Rndballref
20 Years Experience
Chicago, IL
Male, 60
For twenty years I officiated high school, AAU and park district basketball games, retiring recently. For a few officiating is the focus of their occupation, while for most working as an umpire or basketball referee is an avocation. I started ref'ing to earn beer money during college, but it became a great way to stay connected to the best sports game in the universe. As a spinoff, I wrote a sports-thriller novel loosely based on my referee experiences titled, Advantage Disadvantage
Great question. In my career I have called very few T's on coaches. My approach is two-fold. 1) if the coach is working me up and down the court, I will talk calmly on a dead ball (never stop officiating on a live ball - ignore the coach). I will say, "coach, your constant rants are unwarranted, and may prevent me from doing my job. If it persists without specifics, I will be forced to call a "T" and have you seatbelted to the bench". 2) if the coach wants/needs to discuss a particular play on a dead ball, always in front of the bench, don't let the coach come on the court - walk him back to the bench, he will follow: a) I ask the coach what he saw on the play. If I saw something different, I tell him and explain that if I saw it his way, I would have called it his way, but I didn't.. b) If I saw the same thing, but believe he is misinterpeting a rule or a mechanic, I explain why I am calling it the way I did. For example, if a coach tells me that a player is camped out in 3 seconds and I have ignored it, I explain that I am applying advantage/disadvantage and will only call 3 seconds if it is material to the play - so he may be technically right, but that is my call. c) If I have booted the call, I admit it to the coach and tell him that since calling (or ignoring) a play, I have replayed it in my mind, and think I made an error. They always stop the harrassment when you admit an error. It is tough when you are young - they treated me differently as my hair grew gray than when I first started out - sure, my judgement improved, but also coaches usually try to push around young officials. In summary, ref the best you can. Be honest with yourself about blown calls, and have the strength to explain your calls - if you can't explain your calls, you should not be wearing the stripes.
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In high school rules, a player can retrieve the ball after a "legitimate" shot attempt without hitting anything. For example, you could retrieve an airball shot even though the ball has not been touched by another player. However, f the throw to the backboard is not a shot attempt and a player purposely throws it off the backboard, I would call that travelling - much like tossing the ball forward to yourself and moving down the court.
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Rule 6 Section 3 Article 3... Teammates shall not occupy adjacent positions around the center restraining circle if an opponent indicates a desire for one of these positions before the referee is ready to toss the ball.
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Team possession ends when the shot goes up. If the ball touches an offensive player's hand, but he does not direct or control the ball, team possession has not been re-established and therefore no backcourt violation.
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Lifeguard
Did you ever have to perform CPR or mouth-to-mouth on a swimmer?
Movie Theater Employee
Why is movie theater food so overpriced?
Meter Maid
What's the meanest thing anyone's ever said to you?
Well, the referee is considered to be part of the floor where he is standing. If he is out of bounds and the ball touches him, it is out of bounds. If he is in bounds and the ball touches him, play on.
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Yes, of course the ref can. As I have addressed in prior questions, there is a Home Administration function (usually the athletic director, but always a representative of the home team). Home Administration is responsive to the referees needs including safety and timeliness. If a referee asks Home Administration to remove a fan, they will do it. Each referee has a different tolerance so it rarely happens. But if you get personal, or disrupt the game you should be tossed.
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Not sure what situation you are asking about. If this does not answer your question please rephrase it. So, if the free throw shooter has the ball and the defense commits a violation in a one-and-one, the referee should hold one arm parrallel to the floor to indicate a delayed call. If the free throw goes in then the violation is ignored. If the free throw is missed, then the one-and-one is restarted from the beginning. If the ball was not at the disposal of the free throw shooter and a violation occurs, it should be ignored and the process reset.
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