Basketball Referee

Basketball Referee

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

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Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

Team A is inbounding the ball after a dead ball. They have 5 people on the court and the 6th one is handed the ball from the referee. We immediately started calling for a technical as that meant 6 players on the court. Is this correct?

Asked by tim over 11 years ago

Yes, the ball becomes live when it is at the disposal of the thrower on a throw in.  It is illegal to have 6 players when the ball is live.  Should be a technical.

BUT, it is also poor officiating by the referee crew, because one of the throw in officials' partners should be counting players (after time out for example) and preventing this situation from arising.

On a throw-in, after a basket, the thrower is permitted to run the baseline. We have a live ball situation. Can he/she dribble while running the baseline?

Asked by JiminJax about 11 years ago

There is no restriction on a throw in of a player bouncing the ball - unless the referee interprets the bouncing to be a pass which first hits out of bounds. If it is clearly a dribble, no issue.

While the offense was shooting a foul, an off-balance defensive player pushed anoffense player into the lane to avoid her own violation. The call was a violation on offense. Correct call?

Asked by webstone almost 11 years ago

Doesn't sound like a correct call. The violation should have been ignored OR a pushing foul should have been called.

Can a tech be called after the game is over?

Asked by Nick almost 11 years ago

There is no provision in the NFHS rulebook which addresses any foul after the game. Each state has bylaws which might impose penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct outside the auspicies of the on-court officials. The referees' jurisdiction ends after they have validated the score and they leave the confines of the court. If something happened after the end of the game I was officiating I would write an incident report and send it to the state for action or disposal.

Can another basketball over-rule another on a bad call, if he has the better angle to see what actually happened on the floor?

Asked by Karen almost 12 years ago

There is no provision in the mechanics or rule books for NFHS.  In fact, although one official is designated as the "referee" and the other two are "umpire 1" and "umpire 2", the referee is not enpowered to overrule the others.  Here's how I handled this: In the pre-game I asked my partners to agree to this.  If they think I got the call wrong, approach me and tell me what you saw, and I will decide whether to overrule myself based on your input.  That way, we could undue a really bad missed call, but if I passed on a call for my own reasons (advantage disadvantage for example) I could ignore my partner's input.  Also, if I changed my call I could better explain to a coach why it was reversed.  Most of the people I worked with agreed to use this system.

While the ball is in flight for free throw the horn sounds incorrectly. What happens if the shot: a) is made; b) is missed?

Asked by Zephyr about 11 years ago

The buzzer does not make the ball dead. Players should play on until they hear a whistle. Once possession has been established or the basket made the refs should blow the whistle, stop play and check with the timer to find out why the horn sounded.

If there is a violation on one and one free-throw by the defense of the offense made the first free-throw violations on the second free-throw do we start the whole process over again like it never happened??

Asked by Marvin over 12 years ago

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.