well. Not your job. Most refs don't fix this, and most coaches know or learn that they need to teach their players to demand the proper space. Again, small numbers won't, and they probably aren't doing lots of other things they need to do.

As for correcting a player if they complain, that's your call. If they act like jerks and you want to help them anyway, that's probably OK, but it's also OK to give them a short answer and move on because they don't appear to be in listening mode anyway. If they complain and you respond so coach complains, just ask him if he would prefer that you T his player.

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

Originally posted by RecRef

I'll make you a deal coach, I'll stop coaching when you (the literary you) start coaching.

It is said that it is the little things that count so:

A. I call a spot throw-in and point to the spot on the floor. The player stands there, so far so good. I move away some distance to put some space between us before I bounce the ball to the player. What does the player do? He/She walks toward me to get the ball. What do I do? I point to the original spot and tell the player that is where he should be. You would be surprised at the number of coaches that take exception to this. Granted a small number but it should be zero. (One of these days I am going to keep walking just to see how far the kid will follow. )

B. Speaking of throwing in the ball, or the defense of it, when are coaches going to tell their charges not to windmill their arms. And while we are at it let me coach the coach. Why is it that I have never seen a player step right up to the line when throwing-in the ball? Doing this to try to draw the T or intentional on a defender that is right on the in-court side of the line?

C. Don’t get mad at the official when we “don’t tell a player what to do.” Case in point is the lineup for the free throw. As long as B1 and B2 occupy the first spaces I don’t care where the rest lineup on the lane line. (Don’t know what I am going to do when a player occupies the #4 space this year.)

Now let’s talk about a big thing. Before last season we invited coaches to our board’s general meetings, boys representatives one month and girls the next month. One of the coaches voiced displeasure with us in that we talk to his kids after a call. Though these are not his exact words his statement was something like, “I would appreciate it if you would not tell my players the why what he did was wrong. Coaches teach players a way of defense such as backing out another player from the lane, or putting a hand or forearm into an opponents back and leaving it there. That is the way we teach them and you should not correct them if they say something.” Excuse me! So when some kid says something to us that implies that we don’t know what we are doing call that a foul we are not to say why it is wrong? I think not.

As so many of us have said, we appreciate YOUR knowledge of the game and YOUR willingness to see our point of view but you are the exception not the rule.

A. This is not coaching, this is officiating, and clearly not what Hawks Coach was talking about.

B. You've never seen it because we can't be sure that the officials we have that night are actually going to call the warning or technical. In my opinion, defenders breaking the plane on inbounding is second only to three seconds when it comes to calls made inconsistently. Plus, I teach my players to step back to improve their passing angles. I don't want them up against the line.

C. I'm sure some coaches fall into this category--the minority.

I doubt that many officials would agree with you when it comes to getting into an on-court debate with a player as to what is and what isn't a foul. If it's a foul and the player doesn't think so, well, she can do it five times then watch the rest of the game. Simple.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by RecRef


A. I call a spot throw-in and point to the spot on the floor. The player stands there, so far so good. I move away some distance to put some space between us before I bounce the ball to the player. What does the player do? He/She walks toward me to get the ball. What do I do? I point to the original spot and tell the player that is where he should be. You would be surprised at the number of coaches that take exception to this. Granted a small number but it should be zero. (One of these days I am going to keep walking just to see how far the kid will follow. )

Here's a trick to stop that. Before you give the kid the ball just tell him what you want him to do. If it's an older kid just tell him "don't move, stay right there". If it's a younger kid tell him "I'm gonna take a few steps away from you and bounce you the ball, but you stay right there". If the coach asks you what you're telling his player tell him "we're talking about you, coach!"

Works every time!

B. Why is it that I have never seen a player step right up to the line when throwing-in the ball?

I suspect it's for the same reason you take a few steps back when you're refereeing a play right in front of you. Opens up your viewing angle.

C. Don’t get mad at the official when we “don’t tell a player what to do.” Case in point is the lineup for the free throw. As long as B1 and B2 occupy the first spaces I don’t care where the rest lineup on the lane line. (Don’t know what I am going to do when a player occupies the #4 space this year.)

If A3 is taking a spot that B3 is entitled to it's your job to move A3 if B3 asks. As for the #4 space, you'll tell him to get out, just like you would if the wrong team occupied the #1 space.

Now let’s talk about a big thing. Before last season we invited coaches to our board’s general meetings, boys representatives one month and girls the next month. One of the coaches voiced displeasure with us in that we talk to his kids after a call. Though these are not his exact words his statement was something like, “I would appreciate it if you would not tell my players the why what he did was wrong. Coaches teach players a way of defense such as backing out another player from the lane, or putting a hand or forearm into an opponents back and leaving it there. That is the way we teach them and you should not correct them if they say something.” Excuse me! So when some kid says something to us that implies that we don’t know what we are doing call that a foul we are not to say why it is wrong? I think not.

If the player asks what he did to deserve a foul tell him -*after you've reported the foul*. If a coach objects to you explaining this when asked then he's an ignorant jerk, but you should comply with his wish to have his team remain ignorant as well.

Do not offer any information unasked.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by Back In The Saddle
What extent do you think IS appropriate?

I don't explain any call unless asked, except in one situation. With younger players, when I call a foul and they ask, and I explain, and then I call the same foul again, sometimes I'll explain a little. "That was a lot better, keep those hands totally straight up." "You've almost got it, that was great defense." Or if the second one was egregiously heavy, "Son, you only get two more of those!"

The other time I might explain, is if the kid looks really discouraged and sort of hopeless, I might say, "Hey, that was a good foul, you stopped the shot, but I still had to call it." Or, "You know, I liked the way you kept between her and the basket." I usually say this when I'm standing in the lane waiting for the shooter to be ready. I say it quietly and with a nice upbeat tone in my voice. I'm pretty sure that at least a few times I've prevented some hard frustration fouls.