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
Of course. Common sense dictates that a referee should not distract any players. But there is a large grey area. How about a referee who "talks" players out of three seconds violations, or a referee who verbally counts to 5 seconds on a throw in (proper mechanics call for a hand count, not verbal) or a referee who yells "hands off" to avoid calling a hand check. Some people say each of these acts represents inappropriate coaching - others say each one is good "preventive officiating".
In my opinion, verbally saying "foot on the line" is beyond mechanics and unnecessary.
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Yes, in the definition section of the rule book it states that "during an interrupted dribble the out bounds provision does not apply". So a player can step out of bounds and come back in and resume a dribble or pick the ball up, as long as stepping out of bounds was unintentional. In high school going out of bounds purposely is a violation, in college it is a technical, and in the NBA there is no prohibition.
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Technically a coach is not allowed on the court and the penalty is a technical foul. But here is where experience matters. If a coach breached inbounds but was not inyerferring with the play he should be gently directed back to the bench. If he is in the way of a play or a ref then a T should be called. Even on a time out I would not let a coach come onto the court - instead I would walk back to the bench and the coach always follows. A coach puposely charging a ref on a court is the coach's way of showing up a ref and should noy be tolerated - but does not have to be a T.
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The clock should be started when the ball is touched by an in-bounds player. If the ball is thrown out of bounds without being touched, the clock should not have been started. In your scenario, the clock should be reset to the exact time before the throw-in and the ball should be awarded to the other team for a new throw-in.
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With all the high-tech kids toys, is there still a demand for traditional ones?
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Simple answer: no. So again (Advantage Disadvantage), if the post player is setting up down low and swatting the defender's hands and they are in a minor way pushing or leaning on each other, then I am ignoring it or telling them hands off. But as soon as the ball is delivered to the post, and he received it because he swatted the defender's hands away from a legal guarding position, then I am calling an offensive foul.
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Let me guess ... you were sarcastically clapping at the ref's call that fouled you out? Sounds like a thin-skinned official!
In NFHS rules a disqualified player must remain on the bench or be sent to the lockerroom with supervision. So, while on the bench it is possible to receive a T. Not only is the player assessed with a T, but the coach is assessed with an indirect T.
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1) For most officials, the block/charge is the toughest because the action happens so quickly and to really get the call right, the official should not be looking at the dribbler (ref's would say, officiate the defense). It's natural to watch the offense, but a clear, solid call happens when the official focuses on the defense. 2) for young refs it is striking the balance between being an over the top tough guy vs getting walked on for being weak. 3) especially at the lower levels, deciding what not to call is hard to learn - my generalization is that new refs overcall violations and are reluctant to call fouls.
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