I have to now chime in on the WSU/Whoregon game last week, when WSU won the game, only to have subs storm the court, resulting in a T with 0.3 seconds left. Whoregon proceeded to tie the game and win it in the subsequent OT.
Mike Littlewood was the R. I don't know him. Couldn't recognize him. He did what he had to do in that situation. He had no choice. The wrong team won the game. He knows that. It is probably bothering him today, and will probably bother him for a while, which Coug fans probably do not realize and may take some vindictive satisfaction from. But in the end, Mike Littlewood was right.
Now some chucklehead named Ed Bilik, who is the Secretary-Editor of the NCAA Basketball Rules committee has thrown Littlewood under the bus. Bill McCabe, Pac-10 0supervisor, kind of has, too, but in a lawyerly way. Bilik decided to post a bulletin to all NCAA officials after the game inferring that Littlewood did not know the rules. Then McCabe basically said that he backs someone's judgment, but not knowing a rule is subject to a trip to Siberia.
To cap it, John Adams, who is the top dog for NCAA officials, said he felt that Littlewood was not wrong. So why would a dorky policy wonk like Bilik do what he did? Because he is an ass. I am embarrassed for the NCAA and Pac-10. Adams should get him removed from his post immediately. How could a 75-year-old guy whose claim to fame is coaching and being the AD at Springfield College (that's in Massachusetts just so you don't have to look that up) be even a remote player in this? Maybe he wears a hoodie like Belichick, but come on....How about someone who has actually been part of the big time that does not suffer from senility or a burning desire to stay relevant? Bilik must have a Bowden-sized ego.
Littlewood's opinion was that when subs enter during a live ball without being beckoned, it is a T by rule. Bilik's opinion, stated after the fact, was that since nothing interfered with Oregon's ability to inbound the ball, that no T should have been called. Great. Now not only does Easy Ed expect us to keep coaches in their boxes, but we can let celebrating players spill onto the court, slap guys who make baskets on the ass as they run by, and as long as there is no disadvantage, it's OK.
Ernesto Kent, pride of Mexico and Tiger Woods' role model, screamed for the T. Littlewood has to make that judgment. If a player entered the court at any other time, it is automatic. Why would it be different at 0.3 seconds? Rules are rules, and there are gray areas of the rule book that must be decided black and white quickly at the scene of the crime.
I wish Littlewood did not call the T. As a Husky, I don't like WSU, but I absolutely despise Whoregon. However, I would bet my officiating job that had Littlewood not called the T and gave Bilik's reason, he gets hammered for it by McCabe and Adams. And Littlewood knew that. He had no choice. And Billik and McCabe killed him for it.
No win situation for Mike Littlewood. My hat is off to him. I also feel bad for the NCAA. This would have never happened with Hank Nichols at he helm. I hope John Adams sees this. I also hope Bilik does, too, and he sees the bold and italics. At his age, I doubt he can use a computer or read a screen without a magnifying glass, but hell, Robert Byrd is still in the Senate, too, so who knows.
John Adams: You have to put Mike Littlewood into at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. He's more than earned it!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
2006 vs. 2010
My progression as an official has been interesting. There are times I wish I could go back and mentor myself, because it would have been great to have gotten better faster. I was fortunate to find some folks that took a very keen interest in giving me brutal and honest feedback after about 7-8 years, and after taking 2-3 years of that, I finally found a comfort zone and figured a lot of stuff out. 2005-2006 is when all the pieces finally started fitting together, and I understood how to manage a game, while at the same time understanding when I did not have to manage anything.
I have continued to make changes the past 4-5 years and they continue to help me. I have made some recent changes that go against what I believed 4-5 years ago, but my experience is showing me that I was wrong. I want to list some for you to think about. There is no right or wrong on these, but they have been good for me.
1. I call less travels that I did 5 years ago. I have learned that most advanced officials (higher level and/or just great officials) will tell you that it is hard to call traveling well, and that they flat miss more travels than they would like. Dave Hall missed a bigtime travel in the Husky game last week, letting a player get up with the ball after he dove to get it. It happens. But that is better than calling the phantom travel. I think as a younger official it makes sense to get what I call the "baby" travel. It shows you understood he traveled and were right on top of it to make the call. Over time, I think that when you get the big travels that everyone knows is one, and leave some of the subtle or unclear ones alone, it's better for the game and helps with how you are perceived as on official. It is easy to call a lot of travels, and it does not make you a great official. Last point on this--if the defense makes a player travel, you must get that, period. That does show you understand the game, and that the defender won that play. Gotta give that one to him.
2. OOB calls. This is a great one. 5 years ago, the top guys would tell you that if there is a slap foul and the ball goes out of bounds, and it is not really clear, to skip the foul and let the ball stay with the offensive team. That was how to "manage the game" and keep the foul count lower and the coaches happier. Of course, I took that to another level. Big foul, player loses ball out of bounds in full view, and I keep it there. I then tell the angry coach that I passed on a foul (because that's how good I am) and kept the ball there (justice). Bad move. That's never a good explanation, the film shows you suck, and it's a lot easier to call the foul. End of story.
3. Reminding coaches of TO's. That's cool--you are showing the coach how smart and aware you are. The last 2 years, my attitude has been, if they don't know, so be it. The home book is what I will go to, every issue or debate arising from that is between the schools. No need for me to be involved. That goes for JV kids playing too many quarters, too. "Don't make what is not your business your business." I'm still working that idea across the board, as well.
4. Evening out fouls. 3 years ago I had a game that was 10-1, with the team with 10 pressing out of control all half long. Of course, every call after 5-1 was met with howls of protest. The half ended 10-1. It should have ended 13-1. None of the 3 were in my primary, but I could have helped on all 3 of them, and I passed because it was 10-1. Guess what? The team with 10 was a much worse team all game long. They made a ton of 3's in the second half and won the game by 2 points. If we call the fouls in the first half, I honestly believe the game would have turned out differently. So did the coach that lost. I learned a huge lesson from that--you call the game the way it is played and let the film be your judge.
5. Allowing crappy teams or teams getting blown out more leeway. The thought process was that this may help prevent hard feelings and frustration, helping stave off cheap shots or non-basketball plays borne from them. I now disagree. For the same reasons above, let the film be your guide. The subs compete every bit as hard; ref your same game.
6. Not calling fouls at the end of game that are not competitive. For the same reasons as #5, call it til the end. Subs deserve your effort, the parents who showed up deserve to see their kids who don't play much be judged the same way, and the strategy might backfire--some subs are trying to prove something, and not getting calls may results in something bad happening. Call the game until the final buzzer.
7. Getting it right versus the speed at which you do it. Get the game going. If you cannot get a definitive answer quickly, have the R make a decision and get it going. Prolonged stoppages are never good for anyone, no matter how cool it looks on TV when they go to the monitor. I bet you don't think it's cool on NFL games. It's 10 times worse in a HS or small college gym. Trust me.
Paul Simpkins, a local official done good, will say that officiating has gone away from a "feel" type game to a "science" game. The new philosophy is to be more robot. With all the gray areas in basketball officiating, it is still more art than science, but when you can, if you think about what the film will show, it will be you ally more times than not. That probably explains the items above and how I approach the game differently today than I did 4 years ago. It's also why I am a lot better, too. Hope some of this does the same for you.
I have continued to make changes the past 4-5 years and they continue to help me. I have made some recent changes that go against what I believed 4-5 years ago, but my experience is showing me that I was wrong. I want to list some for you to think about. There is no right or wrong on these, but they have been good for me.
1. I call less travels that I did 5 years ago. I have learned that most advanced officials (higher level and/or just great officials) will tell you that it is hard to call traveling well, and that they flat miss more travels than they would like. Dave Hall missed a bigtime travel in the Husky game last week, letting a player get up with the ball after he dove to get it. It happens. But that is better than calling the phantom travel. I think as a younger official it makes sense to get what I call the "baby" travel. It shows you understood he traveled and were right on top of it to make the call. Over time, I think that when you get the big travels that everyone knows is one, and leave some of the subtle or unclear ones alone, it's better for the game and helps with how you are perceived as on official. It is easy to call a lot of travels, and it does not make you a great official. Last point on this--if the defense makes a player travel, you must get that, period. That does show you understand the game, and that the defender won that play. Gotta give that one to him.
2. OOB calls. This is a great one. 5 years ago, the top guys would tell you that if there is a slap foul and the ball goes out of bounds, and it is not really clear, to skip the foul and let the ball stay with the offensive team. That was how to "manage the game" and keep the foul count lower and the coaches happier. Of course, I took that to another level. Big foul, player loses ball out of bounds in full view, and I keep it there. I then tell the angry coach that I passed on a foul (because that's how good I am) and kept the ball there (justice). Bad move. That's never a good explanation, the film shows you suck, and it's a lot easier to call the foul. End of story.
3. Reminding coaches of TO's. That's cool--you are showing the coach how smart and aware you are. The last 2 years, my attitude has been, if they don't know, so be it. The home book is what I will go to, every issue or debate arising from that is between the schools. No need for me to be involved. That goes for JV kids playing too many quarters, too. "Don't make what is not your business your business." I'm still working that idea across the board, as well.
4. Evening out fouls. 3 years ago I had a game that was 10-1, with the team with 10 pressing out of control all half long. Of course, every call after 5-1 was met with howls of protest. The half ended 10-1. It should have ended 13-1. None of the 3 were in my primary, but I could have helped on all 3 of them, and I passed because it was 10-1. Guess what? The team with 10 was a much worse team all game long. They made a ton of 3's in the second half and won the game by 2 points. If we call the fouls in the first half, I honestly believe the game would have turned out differently. So did the coach that lost. I learned a huge lesson from that--you call the game the way it is played and let the film be your judge.
5. Allowing crappy teams or teams getting blown out more leeway. The thought process was that this may help prevent hard feelings and frustration, helping stave off cheap shots or non-basketball plays borne from them. I now disagree. For the same reasons above, let the film be your guide. The subs compete every bit as hard; ref your same game.
6. Not calling fouls at the end of game that are not competitive. For the same reasons as #5, call it til the end. Subs deserve your effort, the parents who showed up deserve to see their kids who don't play much be judged the same way, and the strategy might backfire--some subs are trying to prove something, and not getting calls may results in something bad happening. Call the game until the final buzzer.
7. Getting it right versus the speed at which you do it. Get the game going. If you cannot get a definitive answer quickly, have the R make a decision and get it going. Prolonged stoppages are never good for anyone, no matter how cool it looks on TV when they go to the monitor. I bet you don't think it's cool on NFL games. It's 10 times worse in a HS or small college gym. Trust me.
Paul Simpkins, a local official done good, will say that officiating has gone away from a "feel" type game to a "science" game. The new philosophy is to be more robot. With all the gray areas in basketball officiating, it is still more art than science, but when you can, if you think about what the film will show, it will be you ally more times than not. That probably explains the items above and how I approach the game differently today than I did 4 years ago. It's also why I am a lot better, too. Hope some of this does the same for you.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Fall 2009 Mistakes
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.
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.
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