You Don't Say ...
 

Things Officials Should Probably Not Be Saying In A Game

Calvin Coolidge once said, "The things I did not say never hurt me." Of course, he was not talking about basketball, but many officials would be smart to heed his sage advice as they communicate with coaches, and players.

Good communication skills are important tools to have on any official’s tool belt. Good communication with a partner, with a player, or with a coach, can go a long way to maintaining control of the game, having good game management, and having a smooth game. Sometimes this communication takes place in oral form, talking to players, or coaches, in some cases to explain a ruling, or in other cases to prevent a violation, or a foul. However, probably for reasons of tradition, there have been things that officials often, or sometimes, say during a game that do not have any basis in the rules, and should probably not be said in a game. This article will cover some of those “best left unsaid” statements.

“He wasn’t set”, is often an official’s answer to a coach who is questioning a blocking foul on his player. This implies that a defensive player must be set, and can’t move, to take a charge, while, in reality, the rules say otherwise. A defensive player does not have to remain stationary to take a charge. A defender may turn away or duck to absorb contact, provided he, or she, has already established legal guarding position, which is both feet on the playing court and facing the opponent. The defender can always move backwards, or sideways, to maintain a legal guarding position, and may even have one, or both feet, off the floor when contact occurs. That player may legally rise vertically. However, if the defender is moving forward, then the contact is caused by the defender, which, in this case, is a blocking foul.

"On the floor”, sometimes stated by officials for fouls against players who are not in the act of shooting, is also not rule based. This implies that a player cannot be on the floor, and shooting, at the same time, when in reality the old fashioned set shot, still used by some three point shooters, is a classic example of a player, on the floor, who is also in the act of shooting. Better statement: “No shot”.

"Don't move”, said to an inbounding player, by an official, before a designated spot throw-in, is another statement that should probably go unsaid. According to the rules, that player can move laterally within a three foot wide area, can jump up, and can move as far back as time, and space, will allow. Better statement: “Designated spot”, while pointing to the spot.

"Hold your spots", said by the referee, or tosser, before the jump ball, is only rule based for some of the players. One exception to this rule, and there are others, is that players on the jump ball circle can move off the jump ball circle at any time: before the toss, during the toss, or after the toss.

"You can't stand behind him”, stated by the referee, or the umpire, before a jump ball, to a player who is directly behind an opponent, both whom are ten feet off the jump ball circle, is not rule based. The rule that players can’t stand behind, within three feet, of an opponent, only applies to players on, and within three feet of, the jump ball circle. Players farther back than that can stand wherever they want, as long as they get to that spot first.

"Everybody get behind the division line”, often said by an official before free throws for a technical foul, or an intentional foul, is also not rule based. According to the rule, the nine non-shooters shall remain behind the free throw line extended, and behind the three point arc, and do not have to stay behind the division line. In some cases, this may allow players to legally converse with their coaches.

"Over the back", reported by an official to the table on a rebounding foul, is, in reality, probably a pushing foul. Over the back is not necessarily a foul. There must be illegal contact to have a foul. A taller player may often be able to get a rebound over a shorter player, even if the shorter player has good rebounding position. If the shorter player is displaced, then a pushing foul must be called, and this should be reported to the table as such.

"Reaching in", reported by an official to the table on a foul against a ball handler, is not necessarily a foul. There must be illegal contact to have a foul. The mere act of reaching in, is by itself, nothing. If illegal contact does occur, it’s probably a holding foul, an illegal use of hands foul, or a hand check foul, and these should be reported to the table as such.

"Coach, you have one timeout left", is a courtesy often extended by officials to coaches, when, by rule, officials should only be notifying head coaches when their team has been granted its final allowable timeout. If there is any miscommunication, or mistake, involving the table crew reporting remaining timeouts, then the officials, by rule, need to stay out of the conversation. Let the coaches, and table crew, communicate about remaining timeouts, other than when a team has been granted its final allowable timeout, which by rule, is required to be reported to the coach by the officials.

"Sit down", is occasionally stated by an official to a coach who is acting in an unsporting way, but who has not yet been charged with a technical foul, is not rule based. Back in the “olden days” of the “seatbelt rule”, this was a common method of dealing with coaches who have gone, or who are about to go, “over the line”. Now, with the coaching box, officials can only tell coaches to sit down after they have been charged with a direct technical foul, or an indirect technical foul, and even then, there are still a few occasions when these coaches can still legally stand up.

"You have to take out your earrings”, is occasionally stated by officials to players in the pregame layup lines who are wearing earrings. It’s only a minor difference in semantics, but it’s probably better, for legal liability reasons, to instead say, "You can't play, or even warm up, wearing earrings". This puts the decision, to remove the earrings, or not to remove the earrings, on the player, or the coach, and possibly, on the parent, and takes any legal liability off the official’s shoulders.

Finally, a thought by Will Rogers, “Never miss a good chance to shut up.”

Ideas
 

Rather than: "You have to take out your earrings”........
BETTER: "Remove your earrings and you'll be allowed to continue to warm up."

Suggestion for Another Phrase Best Unsaid: "On the Floor!!!!!"
Heard far too frequently when the foul occurs after the act of shooting has previously begun. Of course the shooter was on the floor -- but, having "gathered the ball", that's part of the act of shooting. Better to say, "No shot! or "Ball out-of-bounds." That's more accurate according to rule than the phrase "On the Floor".

Finally, two final thoughts
Should be .........And finally, two thoughts

A few grammatical things:

"Non-shooter" should be hyphenated. See also "throw-in."

Everything in quotes should have the comma inside the quotes. For example, it should be "Reaching in," not "Reaching in",.

I would finish "who are far smarter than me" with a colon (: ) rather than a period (.), since you have a list following.

My spellcheck didn't like the word "tosser." Funny, Brits sure like to call each other that.

Mucho Gracias ...
 

Thanks.

I gave that some thought, but I decided to not to differentiate between pre-bonus ("Ball out-of-bounds.") and bonus ("One and One", or "Two shots").

Merci Beaucoup ...
 

Done.

Thanks Mate (Australian For Thanks) ...
 

Done.

I've always had trouble with punctuation inside, and outside, quotations, so I'm sticking with what I'm comfortable with, even though it's probably grammatically incorrect.

I would hope we would never give credence to the nonexistent "over the back rule" by reporting a foul to the table this way. I would not be happy to see my partner report a foul that way...

Why not? It's just a colloquial term for "push" or "displacement" or "rebounding foul".

The Dreaded Frankenstein's Monster Signal ...
 

A few do. Mostly very young, less experienced rookies (who hopefully get it straightened out right away through peer evaluations), and very old veterans (who have done it that way for decades, and aren't going to change).

Over The Back, On The Back ???
 

Because only one of these, "Push", has a corresponding signal when reporting to the table. In addition, over the back isn't a foul, "over" implying no contact, while on the back may be a foul, but it still doesn't have a corresponding signal to report to that table. Another reason: Although colloquial terms are great for everyday conversations, officials should try to use formal (colloquial means informal) rulebook language whenever possible.

Because many fans think any time a tall player secures a rebound over a shorter one without contact that it's "over the back." Reporting "over the back" (a non-rule book term that communicates the wrong message) only adds credence to this myth. A push or displacement doesn't always happen by virtue of reaching "over the back." Sometimes the most common fouls in this situation are ones the involve the behind defender bumping the guy with inside rebounding position forward. Are you telling me it makes sense to report "over the back" in this instance?

If it's just a colloquial term, does that mean it's okay for us to yell "on the floor" for a foul prior to the act of shooting? Colloquial terms much of the time aren't the right terms to use.

I can agree with that.

Grammar

. . . smarter than me, could be smarter than I. The phraze infers "he is smarter than I am," and we would not say "he is smarter than me am."
The simplest test of such phrazes is to separate the two and test whether one would say them, separately and completely, with the desired verb, as one tends to say them in plural or intimating the verb by the structure.
Yes, it's a nit I just picked.:)

Thanks ...
 

Is that you Mr. Baumgartner, my high school sophomore English teacher? I didn't know that you were a basketball official. In fact, I didn't know that you were still alive. What's it feel like to be 110 years old?

I call that signal the "Creeping Death Foul."

Billy,
Your grace and humor, as demonstrated by not telling me to just keep my nitpicking to myself, speaks highly of your character. Such comments, as I made regarding pronoun usage, are transmitted with respect and affection, although we haven't had the pleasure to meet. As with many others on the forum, I would find such acquaintance to be a moment of great joy.

Structural thought
 

Billy, I think it's a great piece, and I'm a big fan of you on this forum.

Two thoughts: First, you intro with references to what shouldn't be said and the virtue of silence, but in most of your cases, something should be said, just said differently. But I like the intro a lot, so it's just a thought.

My second suggestion is to conclude each topic with your recommendation. I left a few of the paragraphs with "I know what he's recommending I not do, but I'm not sure how to do it better." You do make a recommendation on most, but not all. You could even structure each as a "Not this:" and conclude with "This:"

I think the content is great. Clearly the list could go on and on, but I think you hit all the right ones. If we could improve on these, basketball--not just officiating--would be better. Well said!;)

There it is. I had to tell three coaches this year that "over the back is legal." I've loved the stunned look each time.

If you still believe "on" and "over" are the same thing, is it an automatic homerun when a fair ball goes ON the fence?

As a baseball umpire, I dont think I have ever considered the case where a fly ball comes to rest on the top of the fence... :)

Actually no, this is not correct. In "smarter than me", "me" is an object, not a subject. Adding "am" changes the sentence, but "am" is not necessary. Replace "me" with any other subject. Smarter than a rock. "A rock" is the object of the sentence. Smarter than a rock is - "a rock" is the subject of a subordinate phrase.

Smarter than ME is correct.

"I" is correct.

I don't know if you're up for including another phrase, but one that sticks out in my head is the phrase, "Not my call." And I realize based on your intro paragraph that most of your phrases seem rules based, but hearing officials say that one gets me fired up!

Time out, Connecticut.

Consider this. Last year, there was a story going around about a player who scored in the other team's basket (very late in the game, as I recall). The headline read something to the effect of "scored in his own basket."

I emailed the author and pointed out the error, how the object of basketball is to score in your own basket, etc. He replied with appreciation, but decided to stick with what he had because "it sounds better."

And It Has An Approved NFHS Signal, It's True, It's True ...
 

Over The Back Signal:

http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.6080...51709&pid=15.1

Silence Is Golden ...
 

The ones where I made suggestions are, pretty much, universal recommendations, used by lots of officials, so I included them (no shot, designated spot).

The others have too many suggestions, all of them pretty good, to include.

I was tempted to suggest, "Let it hit.", in place of, "Let it hit the rim", but decided not to (shooter hitting only the backboard can present problems). I worked with partner last week who said, "Don't violate". Sounds pretty good, but I haven't heard this from any other officials.

Like I said, "Silence can’t be quoted". I wish I knew who said that first so I could give credit where credit is due. I actually first heard that statement here on the Forum.

Shouldn't it be "smarter than I?"

I hope you will take the following in the spirit it is given, as an offer to help. It is not my intent to trample your efforts or be overly critical, but since you asked...

As a former news/sports editor and current journalism professor I see this piece as a good start for an article but it needs a lot of editing. A post with my suggestions would be too long so, if you are interested, I am willing to make some editorial changes and can repost it or send it too you privately.

In a nutshell, here are a few areas I would take a look at correcting:

The tone is too conversational/informal for an article. While it is informative, it comes across as if these are your opinions or observations but there are no factual supports so in its current state I would want to run it as a sports column/editorial and not as news article.

There are still quite a few punctuation, grammatical, & style errors -- the over use of the word game in para 1; the over use of commas; a lack of transitions between paragraphs; there is not a true introduction (one that also hooks the reader) or conclusion paragraph to the article; just to name a few.

Another thought I had was about you, the writer. As a reader, why should I listen to you? What are your credentials? A paragraph to establish that you ARE an expert as well as some carefully placed quotes from sources (such as some of your friends on this forum) will give a more authoritive tone to the piece. **For the record, I know you are qualified to write this. I am only suggesting that the average reader of the publication needs to know it.

As for the last paragraph, it should simply start with "Finally, two thoughts from people..." (no need for the "and"). However, I would dump the whole paragraph and move the quote by Coolidge to the introduction. Something like -- Calvin Coolidge once said, "the things I did not say never hurt me." Of course, he was not talking about basketball, but many referees would be smart to heed this sage advice as they communicate with coaches, players, and fans of the game.

Overall, it is a good piece and the idea you are presenting is well thought out.

Who Opens With Calvin Coolidge ???
 

Thanks. I made a few changes (see above), per your suggestion, to my opening, and closing statements.

This is being written more as an educational tool, rather than an article for the general public. It will, if accepted by my interpreter, only be published in our local board's newsletter.

I have included biographical information, however I have not posted that information here because we have been warned by our secretary-treasurer, according to IAABO guidelines, to remain anonymous on social media.

Also, for the record, I am not qualified to write this. I couldn't write myself out of a brown paper bag.

Far too often I hear other officials tell an offensive player to "get out of the lane", when in fact they are allowed to be there. I prefer to tell the players "keep moving".

What about "where's your belt?"
 

Also, for the record, I am not qualified to write this. I couldn't write myself out of a paper bag.


I disagree. You have a wealth of experience and your ideas are sound. Your writing is also good and since I now know it is intended as in internal, educational tool the tone and informality are fine -- makes it less preachy for that setting.

I understand being anonymous. We have policies in our chapter about commenting on other officials or their games. My interpretation of the policy is that it is ok for me to get on the forum to dicuss rules interpretations but I can be suspended from the chapter for many of the comments from others that I have read here that are overly critical about officials or their actions.

Get Out Of the Lane ...
 

No they're not, not if they've already been in there for several seconds, especially if they're gaining an advantage (oh, oh, now I've done it), unless, of course, they're moving to immediately try for a goal.

And they can "keep moving" in the lane all day long, but I'm still going to call a three second violation if they just keep running around in circles in the lane, and never get out of the lane.

And, no, three seconds has not been among my best calls of the season, but I call it when I have to, and I warn when I'm able to.

I'm Just A Sweet Transvestite From Transexual, Transylvania ...
 

How many Riches are there that officiate basketball in Texas. It would take the National Security Agency to single you out of all the Texas Riches (if that's your real name, and real state). Your landline isn't tied into your computer, is it? They are keeping a list, you know, just in case.

Note: I do respect those Forum members who use their real names, first name, and last name, and real locations. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to do that, and I usually do what I'm told to do.

Rich is my real first name but 1 is not my real last name. But, so many people are always pointing at me and saying, "so you're the one" that I'm thinking of having my name legally changed. I wonder who the two is?

Not worried about the NSA. This is Texas! Don't you know we are our own country and don't have to follow y'all's rules if we don't like 'em. Rick Perry said so and I believe him.

And in Texas, we still use smoke signals and the pony express -- eliminates that whole bandwith mess.

© 2014, BillyMac ...
 

Thanks for all your suggestions guys. I'll keep checking this thread for any further suggestions for a few more days, and then I'll send the final draft to my interpreter, for final editing, over the weekend.

Also, I know that a few Forum members don't believe that these "left unsaid" statements really should be "left unsaid", that I'm being too literal, too semantic, and too nitpicking. Thanks for not bringing up your criticism in this thread. I still welcome your criticism, and would be willing to debate you in another thread at any time. I really appreciate you "holding back" here, because this will eventually be published, whether you agree with my "unsaid" list, or not.

He'll Do It, It's True, It's True ...
 

Just don't come running to us when a bare-chested Vladimir Putin drives a tank down the streets of downtown Austin.

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.6080...40715&pid=15.1

Wow. He wears his watch on his right hand. I thought that I was the only one in the world to do that. There goes my chance at my fifteen minutes of fame.

© 2014, BillyMac ...
 

Things Officials Should Probably Not Be Saying In A Game

Calvin Coolidge once said, "The things I did not say never hurt me." Of course, he was not talking about basketball, but many officials would be smart to heed his sage advice as they communicate with coaches, and players.

Good communication skills are important tools to have on any official’s tool belt. Good communication with a partner, with a player, or with a coach, can go a long way to maintaining control of the game, having good game management, and having a smooth game. Sometimes this communication takes place in oral form, talking to players, or coaches, in some cases to explain a ruling, or in other cases to prevent a violation, or a foul. However, probably for reasons of tradition, there have been things that officials often, or sometimes, say during a game that do not have any basis in the rules, and should probably not be said in a game. This article will cover some of those “best left unsaid” statements.

“He wasn’t set”, is often an official’s answer to a coach who is questioning a blocking foul on his player. This implies that a defensive player must be set, and can’t move, to take a charge, while, in reality, the rules say otherwise. A defensive player does not have to remain stationary to take a charge. A defender may turn away or duck to absorb contact, provided he, or she, has already established legal guarding position, which is both feet on the playing court and facing the opponent. The defender can always move backwards, or sideways, to maintain a legal guarding position, and may even have one, or both feet, off the floor when contact occurs. That player may legally rise vertically. However, if the defender is moving forward, then the contact is caused by the defender, which, in this case, is a blocking foul.

"On the floor”, sometimes stated by officials for fouls against players who are not in the act of shooting, is also not rule based. This implies that a player cannot be on the floor, and shooting, at the same time, when in reality the old fashioned set shot, still used by some three point shooters, is a classic example of a player, on the floor, who is also in the act of shooting. Better statement: “No shot”.

"Don't move”, said to an inbounding player, by an official, before a designated spot throw-in, is another statement that should probably go unsaid. According to the rules, that player can move laterally within a three foot wide area, can jump up, and can move as far back as time, and space, will allow. Better statement: “Designated spot”, while pointing to the spot.

"Hold your spots", said by the referee, or tosser, before the jump ball, is only rule based for some of the players. One exception to this rule, and there are others, is that players on the jump ball circle can move off the jump ball circle at any time: before the toss, during the toss, or after the toss.

"You can't stand behind him”, stated by the referee, or the umpire, before a jump ball, to a player who is directly behind an opponent, both whom are ten feet off the jump ball circle, is not rule based. The rule that players can’t stand behind, within three feet, of an opponent, only applies to players on, and within three feet of, the jump ball circle. Players farther back than that can stand wherever they want, as long as they get to that spot first.

"Everybody get behind the division line”, often said by an official before free throws for a technical foul, or an intentional foul, is also not rule based. According to the rule, the nine non-shooters shall remain behind the free throw line extended, and behind the three point arc, and do not have to stay behind the division line. In some cases, this may allow players to legally converse with their coaches.

"Over the back", reported by an official to the table on a rebounding foul, is, in reality, probably a pushing foul. Over the back is not necessarily a foul. There must be illegal contact to have a foul. A taller player may often be able to get a rebound over a shorter player, even if the shorter player has good rebounding position. If the shorter player is displaced, then a pushing foul must be called, and this should be reported to the table as such.

"Reaching in", reported by an official to the table on a foul against a ball handler, is not necessarily a foul. There must be illegal contact to have a foul. The mere act of reaching in, is by itself, nothing. If illegal contact does occur, it’s probably a holding foul, an illegal use of hands foul, or a hand check foul, and these should be reported to the table as such.

"Coach, you have one timeout left", is a courtesy often extended by officials to coaches, when, by rule, officials should only be notifying head coaches when their team has been granted its final allowable timeout. If there is any miscommunication, or mistake, involving the table crew reporting remaining timeouts, then the officials, by rule, need to stay out of the conversation. Let the coaches, and table crew, communicate about remaining timeouts, other than when a team has been granted its final allowable timeout, which by rule, is required to be reported to the coach by the officials.

"Sit down", is occasionally stated by an official to a coach who is acting in an unsporting way, but who has not yet been charged with a technical foul, is not rule based. Back in the “olden days” of the “seatbelt rule”, this was a common method of dealing with coaches who have gone, or who are about to go, “over the line”. Now, with the coaching box, officials can only tell coaches to sit down after they have been charged with a direct technical foul, or an indirect technical foul, and even then, there are still a few occasions when these coaches can still legally stand up.

"You have to take out your earrings”, is occasionally stated by officials to players in the pregame layup lines who are wearing earrings. It’s only a minor difference in semantics, but it’s probably better, for legal liability reasons, to instead say, "You can't play, or even warm up, wearing earrings". This puts the decision, to remove the earrings, or not to remove the earrings, on the player, or the coach, and possibly, on the parent, and takes any legal liability off the official’s shoulders.

Finally, a thought by Will Rogers, “Never miss a good chance to shut up.”