Use it or toss it

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by tomegun

IMO this is because officials use this as a license to watch the ball all over the court. The next time you are in a basketball environment (pre-game, camp, etc.) ask an official a leading question about one of these concepts and see what you get. Many officials will not have a real clue as to what they mean.

There was just a D-1 NCAA-W camp last weekend 5 minutes from my job. I stopped by to see a couple of observors who are friends of mine and to watch a co-worker who was camping but is very inexperienced and is not ready for that level.

The couple of times I listened to my friends give feedback the most prevalent criticism was officials putting whistles on plays that the primary laid off or had a patient whistle on.

For the newbie official, she said it was a great learning experience and #1 she really needs to learn what everyone's primary is. And the only negative reaction she got from fellow officials was when she made calls outside of her primary.

IMO, "helping a partner"/"team officiating"/"making a call outside of their PCA for the good of the game" are things that can't be done effectively and with acceptance from veteran officials until one has truly mastered the respective PCAs and shown that they can handle their 1/3 with no worries.