So How Come You Are Letting That Coach Stand Up……?

Sometimes I just do not know if some coaches really do not know a rule or if they are just pretending not to know a rule to see how much they can get away with.

In High School Basketball, the Head Coach is allowed to stand and COACH – NOT yell at the referees – in a designated/ marked area in front of the Team's bench. Only the Head Coach can stand and coach in this "Coaches Box.”

But when a Head Coach receives a Technical Foul, or an Assistant Coach or other player/team assistant sitting on the bench gets a Technical Foul, the Head Coach loses the opportunity to stand and coach. He/she now abide by the "Seat Belt Rule" which essentially means the coach cannot stand up anymore to coach the team! The Coach is figuratively wearing a seat belt.

A few weeks ago I called a "T" on a Coach. Not long after that Coach was standing up in the Coaches Box coaching again, so I stepped over to remind the Coach he had to remain sitting. He sat down.

Again after a few moments, I see the same Coach standing up to holler instructions to his team.

I was well justified by this time to "Whack" the coach with another "T" and eject him. But then I have to fill out paperwork and send it in to the AIA to explain why I Ejected the Coach. I'd rather not do that if possible, so I tried the "nice guy” approach.

I again stepped over to the Coach. "Coach, I have now politely reminded you twice not to stand up while coaching because you have received a "T". The coach pointed to the other coach at the opposite end of the court and says to me, "so how come you're letting that Coach stand up then!? "

Image by Fort Meade via Flickr

It was all I could do not to start laughing……

I glanced at the other Coach, then back at the one with the "T" and said, "well, I suppose the reason I'm letting that coach stand up is because he does NOT have a Technical Foul. You do, so you get to sit. Stand up again and you will be ejected. Do you understand the rule now?”

Fortunately, one of his own team fans hollered out, "Come on coach! You have a Technical Foul and have to sit down!! We want to see the kids play."

The coach said he did now understand the role and remained sitting for the rest of the game.

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HEY REF! CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION

It was a Time Out & I was near the sideline & said, "Sure! Ask Away!".

He had a son playing for the team in the Blue jerseys........

"Isn't it a foul, on a Fast Break, for the dribbler to drop his shoulder and barge into the defense?"

"Yes, it could be," I replied.

"Well, why didn't you call it down there on the white team player (at the other end of the court) a minute ago?"

I said to him, "I DID see the dribbler drop his shoulder and bang into the defender. Did YOU see the defender bang his hip in to the dribbler at the same time?"

He said "no."

"That's because fans are biased and only see the fouls by the other team. I don't care who wins, so I saw BOTH fouls and I had 2 choices-

A - Call nothing because neither player gained an unfair advantage over the other by their actions.

B - Call a Double Foul- a foul on BOTH players.

I chose "A".

"Oh, I see what you mean" he said.....

I also had to explain to the same fellow that the 3 Seconds Violation Rule is NOT in effect when the players are trying to rebound in the lane area. There is no Team Control during a rebound situation.

I hear a LOT of fans hollering "3 Seconds! 3 seconds, Ref!" when the teams are rebounding in the lane..........

Now YOU know better than to do that!

Image by COD Newsroom via Flickr

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It's All a Matter of Perspective

There are SO many things I wish I could explain to the fans while Refereeing a Game. Explain why a certain Foul was called or contact was NOT called as a Foul. Clarify a Rule, etc. the help them better understand the game, what and why the Ref's did what they did, but there are so few opportunities to do that during a game. And unfortunately, on too many occasions when I have tried to do that, my attempt to be helpful is met with some caustic remark by a disgruntled and unknowledgeable fan so that I ask myself why did I even try?

Too often, when questioning a Basketball Referee Call I made a Coach will say, "I've never heard that Rule before!"

And so I wonder......how may fans or Coaches, for that matter, have actually read the Rule Book before they go watch or coach a game?

I recently worked a Youth Game- 7th & 8th Graders. Some of the them are hopeful of playing Varsity High School Basketball, and perhaps beyond. But first they have to play high school.

So it is understandable that Youth Leagues adopt National Federation of High School Rules, right?

It is my opinion that the sooner an aspiring hoopster learns the Rules the better it will be for the youth & future coaches. Better to be called for a Rule Violation that loses the game in a Saturday Youth league than find out about it the really hard way and cost the team a State Championship, right?

So when I work a Youth game I apply High School Rules.


Here is a VERY simple Rule when a ball is In-bounded......

The defender CANNOT reach across the Out of Bounds Line. PERIOD.

Reach across and touch nothing? 1st Time is a Delay of game Warning. 2nd Time & it's a technical Foul.

Reach across & slap the Ball the 1st Time & THAT is a Technical Foul. NO Warning required.

Reach across & slap the player and THAT is an Intentional Foul. NO Warning required.

BEFORE I hand the ball to the Throw-In Player I look at the Defender, point at the Out of Bounds Line and say, "Do NOT reach across the Out of Bounds Line, OK?" They always nod & say, "Ok."

So I had a kid reach across the line on an inbound play. I called a Delay of Game Warning and reported it to the Scorekeeper.

Not long afterward the same kid, again after I told him not to reach across the line, reached across the line and slapped the ball, so I called a technical Foul.

The Coach asked for an explanation. As I trotted over to offer the simple explanation I could hear fans from the team holler about a "Bad Call", "Lousy Ref" and other typical claptrap. Yes, the Refs hear what is said, We just chose to ignore such comments unless they are excessive. Then we eject the person.

I explained the call and the Coach says, "Are you sure about that? I've been coaching 20 years and I never heard that Rule!"

I was not surprised......

"Yes, Coach, It's in the Rule Book."

"Are you SURE about that, Ref?"

"Yes."

"Is that some NEW Rule?"

"No. Been in the book for a long time."

So...... I do not mind if a Coach or Fan disagrees with me on a Foul Call. After all, it is a subjective call by the Ref. I expect the person / team & Coach that the Foul call was made against to object. Your perspective and mine is quite different. I might not have made the best call, but I made what I thought was the proper call from my vantage point and what I saw. You see what you want to see from a biased perspective. Them's the breaks!

"Perspective" by Brett Jordan via Flickr

But IF you want to holler that the Ref does not know the Rules......please make sure YOU really know the Rule! There might just be a lot of them pesky Rules you never heard about before if you never studied the Rule Book or had to pass a Test to Referee......

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Then You're Gonna Need to Call the Cops!!

In a recent High School Basketball game a fan had become quite belligerent. It was a woman who was pushing a baby stroller along the sideline at the end of the court.

Neither my Referee partner or I had said anything to her when a school Security Guard stepped over to ask her to calm down.

She refused and got even louder.

The Security Guard said if she did not calm down he would make her leave the gymnasium.

To that comment she shouted, "If you try to do that, then you're gonna need to call the Cops!"

The Security Guard turned, pointed to the far end of the gym and said, "There's one right there and HE's the one who sent me over to tell you to calm down or leave."

We did not hear anything from that fan the rest of the game......

I never cease to be amazed at what outrageous things some fans think is acceptable behavior at High School Athletic Events!

Image "Police" by Matty Ring via Flickr

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No, the Coach did NOT go to the Pre-Season Rules Meeting......

The Arizona Interscholastic Association, at the Basketball Referee's Tip Off Meeting, mentioned there would be a Rules Meeting for the Coaches to review NEW Rules and discuss how, what and why Referees make certain calls. It was suggested it would be of great value to Coaches better understand the Rules and Refereeing.

At a Pre-Season Scrimmage I printed copies of this year's new Rules to give to the Coaches for when I reviewed new rules with the Players & Coaches prior to starting the game.

One Coach, who is notorious for berating Referee Calls, was skeptical about my explanation of a new Free Throw Lane Rule.

I asked if he had attended the Rules Meeting for Coaches.

He gave me a puzzled, "What Rules Meeting?" look and said "No."

I did NOT say it. I wanted to... But NOT going to the Rules Meeting probably has a lot to do with his constant complaining about Referee Calls.

He does not know the Rules as well as he thinks he does and he has no idea about Referee philosophy.

"Basketball Court" by Mohamad Zeina Via Flickr

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No One Likes the Referee Calls. Get Use to It!

It's all a matter of perspective......good or bad Referee calls, I'm talking about......

If the foul or Violation is called on your opponent you think it's a good call! And your opponent thought it was a bad call! Perspective.

Oftentimes I'll hear a Coach in a High School Game, after I make a call on the opponent, shout, "Good Call!!" To which I reply, "Aren't they ALL 'Good Calls,' Coach?" Most Coaches will nod yes, or even chuckle & say, "Yes they are." One Coach said, "Yes, but some calls are more good than others!" Another said, "I wish you'd make more "Good Calls" on them and fewer on us!"

Sometimes that “bad call” your complaining about is the Ref adhering to the rules. Odds are, unless you’ve studied the Rule Book as much as the Refs do, there are probably some pesky rules you don’t know. Like I've said in my post If Your Gonna Yell at the Ref… it's best to know the rules.

Folks, it's EASY to play or spectate and make the game calls. It's HARD to actually be the Referee. I joked with Coach Jon Mott, who use to be the Globe High School Boy's Varsity Basketball Coach after he volunteered to refereed a church basketball game with me a few years ago. I asked him, "Did you even blow the whistle?" He said, "Yes, 3 times, but you also blew the whistle on the same calls." Then he said, "I wanted to blow the whistle a couple of other time but by the time I tried to blow the whistle the play was gone and it was too late!" Trust me, I have Refereed games for Globe High School and Coach Mott does not have trouble yelling, "That's a FOUL" from the bench when he's coaching a game. But even after all of his years of experience "refereeing from the bench" it's still tough to be the Referee on the floor and make the call.

Sometimes a Referee can get caught up watching a well-played game, so well played he gets distracted by the quality of the game itself and he sees something happen and thinks to himself, "Someone should have called that! Oh no, I'm THAT SOMEONE!!" The call is missed and it's too late to make it. It’s the same thing that happened to Coach Mott when he put on the black and white stripes. Don’t forget, Referees are fans of the game too, and we are human!

Have you ever watched a B-ball game and hear the announcer's say that was a perfectly called game? Nope. Not gonna happen. Too much happens too fast for 2 or even 3 Referees to see it all. Sometimes a big fellow, and there are usually a few of those in every game, steps between the play action and the Referee and the Referee's vision is completely blocked out just the instant a likely foul occurs and he misses the call. Too bad. Even the best Referees in the world- NBA, NFL, MLB, and NCAA often blow a call. Critical calls, too! Just keep playing.

"Stephen Curry" by Keith Allison via Flickr

NO ONE LIKES THE REFEREE CALLS. GET USE TO IT! Sometimes the Referee isn't real happy with the call he just made, either, just like you're not happy when you fire up an "Air Ball." Mistakes happen.

Billy Kennedy is a former Arizona High School & Junior College Ref currently in the NBA. He got his "Big Break" into the NBA during a NBA Referee Strike a few years ago. In a game with the Detroit Pistons, Doug Collins (I think he was the Detroit Pistons Head Coach) Billy made a call that Collins did not like. "I've been in this league for 20 years as a player and a coach and I've NEVER seen a Ref call like that before!!" Yelled the Coach. Billy's reply? "Coach, I've been in the league 2 weeks. Get used to it!!"

At the end of each game, every Referee makes some good calls and some bad calls. Hopefully a lot more good than bad, but they made what they thought was the proper call from their vantage point and what they saw. You may not have seen what they saw, or have the rules knowledge to know whether or not it was a “good call” but the calls have made. “Get used to it!!”

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If You Had Kept Your Mouth Shut......

I was Refereeing an 8th Grade Girl's Basketball Tournament.

At Game Time the other Referee had not shown up, but the Game, like the "The Show," must go on, right?

Coaches, Fans, ect, think TWO Refs miss a lot of calls, so what is the chance ONE Ref can see everything?

We were barley 3 minutes into the FIRST Quarter and the Visiting Coach had been hollering at me for every little thing he thought I was not calling. Naturally ONLY things that would have benefited HIS team......

One of his girls stole the ball and off they raced to the opposite end of the floor. I was well behind the play trying to catch up when his player, who could barley dribble the ball while running and NOT being defended, lost control of the ball and stumbled into 2 defensive players. While stumbling, she tried to push up a feeble shot and the ball went out of bounds.

I blew my whistle and awarded the ball to the other team for having gone out of bounds.

At that moment, the Coach comes stomping onto the court, nearly to the Half Court Line, hollering about how I should have called a Foul. It was quite and most definitely unsportsmanship behavior, so I "whacked" him with a "T".

Not satisfied, and apparently accustomed to Referees cowering to his bellows, he took another step towards me and yelled even louder, "That was a HORRIBLE Call. You are an awful Ref!!"

I replied, "You might be right on both accounts, but you are now a coach that has been ejected from the game!" And pointed to the Exit.

Evidently the Home Team had been witness to this Coach's intimidating antics in a previous game - which the other Referees had allowed to go on without any "T's" on the Coach -  and cheered loudly when they knew he had been ejected.

A few minutes later the other Referee showed up - there had been a traffic accident along the way that had delayed his arrival.

He asked if he had missed anything interesting.

Photo by Paul and Cathy (Becker1999) via Flickr

When I responded, "Only my ejecting the Visiting Head Coach 3 1/2 minutes into the game." He commented, "That explains the fellow who confronted me on the way in."

As I looked quizzically at him he continued, "As I walked up to the door to the gym some guy came up and complained he had been ejected from the game. He was rather agitated and seemed like a real jerk, so I said, 'Well, if you had just kept your mouth shut you would still be inside, wouldn't you?' and walked thru the door."

Coaches & fans rarely get ejected for something they do NOT say.

(If you want to find out if this Coach was better behaved then NEXT time I officiated a game for his school you can read about that here. You Decide the Call, Coach!!! )

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