Every great official needs to know where his hole is. I know a lot of officials whose hole is just under their nose, but everyone has an area they have not been strong in. Even the best officials have areas that they have been lax in, and need to refocus on certain things that have slipped. To that end, I will list some of the mistakes I have made this year.
I have let several crashes go without calling a block or charge as a lead. It's probably happened 4-6 times, and I just did not pull the trigger. One of my games, it happened twice, and I then called a charge across the key as the lead to the chagrin of my partner. I was so irritated at the two crashes I let go, and a few others that occurred, that I was insistent that it would not happen again. I got the call right, admitted my protocol was wrong, and got on with life. I am completely focused on ensuring that crashes have a whistle from me as the lead for the rest of the year--with a late whistle if the C doesn't make his call... ;)
First kicked ball in HS I was unaware that the shot clock resets to 35. Both partners enjoyed educating me on that. At least I was aware that it was reset...
The new block call under the basket in college has been interesting. It took until my 8th game to see someone actually call it. I had a previous game when someone called an odd block call with less than 1 second in a half, with no chance for the player to score from where he was driving behind the backboard. Coach started yelling, and I told him it had to be the new rule of the secondary defender being under the basket. He had asked for that before on a block/charge that the same guy made, but I told the coach the call was good because the defender was well outside the basket area on the crash. Anyway, partner told the coach it was not an under the basket call, so my partner save went awry. Good thing that coach trusts me.
Had a situation where two players basically fouled a rebounder, and I picked the one I had the best look at. Coach wanted the call to be on the other guy. I boldly told him I had it on the right player. In retrospect, the better response would have been to acknowledge they both could have gotten it, and I chose the guy he didn't want--that would have been smoother. I don't think it did any damage but my thinking could have been quicker.
Missed a crash from the C on a baseline drive, and got the nastiest look you can imagine from the L who took the whistle and got abuse for his decision. I had little chance to see the crash, because there were a lot of bodies between where the drive started and ended. Not sure where I could have moved to see it, and I'm guessing thet L should have rotated over. I don't even know if he got the call wrong or not, but he certainly took it from the coach. Not really pleased that occurred.
I have not been overly happy with my shot clock awareness. I would estimate that I am doing the math as T about 1/3 of the time. That needs to ramp a lot higher. I've also been told that my crews have missed a couple of shot clock resets. I know we've caught several, but being told you missed some is still irritating.
I probably have missed some help calls that I should have gotten. I am consciously working to allow others to live and die with calls when they have good positioning. My biggest mistake I have made in several years was a phantom charge from the T when the L was right there seeing a flop, and since then I have really tried to have ultra-high certainty when going out of my area, especially when my partner is expected to be very competent. The end result is that I am calling less fouls than in the past, but I wonder if at some point my crew will take some damage on some of the ones I pass on out of my area. That's always a fine line you have to fiddle with.
One great thing about this year--the number of bad apples, players who disrupt games by being bad citizens, cheap shot artists, or are just plain mouthy, seems to be a lot lower than in the past. There have been some very gracious players this year, especially when things don't go their way in pressure situations. I've been really impressed with a lot of the kids, which is really cool. I hope that continues.
Hope this helps you guys. Enjoy the flip to 2010.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Jeff Foxworthy Tribute
I'm not a huge fan, but it's about time that someone generated this list, so here it goes. You know your partner is a douchebag when:
1. He is doing pushups in the locker room to try and make his arms look buffed before the game.
2. He wears a side-panel shirt to be cool.
3. He gives you 5 things you did wrong in the first half, yet his rating is 20 spots below you.
4. His back/legs hurt so badly that he cannot cover the court, but he won't turn the game in.
5. His son/nephew is playing in the game.
6. He wants to spend 45 minutes giving you a pre-game because he has never worked with you before.
7. He talks about staying in your primary but calls in your area all night.
8. He changes your OOB call with a huge whistle and point without trying to talk to you first.
9. He uses the closed fist and a punch motion to call a charge in a men's game.
10. He takes being an R way to seriously and acts like an ass when he is not the R.
11. He comes over to you with 2 minutes left and says, "Pressure time, need to step up!"
12. He can dish out criticism, but gets defensive when he screws up.
13. He tells stories about whacking coaches, then takes abuse.
14. He makes a bad call, then T's the kid or coach.
15. He tells a coach to "sit down" and/or "shut up".
16. He actually enforces the seat belt rule.
17. He hasn't missed a call in years.
18. He has a rule wrong but is adamant that he has it right.
19. He drives to a travel game, but doesn't provide refreshments.
20. He tells you how bad somebody is, then grandstands about how great he is when he's standing there.
21. He thinks because he went to a camp he knows everything.
22. He calls goaltending from under the basket.
23. He lets a cheap shot go right in front of him without doing a thing.
24. He wants to go to the benches right at 2 minutes so he can kiss the coaches' asses for as long as possible.
25. He acts quiet and reserved with top officials, but is a loud know-it-all with peers.
26. He thinks he's getting screwed on his schedule.
27. He thinks where he is rated is that important.
28. He constantly lies about being the man/tough guy to try and make people think he's good.
29. He whines about his friends' ratings schedule instead of giving them honest feedback to make them better.
30. He thinks mentorship is showing up at 6:30 and sitting in the stands chatting for 30 minutes prior to dressing and saying "Everything looked great!"
31. He doesn't comprehend or even try to understand his weaknesses.
32. He talks about the old days that can never really be verified.
33. He blows his whistle and points when it is not his line.
34. He echoes your whistle to try and steal the call.
35. He says, "Yeah, if you didn't call that I would have," instead of, "Yeah, that was a good call, I should have gotten it, too, but I locked up on that one."
36. He thinks feedback as a tit-for-tat game.
37. He takes crew comments as a personal attack.
38. He won't admit a blatant mistake.
39. He cannot admit that an official with less experience can be better based on talent and work ethic.
40. He thinks rotations on backcourt fouls are really, really important to get exactly right, then butchers them.
41. He takes himself way too seriously and has to be the center of attention during the game.
42. He wears a sport coat and tie with jeans to a game.
43. He barely crosses half-court as a T, and is in pretty much the same position near half-court as C.
44. He doesn't flex--ever.
45. He goads a kid or a coach into a T, then gloats about it.
46. He begs coaches for games/ratings.
47. He has no clue that films clearly show mistakes to coaches. Sometimes over, and over, and over again.
48. He does things for self-interest when he knows it is 100% wrong.
49. He digs for compliments when they are unnecessary, or worse, unwarranted.
50. He thinks George Jackson actually knows something.
Merry Christmas, guys!
1. He is doing pushups in the locker room to try and make his arms look buffed before the game.
2. He wears a side-panel shirt to be cool.
3. He gives you 5 things you did wrong in the first half, yet his rating is 20 spots below you.
4. His back/legs hurt so badly that he cannot cover the court, but he won't turn the game in.
5. His son/nephew is playing in the game.
6. He wants to spend 45 minutes giving you a pre-game because he has never worked with you before.
7. He talks about staying in your primary but calls in your area all night.
8. He changes your OOB call with a huge whistle and point without trying to talk to you first.
9. He uses the closed fist and a punch motion to call a charge in a men's game.
10. He takes being an R way to seriously and acts like an ass when he is not the R.
11. He comes over to you with 2 minutes left and says, "Pressure time, need to step up!"
12. He can dish out criticism, but gets defensive when he screws up.
13. He tells stories about whacking coaches, then takes abuse.
14. He makes a bad call, then T's the kid or coach.
15. He tells a coach to "sit down" and/or "shut up".
16. He actually enforces the seat belt rule.
17. He hasn't missed a call in years.
18. He has a rule wrong but is adamant that he has it right.
19. He drives to a travel game, but doesn't provide refreshments.
20. He tells you how bad somebody is, then grandstands about how great he is when he's standing there.
21. He thinks because he went to a camp he knows everything.
22. He calls goaltending from under the basket.
23. He lets a cheap shot go right in front of him without doing a thing.
24. He wants to go to the benches right at 2 minutes so he can kiss the coaches' asses for as long as possible.
25. He acts quiet and reserved with top officials, but is a loud know-it-all with peers.
26. He thinks he's getting screwed on his schedule.
27. He thinks where he is rated is that important.
28. He constantly lies about being the man/tough guy to try and make people think he's good.
29. He whines about his friends' ratings schedule instead of giving them honest feedback to make them better.
30. He thinks mentorship is showing up at 6:30 and sitting in the stands chatting for 30 minutes prior to dressing and saying "Everything looked great!"
31. He doesn't comprehend or even try to understand his weaknesses.
32. He talks about the old days that can never really be verified.
33. He blows his whistle and points when it is not his line.
34. He echoes your whistle to try and steal the call.
35. He says, "Yeah, if you didn't call that I would have," instead of, "Yeah, that was a good call, I should have gotten it, too, but I locked up on that one."
36. He thinks feedback as a tit-for-tat game.
37. He takes crew comments as a personal attack.
38. He won't admit a blatant mistake.
39. He cannot admit that an official with less experience can be better based on talent and work ethic.
40. He thinks rotations on backcourt fouls are really, really important to get exactly right, then butchers them.
41. He takes himself way too seriously and has to be the center of attention during the game.
42. He wears a sport coat and tie with jeans to a game.
43. He barely crosses half-court as a T, and is in pretty much the same position near half-court as C.
44. He doesn't flex--ever.
45. He goads a kid or a coach into a T, then gloats about it.
46. He begs coaches for games/ratings.
47. He has no clue that films clearly show mistakes to coaches. Sometimes over, and over, and over again.
48. He does things for self-interest when he knows it is 100% wrong.
49. He digs for compliments when they are unnecessary, or worse, unwarranted.
50. He thinks George Jackson actually knows something.
Merry Christmas, guys!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
3 In The Key-My Favorite
First off, I'll say that besides technical fouls, 3 in the key is the last thing I want to call in a basketball game. This year, the NCAA has out an emphasis on calling 3 in the key. They showed us video clips of some pretty obscene abuses of that rule that were not called. I have even had questions regarding what the actual rule is. Here are some absolutes:
1. 3 in the Key starts when the players enters the key, period.
2. 3 in the Key resets on a shot attempt. 10 offensive rebounds? No 3 in the Key!
3. 3 in the Key does not reset on loose balls. Post player fumbles ball? Should be called per rulebook.
4. Player has 1 foot on the lane line or barely in the key? Rule book says that counts as 3 in the key.
Now, here is my philosophy on 3 in the key:
1. If you call 3 in the Key, everyone in the gym should know that the offensive player visibly camped out for a period longer than a second, got a huge advantage, and/or made a series of slow moves after being posted for a while. Grandma in the top row should be saying, Yep, he was in there for 3!" if you call it.
2. Anyone who calls a 3 in the key when the offending player is not posting for the ball or setting a screen to free someone up to flash to the ball is a bonafide idiot who will never, ever get it.
3. I'm fine with someone calling 3 in the key during a fumbled ball. Shows good game awareness.
4. I don't like the 3 in the key call to avoid calling an offensive foul on a player trying to post up.
5. The best call is to tell the player to get out of the key. Then when you have to call 3, the player won't complain.
Coaches yelling at me to call 3 in the key generally get ignored. If they have a point, everyone knows it, and I won't let it happen again. I'd say 95% of the time, the coach doesn't really have a valid point about 3 in the key, unless they want calls made verbatim with the rule book. I'm guessing the T it would cost them for questioning the 3 in the key in the first place, per the rulebook, would end that desire very quickly.
And then I'd really be pissy because I'd rather call anything other than a T.
1. 3 in the Key starts when the players enters the key, period.
2. 3 in the Key resets on a shot attempt. 10 offensive rebounds? No 3 in the Key!
3. 3 in the Key does not reset on loose balls. Post player fumbles ball? Should be called per rulebook.
4. Player has 1 foot on the lane line or barely in the key? Rule book says that counts as 3 in the key.
Now, here is my philosophy on 3 in the key:
1. If you call 3 in the Key, everyone in the gym should know that the offensive player visibly camped out for a period longer than a second, got a huge advantage, and/or made a series of slow moves after being posted for a while. Grandma in the top row should be saying, Yep, he was in there for 3!" if you call it.
2. Anyone who calls a 3 in the key when the offending player is not posting for the ball or setting a screen to free someone up to flash to the ball is a bonafide idiot who will never, ever get it.
3. I'm fine with someone calling 3 in the key during a fumbled ball. Shows good game awareness.
4. I don't like the 3 in the key call to avoid calling an offensive foul on a player trying to post up.
5. The best call is to tell the player to get out of the key. Then when you have to call 3, the player won't complain.
Coaches yelling at me to call 3 in the key generally get ignored. If they have a point, everyone knows it, and I won't let it happen again. I'd say 95% of the time, the coach doesn't really have a valid point about 3 in the key, unless they want calls made verbatim with the rule book. I'm guessing the T it would cost them for questioning the 3 in the key in the first place, per the rulebook, would end that desire very quickly.
And then I'd really be pissy because I'd rather call anything other than a T.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Importance of Context
In a perfect world, we are all robots as officials. We see a play, apply the rules from the rule book, make the correct decision, and either call a foul or violation or not. However, most of us, at least the good officials, know this is never the case. However, context is a very powerful concept that an official must understand and use in order to become great.
We had all heard the advice to stay away from making calls at the end of the game that we have not called all game. No 3 seconds for the first 37 minutes? No problem, don;t call it the last 3. No handchecks yet? OK, then don;t call any at the end of the game. This advice taken literally is flat out stupid, but the real gem in it is how context is important.
End of game situations nonwithstanding, context is huge on calls that are not either not readily seen by most people in the gym, or are obscure by nature. "Let the fouls call themselves" is a great sound bite that I love. Player A gets beat, there is contact, there is a consequence, and you have a foul on Player A. No whining, no complaints. Easy game. However, that's no always the case. Call a foul in a corner well away from a bench, you may catch some grief because the bench and many fans cannot see it clearly. Muddled and messy bunch of bodies in the key and you have a foul? Not everyone can see that. You have one of these, it's no big deal, but there are times you catch a run of those, say 3 in 3 minutes, with no other whistles during that time. They might be the right calls, but you have to expect some negative emotions from players and coaches during those times. And you also should try your hardest to let your partners take the next few calls--if you can--to allow the attention to go away from you.
End of game, remember the key is "ultra-high certainty". If you haven't called 3 second all night, but it is very obvious to everyone that some players gets an advantage (easy scoring chance) from being parked in there for what seems like a lot more than 3 seconds, you have to get that. Horrible screen that sends two guys down? Gotta get it. Just make sure that everyone in the gym knows it was the right call. If you don't, things can get ugly. You can be right, but still pay a price due to our friend Context. You may enter a crosswalk legally, but if a truck runs you over, while you were still right, you're also a cripple. Think about that.
The ending point here is, don't let context be your enemy. Out of context calls are "outliers" and make you stand out. Some outliers are tremendously positive and can pump your reputation with coaches, players, peers, and fans to the stratosphere. Those are the calls that ramp you up, and you have to be competent and ready to have the courage to make those when the context is right. However, most "outlier" calls are negative, and make you stand out like a sore thumb. Those really damage your credibility and reputation, especially if they become one of your calling cards.
Make sure your "outlier" calls have a 3:1 postive:negative ratio, and watch what happens to your schedule and how your treated by your peers.
We had all heard the advice to stay away from making calls at the end of the game that we have not called all game. No 3 seconds for the first 37 minutes? No problem, don;t call it the last 3. No handchecks yet? OK, then don;t call any at the end of the game. This advice taken literally is flat out stupid, but the real gem in it is how context is important.
End of game situations nonwithstanding, context is huge on calls that are not either not readily seen by most people in the gym, or are obscure by nature. "Let the fouls call themselves" is a great sound bite that I love. Player A gets beat, there is contact, there is a consequence, and you have a foul on Player A. No whining, no complaints. Easy game. However, that's no always the case. Call a foul in a corner well away from a bench, you may catch some grief because the bench and many fans cannot see it clearly. Muddled and messy bunch of bodies in the key and you have a foul? Not everyone can see that. You have one of these, it's no big deal, but there are times you catch a run of those, say 3 in 3 minutes, with no other whistles during that time. They might be the right calls, but you have to expect some negative emotions from players and coaches during those times. And you also should try your hardest to let your partners take the next few calls--if you can--to allow the attention to go away from you.
End of game, remember the key is "ultra-high certainty". If you haven't called 3 second all night, but it is very obvious to everyone that some players gets an advantage (easy scoring chance) from being parked in there for what seems like a lot more than 3 seconds, you have to get that. Horrible screen that sends two guys down? Gotta get it. Just make sure that everyone in the gym knows it was the right call. If you don't, things can get ugly. You can be right, but still pay a price due to our friend Context. You may enter a crosswalk legally, but if a truck runs you over, while you were still right, you're also a cripple. Think about that.
The ending point here is, don't let context be your enemy. Out of context calls are "outliers" and make you stand out. Some outliers are tremendously positive and can pump your reputation with coaches, players, peers, and fans to the stratosphere. Those are the calls that ramp you up, and you have to be competent and ready to have the courage to make those when the context is right. However, most "outlier" calls are negative, and make you stand out like a sore thumb. Those really damage your credibility and reputation, especially if they become one of your calling cards.
Make sure your "outlier" calls have a 3:1 postive:negative ratio, and watch what happens to your schedule and how your treated by your peers.
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