Basketball Suicide

I have seen a few blatant instances of what I have come to call "Basketball Suicide" by players, and thought it would be interesting to share this with whomever is bored enough to actually be reading this.

Some players lack emotional control. Nothing they do is a foul. They are persecuted. All officials hate them. They hate officials. When normal communication with these guys fail, we always have several tools to manage them: talk to captains, talk to coaches, call personal fouls, or call the technical. No matter how you deal with them, the chip on the their shoulder makes them appear to tilt when they walk.

You need to really be careful near the end of games with these folks. We all talk about "instigators" and "disruptors", who you have to pay close attention to on dead balls. However, put yourself in their shoes for a minute. They are tired. They are frustrated. More often than not, they are losing. If they have 4 fouls, you think they might boil over and deck someone, just to vent and not have to play anymore?

I've had this happen 3 times this year. All 3 times, a player has been in foul trouble, been unhappy with us, not been responsive to our efforts to communicate and reason with them, and when it became apparent that their team would lose the game, just snapped and intentionally committed a hard foul. Knowing it was 5, they simply went straight to the bench immediately following the whistle. The bad part--you know that the foul was intentional and could cause major problems in your game. The good part--he left the game quickly, quietly, and without the attention that an intentional or flagrant would give. Didn't even need to wait for the sub. Everyone in the gym knew, and the game went on smoothly without him.

The real question is, why is it not a flagrant or intentional? Tough call to make late in a game that is already decided. Unless you are sure that everyone saw a dirty, non-basketball play, would it be good game management to penalize this player for a blatant hard shove in the back on a rebound or ramming through a screen, especially when no escalation or reaction from the person who was fouled occurred? Would the film support and ejection? That is the ironic thing for me this year: in all 3 of these instances, the opponent who got decked did not even acknowledge the malicious intent; they just got up and went to the line.

However, keep in mind, that if you have a bad apple during your game who has been in foul trouble, and later in the second half it becomes apparent that his team will lose, be especially vigilant to prevent something ugly. Because players without emotional control may take the easy way out, along with frustration that could cause bigger issues for you when the game has been decided. "Basketball Suicide" happens more often than you think. Not many players lack emotional control; I'd say about 5%. But watch for the symptoms and try and head it off.

Managing Free Throws

One of the biggest things that we do not do well as officials is manage free throws. It seems like an easy thing to do, but many times teams and players are able to get away with a lot more during free throws to gain an unfair and illegal advantage. You can improve the game by being vigilant during free throws. The following are some comments I heard a few years ago from Dick Cartmell and other observations that I and a few others have made on this topic. These tenets and ideas have made a huge difference for me.

1. You must not allow players to be pushed under the basket. We've all seen it--red team shooting, on the "blockout", white pushes into red under the hoop resulting in tip in or possession for red. There are only 2 ways for the offensive team to secure the rebound on a missed free throw:
A. One is for a long rebound to come out where it can be tipped by a player jumping straight up or chased down towards the sideline.
B. The other is for the offensive player to move his feet quickly enough to establish his position and get the rebound without displacing the defensive player.
Allowing players to push towards the basket happens a lot. It should be difficult for an offensive team to get a rebound on a missed free throw. Unless they get the rebound by using quickess and outhustling the defensive team--which happens more frequently than you think--or the missed free throw is a complete brick that bounces out hard, you need to make sure that the offense doesn't steal the rebound by pushing. I know I make it a point, if the game is getting physical or it is late in the game, to tell the second guy "Don't push! Use your quicks!" when administering from the lane. Doesn't hurt to reinforce this when you need to. Players listen and adapt more than you realize.

2. It is illegal of the defensive player inthe 3rd slot on the lane to "pinch" the offensive player into the defensive player in the 1st slot. This is much more important in college, when the players on the lane can move upon the release of the shot. Pinching in so the offensive rebounder in the 2nd slot cannot use his feet to try and be quick to beat the block out is a foul. Some coaches teach the "pinch". Remember, if the goal is to allow freedom of movement, and you want to avoid pushing towards the hoop on free throws, you must manage this, too. Can't have one without the other. And no, this is not a Reese's commercial.

3. Disconcerting the free throw shooter. Typically, the higher the level, the less this occurs. However, you will occasionally have players put their arms up, and drop them on the shot. I tell them to make a decision "Up or Down", and that usually stops this issue. Not dealing with disconcertion can lead to escalation of attitudes, talking, and physical play. As much as coaches hate it, if it is blatant or happens after a warning, have the courage to call it. Once you call it once, I can almost guarantee you that it will not happen again in that game. And the players will know that you are correct and mean business.

We don't talk about managing free throws much, but paying rapt attention to these little details during a time when some players and officials have a tendency to relax a little bit will pay big dividends when you need them.

Coaches' Perspectives

Al Moberg of Oregon is the King of Communication. Every couple of weeks he sends out an e-mail to his officials outlining his observations in order to help everyone improve. Paul Cooley of Spokane sent out some areas of concern that the coaches had reported to him over the course of the first-half of league games this year. Going back to Mickey Crowley's rule that perception is very important, the following is an abridged list of some things we should all think about and try to phase out of our games:

1. Working hard for the majority of the game and then missing calls late.
2. Making late-game calls that have not been made earlier.
3. Officials becoming defensive when asked about a rule.
4. Officials incorrectly quoting rules.
5. Inappropriate and unprofessional comments made to players by officials.
6. Allowing one coach to bully officials, causing other coach to yell or get screwed.
7. Officials not on same page, calling different games on the same floor.
8. Officials not being approachable and maintaining open communications throughout the game.
9. Being surprised by plays/situations and having "no-calls".
10. Being too high as the C and T to make the right calls in the paint.

Keep these in mind as you go forward. They can and will help how you and your crew are perceived by coaches and assignors.