Plays: Elephant vs. Gnat
 

Worked a men's college scrimmage the other day.

Half court set offense.

I'm Lead. A1 dribbles from C's primary to Trail's primary. A1 clearly double dribbles while in Trail's primary, as I see it while looking through players in my primary. No whistle from Trail, and I leave it alone.

After our crew comes off the court, the head official (who is just observing) for the scrimmage asks if we missed a double dribble during our run. Several sideline officials and I quickly chime in with a "yes!!!". So apparently it was obvious to everyone in the gym except the Trail, who is completely clueless to what play we are talking about, even after we tell him it happened right in front of him.

My questions are--as the Center giving up the play to the Trail, would you come and get that violation? Would you consider coming to get it from the Lead since it was so obvious?

Only if it's as obvious as you state. If "everyone in the gym" saw it, except my partner, then I'm getting it.

I would have gotten it as the L or the C.

As the L, probably not. Most likely I have stuff to keep me occupied rather than looking at a vioilation 20+ feet away. As the C, maybe but it would depend on whether there was a competitive match-up in my PCA. He may just have to die with that one.

(I posted this in the thread where the OP was originally -- and I misread it as you being C on the play. Don't know why it didn't get moved)

I'm not up on the NCAAM's mechanics, but had T accepted the play? If so, leave it alone. If not, then C is still on ball and should have the call, even if the dribbler had crossed some imaginary line.

In HS, the C even stays with the count, so if the DD was just as the first dribble was ending, then C can get it. (If the dribbler held the ball for any length of time, then started a new dribble, it's probable that T should have been on it)

He didn't. It was one of those dribble, hold for a second, then dribble again.

The Trail got joked on by those watching because he had called 3 off ball fouls in the first couple minutes of play, so everyone said he was too busy looking for illegal screens to pay attention to the ball handler.

Usually we realize when we miss something, but he genuinely had no idea that something had happened right in front of him.

Many officiating crews "struggle" with the issue of: "leave the play alone" or "whistle the foul/violation" when it occurs not just out of but even tangential to our PCA's.

What I normally do is to "leave it alone" if I am more than 20 feet removed from the spot of the incident, at the risk of either missing the call or dis-engaging my ref partners. I have seen crews get totally lambasted by coaches when a glaring violation is missed by a ref in the PCA. Then again I have heard coaches remark "missed that one and play through it". to their chagrined players.

I left it alone because, as the L, I would have had no credibility making that call. I can't speak for the C b/c I have no idea what other matchups he had and I do not believe A1 was closely guarded at any time for him to stay on the play as it left him. But in our conversation of the play, the C did say he saw it. I had closed down in preparation of rotating, then I saw A1 come into my peripheral has he brought the ball strong side. I then took a couple steps back from close down as I mirrored the ball. So I know the violation definitely occurred fully in the Trail's primary

But I wonder, if there were 10-15 seconds left in a tied ballgame, would it change our thinking on this. Would we want to have to watch film of an obvious violation followed by a game-winning shot, or would we then consider this violation an elephant based on time & score?

If everyone in the gym saw it and one of the crew didn't see it, then we need to get it. I don't think you'd have any credibility issues because everyone knows it's the right call.

You might have to explain why you actually saw it but you just explained it to us :D

If I see an obvious violation/foul out of my PCA or even secondary PCA I am going to get it. Assuming of course that I have seen the play start, develop, and finish, and that I am 100% positive. If I have any doubt, even 1%, I am leaving it alone. I am not worried about my credibility with coaches or players either way. I am worried about the tape showing my assignor the call was right if I do go out of my area. Seeing the entire play and being 100% confident outside of my area only happens a few times the entire season.

The time/score has no bearing on whether or not I make the call. As long as my two criteria, see whole play and 100% certain, are met, I will make the call regardless of time and score.

I once had a very veteran and accomplished partner make that call from the L with me as the trail covering a play at the division line.

A1 dribbled into a trap and picked up his dribble. One of the defenders knocked it out of his hands and A1 then smartly played the ball by starting a new dribble to get out of the trap.

My partner knew the A1 was dribbling, knew A1 ended his dribble, and even knew that A1 dribbled again. He came out to get the call think he was saving the crew. However, the one piece he didn't know was that the defender knocked the ball out of A1's hands.

A's coach called him on it and he stuck with the call, even after talking to me. :(

When you get on from that far away, you have to eliminate EVERY possibility that might make it different than you think.

I'll give my partner the chance to make the call since it's in his PCA, but as long as the call is right I'm not concerned with where the play happened. I'm concerned with getting the call right.

With that said, though, I agree that I have to be 100% sure the call is correct or else I'm leaving it alone. If I wasn't sure, then my response to the OP would be "I was pretty sure I saw a double dribble there, but not sure enough that I was willing to make that call from 20ft away."

We're not all perfect, so we're going to miss calls. As partners we should "pick each other up" when help is needed.

Oh, and the time of the game means nothing to me. If only the last minute of a game mattered then why would we play the other 31? Unless the rule book said otherwise... which it doesn't.

You'll learn whether you agree or not, that there is a difference.

Ok... why would you call a game differently at certain times?

Over an entire season both Official A and Official B have an overall 90% rating for call accuracy.

Official A is 95% accurate in the last minute of games.

Official B is 85% accurate in the last minute of games.

Who do you think will be more favorable in the eyes of the supervisor?

While I agree with what you're saying, that doesn't mean it's okay to have missed the first double dribble (the one on Monday in the 2nd quarter).

If I make a call at the end of a game that I didn't make earlier, it's not because I was dictated to do so by the time or situation of the game. I simply kicked one of the calls.

On that note, if I call a foul earlier in the game but pass on a similar foul later in the game, a supervisor may want to know why. And an answer of "well, it was in the final minute, and I didn't want to make a call that could affect the game" would probably not fly.

I'm replying to this since you deleted or edited the post I replied to just a minute ago.

And again... I agree with what you're saying, but this doesn't mean it's okay to call a play differently at the end of the game than at any other time during the contest.

Being scrutinized more for calls at the end of a game does not mean it's okay to kick earlier calls. It just means your going to catch more flak for the ones you miss at the end.

Some people like to look at it as "I'm calling the game the same in the last 2 minutes as I did in the first 38 minutes".

I like looking at it as "I want to call the game in the first 38 minutes with the same concentration as I do in the last 2 minutes"

Our goal is to be consistent throughout the game, no doubt. But I know we all makes mistakes. I also know I need to be at my absolute best when we are in crunch time. So (in my mind) I know I'm going to be on top of my game in the last 2 minutes. My goal is to elevate the first 38 minutes to the same level of excellence that I have in the last 2 minutes.

Agreed.

Except that I'm a high school official, so there are only 32 minutes in my games.

The Three Be's ...
 

We had a statewide mechanics clinic a few weeks ago. A state interpreter, from another New England State, discussed making a call out of one's primary coverage area (two person game).

He said to:

1) Be late. Give your partner a chance to make the call.

2) Be right. 100% certain.

3) Be needed. A call that has to be made in that game.

The first two are solid. The third is a gray area.

1+2=3

If you are late and gave your partner a chance to get the call
Plus
if you are right and 100% certain
equals
You are needed and it is good for the game.

How do you determine if a call is "needed"? If it's the right call then I believe you should make it.

And I would hope you'd have a good reason as to why you were looking outside of your PCA in the first place. A supervisor may want to know.

Not needed: ball handler in the trail's primary lifts his pivot foot prior to dribbling but doesn't really go anywhere. Tail could call this, but doesn't. Lead had a great view and nails it.
That's the call that's not needed.
Needed: By sticks his leg out and trips A1 as he drives around B1 at the 3 point line in trail's primary. Tail doesn't call it, but the lead comes up and gets it. That needed to be called.

The threshold is somewhere in the middle, and knowing where it is at any given time is a key to bring a great official.

Do you call exactly the same way in a close game that you do in a blowout? Do you call exactly the same way in a varsity game between two good teams and a 3rd grade game between the last and second to last place teams?

I understand what you're saying, but there's more that goes into a call/non-call than the actual play. I mean... what time of game is it? Is the game close? Are we talking about kids that are still learning, and don't need a ref that's a stickler for the rules?

Like I said to Adam, there are many factors that go into what needs to be called and what doesn't. But we didn't seem to be talking about a 3rd grade game between the bottom two teams in the league. At least I don't have any supervisors at those games, as the league tends to be happy just to have a competent ref.

Nor did anyone say that we're talking about a blowout. I took things as them occurring under "normal" circumstances. If you want to change the scenario in order to make a point... fine. I'm wrong.

The manner in which such issues are processed by professional refs is referred to as "game management". This is essentially a cognitive approach to officiating as will be influenced by the game's situation and time, the competitive balance, and dare I say in this forum the temerity of the officiating crew.