Finally...

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by AremRed

How many 3-man games did you work this year? Do you think all of the tournament officials will have prior 3-man experience? I had a conversation with a veteran today who said that he once worked a tournament game with a man who had never worked 3-man before and it really hurt the quality of officiating.

A good, post-season 2-man official shouldn't hurt the crew that much, IMO. Good, post-season 2-man official would study up on 3-man mechanics in preparation of working such an assignment.

[johnny d]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

A good, post-season 2-man official shouldn't hurt the crew that much, IMO. Good, post-season 2-man official would study up on 3-man mechanics in preparation of working such an assignment.

Studying the 3-man mechanics and actually doing them in game situations are two very different games. I have seen very good 2-man officials, who have turned into very good 3-man officials struggle on the court when they first start doing 3-man. I think the biggest reason is that they are more worried about where they are supposed to go and when they are supposed to go there rather than concentrating on officiating the game. Add in the extra intensity of a playoff game and I think you are really asking for trouble by putting officials in situations that are not part of their normal routine.

[jTheUmp]

Originally Posted by johnny d

Studying the 3-man mechanics and actually doing them in game situations are two very different games. I have seen very good 2-man officials, who have turned into very good 3-man officials struggle on the court when they first start doing 3-man. I think the biggest reason is that they are more worried about where they are supposed to go and when they are supposed to go there rather than concentrating on officiating the game. Add in the extra intensity of a playoff game and I think you are really asking for trouble by putting officials in situations that are not part of their normal routine.

I can definitely agree with this based on my experience last season... after doing exclusively 2-person games for my first 3 years, my first experiences with 3-person were a big adjustment.

Luckily, I got to work 3-person in a couple of preseason scrimmages, and my first few 3-person games were JV/Varsity doubleheaders, so I could get the "where am I supposed to go, what am I supposed to look at" kinks out of my system during the JV game.

If my first "on court" 3-person experience had been in an actual varsity game... it wouldn't have gone well.

[Rich]

I agree with the last two posts.

I work a lot of 3-person games. I'm not worried about me or the crew I normally run with -- it will be the first couple of nights of the postseason (where there are very few close games) where I expect some growing pains for the first couple of years.

We're going to have to work hard to provide opportunities for people to work 3-person in game situations even if it means doing subvarsity 3-for-2, I think.

[Sharpshooternes]

Utah has had three man for 4A and 5A mens (the top two divisions) for a long time. they just told ust there is going to be a vote here in the next couple of months whether or not to use 3 man for womens 4 and 5A (which have historically been 2 man except for the state tournament. It also sounds like the vote will be in the favor of three man. Really excited.

[Adam]

Colorado uses 3 man for all varsity games (with very few small-school exceptions). Some large schools use 3 for JV (better training for varsity that way).

[BigT]

Originally Posted by Sharpshooternes

Utah has had three man for 4A and 5A mens (the top two divisions) for a long time. they just told ust there is going to be a vote here in the next couple of months whether or not to use 3 man for womens 4 and 5A (which have historically been 2 man except for the state tournament. It also sounds like the vote will be in the favor of three man. Really excited.

I am so excited about this. I have heard some vets would rather retire then do a 3 man girls game. And they will flat out need more referees if they pick up 3 man for 4A/5A and if the games are at the same time as the 4A/5A boys game then they just need more Varsity officials.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by BigT

I have heard some vets would rather retire then do a 3 man girls game.

That's just stupid.