Too unaware of the score?
 

Last night, BJV. Good game, a little physical, visitors leading by 1 at halftime.

Third quarter, I'm doing my job, keeping my focus, pretty much business as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening. Three minutes left in the third, visitors call time out. I report the time out, and glance at the scoreboard. Home team now up 19.

I go to my partner to confirm the halftime margin. Now, home is up 19? How did that happen?

I suppose what I'm asking is whether it's possible to be TOO unaware of the score. On the floor, I'm only concerned about positioning, accuracy, etc. I don't concern myself with the scoreboard, unless it's the last minute, or if a team is reaching 7/10 fouls. Meanwhile, one team is going on a massive run, and I'm just not noticing it. When a team scores, the only thing I think about in that moment is transitioning back.

Would you call this normal or excessively focused to the point of blinders?

At a camp one time I mentioned to an evaluator before a game that I was working on my game management skills, which I thought had to do with handling coaches and players. At a timeout during the game he came out on the floor and told me not to look at the scoreboard and tell him what the score was, how much time was left and what the foul count was. I could tell him none of that information. He looked at me and said "that's part of game management" and he walked back to the stands. Point was taken.

It's important to know what's on the scoreboard for various reasons throughout the game.

You didn't happen to fly to Ohio and do this game with me? The nearly EXACT same thing happened to me as well, except it was tied at half.

When you are first starting out this is likely because you are focused on action on the floor, postioning and mechanics. As you grow as an official and these things become automatic... then your focus becomes other things like the score, foul situations, player fouls, timeout situations, clock, why a player is coming in/out, go to plays/players, etc... all become more of your focus.

Add me to the list.

It's a little excessive. You don't need to really know the score too early in the game, but you need to be aware of runs because that's when a coach might want a TO.

Near the end of the game, you need to know the score (well, the difference) so you can anticipate when a team might be more aggressive, might hold the ball, etc.

lot of useful info on the scoreboard. Fouls, possession arrow, bonus, timeouts, etc., I like to glance at the board to make sure the clock starts and every so often i check my back court count to make sure i am not counting too fast or too slow.

I was going to share this exact same experience from a camp. Evaluator in my ear on the court while the game is going wanting to know the score without me looking.

Another very good official told me he does this every change of possesion (in 3-person)...his eyes go clock, partner, partner every time. He is always very aware of where the other two officials are and the game situation...and it shows on the floor.

Very good advice!

Knowing the EXACT score is completely meaningless. I'd probably tell the evaluator that I'm an official, not the scoreboard operator. I know if it's close -- I know if a team's made a run. I don't know it's 43-41 home team when we're midway through the third quarter.

And possession arrow? That's kept at the table -- what it says on the scoreboard is completely unimportant to me.

That wasn't the point. The point was, knowing where we are in the game, as reflected by the information on the scoreboard can be an important game management tool. Being unaware that we went from a 1 point game to a 19 point game shouldn't be a surprise. Knowing the foul count is 10-0 shouldn't be a surprise.

Sure it was, to that evaluator. I can't EVER tell someone the exact score without looking up, which is what one person posted in this thread.

While I agree with the sentiment, it's probably not a good idea to say something smarta$$ like that to an evaluator at a camp.:eek:

I do agree that knowing the exact score is not important...being aware of the score and other information on the board is a good idea.

I would have been within a few points on the score, within about thirty seconds on the time, and pretty close (within one) on the fouls.

Possession arrow? I never get this off the clock, and I'm horrible about remembering unless held balls have been rare.

I know how to behave in public. :D

Then you are way above me!:p

I'm also not interested in the exact score. I try to have a handle on the relative score. How much a team is up by is far more important than how many points they have.

I may not know the score in the game but I do know the differencial.

I think you need to have a feel for the game... this doesn't mean knowing the exact score, but you should have a feel for big runs as it could lead to a timeout or change in strategy. You should have a feeling for the differential especially late in the game when there is a huge difference between a 1 and 2 possession game (or knowing if a team needs a 3 pointer at the end).

I usually don't pay attention to the actual score, but try to keep a running difference in the game. Once it gets out of hand, I let it go.

I check the clock every possession change outside of the quick transition plays.

I think you should always have the idea of the tone of the game and that would include knowing what kind of score we have in the game. Not the exact score, but knowing if we have a 5 point game compared to a 30 point game. A lot of things will change by knowing this and will help you be prepared for other actions in the game. Even in a blowout, it is good to know when the winning team keeps throwing up 3 pointers and the wondering why that foul you just called was rather hard. ;)

Peace