John Adams on Unsporting Behavior
 

Scathing memo urges referees to enforce sportsmanship rules - Seth Davis - SI.com

Concerning "unsporting behavior" - "I don't mean it to be a threat, but this is an integral part of officiating. It's just as important as getting block/charge calls right," he said. "It's one of the issues we'll look at going forward to the NCAA tournament." - John Adams in SI - Seth Davis Inside College Basketball - 01/27/2012

Vid of the play mentioned in this article. What does his coach say?

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Wish the video went a few seconds longer to see what he did.

I got a kid this year for taunting after hitting a 3.

And that was Joe Derosa who called that T. Don't think the coach got very far with whatever he wanted to said.

Another case of John Adams applying the only pressure that he can.

Well it looked to me as if he said "good call." That can't be right. :eek:

Just knowing who the supervisor is of that conference, I doubt seriously he was in opposition to that T either.

Peace

Maybe he did. It seemed liked he was telling his PG that it was. But then it looked like he was trying to say something to Derosa but the shot cut away.

There's no doubt it's a great T and one that I hope I would call in the same situation.

It's just that every time John Adams is mentioned or in the news, he seems to be threatening NCAA tournament assignments in one way or another. It's the only stick he has and I think at times he overplays it.

Well to be fair, as you say it's the only stick he has so it's the only play he can make.

I do not think that is a bad thing as people cannot say he is not watching. I also think it helps those of us not on that level because we have the NCAA taking a stand on this behavior and when we work our lower level games we have something to support our enforcing these situations.

John is a very smart guy. He knows what he is doing and how to get the attention of those under his belt. As stated he cannot take away a regular season assignment, but he can certainly determine how far some guys go in the tournament. And if you look at assignments in the last couple of years, it is clear he means business when it comes to not turning a blind eye like guys used to. Many of the big timers were not working late in the tournament as a result.

Peace

The only way I could agree with you is if Adams said it and then said something like, "...and I'm not going to say it again." - a way of saying he would enforce it via tournament assignments so everyone should get on board.

If tournament assignments changed in this way, officials who are set in their ways would change eventually.

Overall, he is just trying to make the game about sportsmanship and skill.

You also have to take John's comments to the media in context with his comments on these plays on the NCAA Arbiter website as well. John uses the video often to make points of what has been emphasized previously and shows many good applications of principles that were talked about at the NCAA Meetings or on the NCAA Meeting Video. I think the media stories are often like anything, they highlight the threatening aspect of what he says rather than focus on what was previously discussed. Seth Davis is not in a position to be concerned about that aspect of John's job. Seth is trying to give information that what was done was not totally wrong if you listened to the media's response to the T (Go figure).

Peace

It is the only stick he has.

That being said, it's a rather big stick. In fact, it may be the biggest stick in the land. Dogs everywhere are envious of this guys stick. They have stick envy.

If you want to work in the show (which most guys at that level do) then you have to play by his rules. And FWIW, I'm pretty sure it's not an idle threat, either. It's not really any different than working for any other assignor in the nation. You want to work for them, you got to play by their rules.

I was watching the game and saw the play. The kid dunks then gets up in the face of the kid he dunked on and stares him down.

This T is not getting called in the NCAA consistently. So good for JA to get on record and say it needs to be a T.

Here is the actual memo that was sent out to men's coordinators on all three levels.

Good afternoon coordinators:
Please consider this a heads up and a request for your support and cooperation. There has been a noticeable reluctance on the part of officials in games I have watched on TV, attended in person and in the games observed by the Regional Advisors to apply the proper penalties for violations of Rule No. 10, Section 5, Class A Unsporting Technical Infractions, especially Art.1 and Article 2.
I am going to address the officiating community on the NCAA Officiating web site and remind them that they are expected to enforce these rules, "as written". I am going to ask them to be more vigilant in heading off unsportsmanlike actions amongst players during the game before they turn into ugly, very public clips on Sportscenter. I am also going to ask them to re-read 10-5-2 and not tolerate what appears to be an epidemic of boorish sideline behavior by coaches. I will copy Reggie Minton at the NABC and ask him to pass my memo along to the coaches.
It is our duty, as guardians of the game to protect the integrity and value of men's college basketball. Recent "specials" on ESPN and CBS Sports about the growing number of incidents involving unsporting actions by some players and deplorable sideline behavior by some coaches, should serve as a call to action for all of us.
Thanks in advance for your support of the officials who manage and enforce these rules dealing with sportsmanship, "as written."

John Adams
NCAA National Coordinator

Rule 10 Sec. 5 Art. 1 Unsporting Acts by Players
Rule 10 Sec. 5 Art. 2 Unsporting Acts by Bench Personnel