NCAA Tournament and Precision Timing
 

I ask this question every year at this time:

Will the 2014 NCAA men's basketball tournament have 'Precision Timing'?

no

I wouldn't bet on it.

I really don't understand it but it's a money issue.

So let me understand, Precision Timing is not needed, but every time the whistle blows late in the Oregon/Wisconsin game, the Stand By official has to summon the scorers table hurriedly to sound the horn to get the officials attention to put more time back on the clock. All in all, well done NCAA.

I too thought the end of that game could have been handled better.

Do you have a source for that information? I heard that last year and again this year but have yet to hear this from a verifiable source.

Yeah with that and the held-ball call. I also realized that I am not a fan of Ed Corbett or his mechanics.

Is he the one who makes the goofy exaggerated point to the designated spot?

(Regardless - even as a Badger fan, the technical was well-earned.)

And quadruple tweeting at a player to give him the ball after a called foul and granting timeouts from across the court when the coach was asking the tableside official who was like 3 feet away.

Edit: and dual finger pointing to the sky on a held-ball call.

Starting to see that appear here from certain high school local associations around here.

One of the mechanics our crew had adopted is that when a ball is tied up, the crew blow whistles but do not signal until we verify that none of us have a foul, have granted a timeout, etc. Then and only then do we give the two thumbs up.

The Egg Came First, I'm Positive ...
 

This originally sounded really good to me. But, what happens if the held ball occurs before the foul (not intentional, nor flagrant) and each official sees something differently? Do you ignore the possibility that the held ball came before the foul (one foul signal trumps held ball), or do you discuss the situation with your partner before deciding on a call?

How much money is it really?

It's either tied up cleanly, or it isn't. Normally an official is going to come in hard with a foul or a travel that precedes the held ball. That covers 95% of the situations. If a held ball causes a travel, then the crew member that sees that is going to have to initiate a conversation.

I Still Say That The Egg Came First, Just Ask My Chickens ...
 

Regarding a foul, or a travel, that is subsequent to the held ball:

Cool.

I assume you still put the open hand up?

Stop The Clock ...
 

Because we all know that the clock operator won't stop the clock until he sees an open hand, or a fist, or a held ball signal, right?

(IAABO (International) is on a big kick to always use the stop the clock signal, especially for an out of bounds violation. Our college guys have a tough time doing that. I've never had a problem with the stop the clock signal until last year when, for some reason, I started going directly to a back court signal without stopping the clock. I pride myself on good mechanics, and it embarrasses me, but it's a bad habit that I'm having trouble breaking. And it just started last year, seemingly out of nowhere.)

No, we don't. Works for us.

Is the clock operator deaf?

Cold Beer Offered After The Game ...
 

At one of the schools in our assignment area? Yes. And those hearing impaired kids can play some really good basketball.

According to info I received outside this group - and I have great trust in the person who provided the info - there are a few reasons behind the NCAA not using PTS in the tournament:

1. Accuracy - Sometimes it doesn't stop/start the clock properly.
1a. Different systems, NBA vs. NCAA - The NBA systems use two microphones while NCAA systems use one, which can affect accuracy.
2. Dependency - Officials don't pay as much attention to the clock as they should when PTS is used because they think it will work properly all the time.

You can do the same with replay in all the games since one can fall back to going to replay at any point in the game to fix a timing mistake.

Apparently not enough to get a clock operator in San Antonio to know when the clock stops or starts. Seriously, every close game in the NCAA tournament has five trips to the monitor because of inept clock operators.

Looks like coaches are finally starting to notice:

I tell my partners this during our pregame. We also have gone away from the open-hand mechanic on a held ball. I will just blow my whistle and make eye contact before giving the signal in case they have anything. Nothing looks worse than giving the held ball mechanic while your partner is standing there with his fist up about to give a preliminary signal for a foul.

I think it's rather embarrassing (to the NCAA) that something which is rather seamless during the season is such a mess during their showcase event. The drama factor in these games, with the constant stoppages, is was less than it could be.

Which is why I use the open-hand stop-clock signal on all held balls. Whats the rush? If the players are tied up everyone knows what is coming. Plus if I have a hand and my partner has a fist, no one will notice.

I disagree with this part.

Some will, sure, but it won't be nearly as bad as if one comes up with thumbs and they have to go with a foul call.

So what's the argument against just the whistle?

The lightbulb in my head just went on! Very sneaky, I like it.

So, you indicate a violation when there is no violation? Why not do what the book says? Even if you do as you indicate, you still have to discuss the situation since you can't know that your partner's foul was before or after your held ball that you're not properly signaling.

I was not aware an open hand signalled a violation! I suggest you check out the Official NFHS Basketball Signals page in the rulebook (page 72) and tell me what an open hand signals.

And yes I am aware of Officials Manual 3.4.3B. Not giving the thumbs right away allows the crew to be on the same page and make sure no one has a foul.

Well, #3 is specifically for a held ball, and #4 is specifically for a foul. (I pulled those off of some website from RefMag, so the specific numbers might vary)

You can use #2 for any other reason -- but given the play in question, what else would it be other than a violation?

And, I would guess that over 90% of varsity coaches in this area will notice the open hand v. fist as much as they would notice the thumbs v. fist, so you're going to have the same (or similar) discussion.

either don't give any signal, or signal what you have. I prefer the latter, but I understand how / why some prefer the former.

You may not be signaling a violation, specifically, but by not using the signal that IS defined for a held ball, you are signaling that you don't have a held ball. So what is it that you could be signaling? The only logical choices are a violation or a timeout.

Also, why not use an open hand for fouls too if you want a generic stopclock signal without committing to a call.

Not at all. I am signalling to stop the clock, which is the most important thing. This, combined with the whistle tells the players to stop struggling. There is no reason why the held-ball signal cannot come later as a type of preliminary signal.

The players don't see your hand. Most coaches don't either. I would submit that the only people that would either see or care about your invented hand signals are people who would have a problem with it (supervisors, et al). So you're doing something that doesn't have any positive effect - which could possibly be seen negatively by a select few. I'd drop it. Whistle does ALL of the positive things you're trying to accomplish... leave it at that.

The more I think about it, the more I like the way you and Rich do it. You are right, the whistle does all the positive stuff you want (stop the clock, tells the players to stop) without the negative (conflicting signals, etc.).

Then, why don't you also go with the open hand on a foul?

The reason is expressed on the "Official NFHS Basketball Signals" chart, where #3 is the "Stop clock for jump/held ball" signal. It is the one and only signal needed, and authorized for that call.
I have, for several years, done the "whistle, quickly check partner(s), then the jump/held ball signal." It takes a very short moment, and keeps me in line with NFHS and our Supervisor. He and his staff of evaluators want only that signal on that call.
But, to each his own.

Giving an "open hand" on a held ball might look like you had a violation, then defaulted to a "held ball." At least when you signal "held ball" you are telling everyone that is what you have and there is no confusion.

Peace

The open hand is for violations, the closed hand for fouls. A jump ball is neither which is why we simply signal it as a jump ball.

Our practice around here is to blow the whistle and take several steps toward the action (moving in to prevent continued jostling about) before giving the jump ball signal. This gives us a few seconds to see if our partners have something different.

I like that idea. Although I move in when there actually is too much wrestling, it's usually after giving the jump ball signal. I never thought about delaying the signal momentarily as a technique to allow some quick communication. Thanks, I'll have to remember and apply this idea next season.

I get what you're saying and I agree with it, but the open hand is for stopping the clock, not just violations.

It's not for stopping the clock for a held ball, though.

It can be. Just because there is a specific signal to stop the clock for a held ball does not mean we need to use that signal.

I could do the hokey pokey to stop the clock, too. It would be just as wrong to do so on a held ball as raising an open hand.

That might work, assuming you whistle too :)

I prefer the Joey Crawford shuffle.

You mean this?

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/JOEY-CRAWFORD.gif

Not specifically, although that GIF makes me laugh every time I see it.

You have to watch him work a game to appreciate it. He tends to shuffle his way from place to place.

Glad I could make you laugh :)

I made some officiating image macros (pictures with funny text) a few months ago....has anyone ever made a thread for them?

If your partners have something different then you figure it out. If I have a held ball and my partner has a foul, figured out which came first.

I am going to disagree here. Signals are part of the rule book. It states that a fist is to be used for a foul, a palm for a violation or other timeout, and the held ball signal to stop the clock for a held ball.

It is pretty clear.