Not necessarily, but people use "defaults" so that they can be decisive.

I have said before, that if I have to slow down a video to see if an official got a play right, then I can go with the official's call. Sometimes these plays are so close, I do not have an issue with someone that has a "default" to make a call. And I certainly do not equate it to what some say about, "If we have that call on this end, let us have that same call on the other end." That is crazy because you are not even considering how different the play is you just called. But a personal default might be what you do in a very close situation. I have found that not many plays are that close. It is more of a myth that the block-charge call is the hardest to call in the game when you referee the defense of course.

Peace

I don't see why that helps with being decisive. Default, to me, means this:

Every play will be a charge unless __________ happens.

This, of course, is true. But equally true is:

The play will be a block unless __________ happens.

Plays are frequently labeled as "one that could have gone either way." If this is true, some should indeed go each way. If you have a default, it seems that you would be falsely inclined to lean in one direction on a play that is that close.

We know what LGP is right? So if defenders start legal, they better do something illegal for me to call something on them. It really makes no difference to me what others do, I just think having a default is not crazy or improper. In most cases a player is going to have LGP at some point, whether they maintain it is another issue. Referee the defense then you know.

Peace

I had a pair in a JVB game this week that I no-called, though I'm not entirely sure I was right about them.

Both took place roughly about the free-throw line. Dribbler looked to drive, made contact with fading defender that knocked the defender back a bit, but then the dribbler backed off. Certainly not a block, as the dribbler caused the contact, but was there LGP? I wasn't certain enough to call it, but in hindsight, the balance in RSBQ could have been affected.

Part of the reason, I think, is the conditioning that block/charge typically takes place down low, and I wasn't "ready" to see it. That's certainly on me, and I can always blow the whistle late, but my point is when we think of block/charge, usually it's preceeded by a gather.

Nothing wrong with a default. In fact, that is basically how the rules are written.

The onus is on the defender to defend legally. If they have done nothing wrong when there is contact sufficient for a foul, it is a charge. That is a default. That is also refereeing the defense. You don't have to find something the offense did wrong. All you need to do is know there was foul-sufficient contact and the defender was legal.

Remember, we're talking block/charge, not push offs or hooks. Those are entirely different animals and are not charges.

I had one block-charge tonight and it was a block. So even with a default philosophy, I call the play that is obvious to me. And in this case the defender was coming forward on an airborne shooter. Easy call. And it was a double whistle and my partner had the same thing.

Peace