Judgment/Awareness Philosphies--Al Moberg

Al Moberg of Salem, Oregon was an NCAA D-1 official for many years, and currently does evaluations for the NBA. He prides himself on being in the forefront of officiating philosophies, traveling around the world to teach and train officials on the best techniques for judgment, game management, and game awareness. Here are some great ideas from him for calibrating judgment and game awareness:

1. There are 2 Major Tenets make officiating very simple:

a. Reward Good Defense
b. Allow Offensive Freedom of Movement

Freedom of Movement is an important principle. It is a FOUL to impede an offensive player.
Impede = Disrupt/Displace/Dislodge. These are good terms to remember and use.
Impeding a player also means you have affected the offensive player’s BSRQ: Balance, Speed, Rhythm, Quickness. That affects the game.

2. Block/Charge, 3 Criteria:

a. Did the offensive players invade the defender’s space? Good term to use.
b. Was the offensive player able to change direction before contact?
c. Was the offensive player out of control?

These are all reasons to call a charge, and not "screw the defense".

3. Eliminate Guessing. Period.

4. Quote: “If you are going to blow the whistle and stop the game, you had better have a very good reason for doing so.”

5. Don’t overcall the paint. If a defender gets a piece of the ball first on a block attempt, let secondary contact with the arm go. The ball is already gone. That’s a good play that should not be penalized.

6. At the end of the game AND as the T, you must have “High Certainty” when you make a call. Be very focused in this situations, as this is where credibility is earned or lost.

7. See the whole play develop: Start/Develop/Finish. New officials make a lot of calls at the start—the veterans and great officials make calls after the finish of the play. “Who cares if you are a little late?”

8. Be purposeful, quick, and direct when you go to report. Don’t meander or to the ultra-cool slow walk like you own the gym.

9. “Do the Math”. Check the game/shot clock every trip as the T. It may come in handy if you can remember.