MOA OFFICIALS

[trojancat]

As far as the block/charge goes, a common misconception is that the defender needs to have his feet planted. This was changed a while back and now the defender needs to obtain legal guarding position, 1)the defender must have both feet on the floor and 2)have his torso facing the opponent. After they have gained legal guarding position the defender may be moving when contact is made as long as the defender is the first to a spot on the floor. As far as going with only 2person officials, because of angles there is more guessing on plays by being blocked by players. Officials hustle, but a great angle can change in a fraction of a second right when a call needs to be made.

[19CAT]

Back to the beginning of this topic, I am curious what game at the State C falconcat thought was so poorly officated?? I have gone to the last 23 State C basketball tournaments with a group of friends that I played in the State C basketball tournament with, and we actually discussed this topic last weekend. All 7 of us felt that the quality of the officating is way better than it used to be. I believe of the 6 officials at the tournament 5 were superb, the other was very good but just a little behind the rest. It is easy to officate from the stands especially at the metra, were you sit so far from the floor, but the fact is 99% of the calls are correct every weekend. If you have not ever officiated a quality basketball game, try it, it will open your eyes. I started officiating at MSU for the intramurals, it widened my eyes greatly. I continued to officate after college until wife, kids, and life got in the way. I will admit that I used to give the officials more than my fair share of OPINIONS, both as a player and a fan, but after striping up I have gained a lot more respect for the profession.

The most common good calls that cause a stir:

1. Blocked shot- The advantage the officail has is seeing what happened BEFORE the defender got his hand on the ball, Did he rake the offensive player on the way up? Where was his other hand? Is he into the body with his body? In a crowded key these are very hard to see from the stands.

2. Block/Charge- I used to hate the old explanation when I was officating. A player with good body control could always slip to the side and bump the defender and the block was called. We switched to the advatage theory a few years before I quit and liked it a lot more. I can tell you that on someplays you can see it in either the offensive or defensive players eyes. You know the collision is coming. This year I think the block/charge calls I saw were the best I have ever seen.

3. Croosover Traveling call - This is one that officials laugh at. It is pretty easy to spot. I believe the uproar comes from taking away a very nice move that ussually results in a score.

One problem that these tourneys cause is bringing in officials from lots of different pools. The biggest problem it causes is gettin your spacing and rotations figured out. This is almost always better the second and third days. But other pools call tighter games or looser games. I saw both last weekend, but it was fair both ways. Sometimes it is the teams taht need to adjust to the officials.

Enough of this old zebra rambling. But I do feel that officaiating has gotten better over the years, probably since I am no longer on the court, LOL.

[falconcat]

Good discussion and gained knowledge. In regards to 19CAT I watched several games, and from my point of view, it seems like some games they let the players play, not a lot of tight calls, and then in the next game it was like they were blowing the whistle every time someone was close. Should one team get twice the # of fouls as the other team, at the State level? I think it is hard for players to adjust. It was discussed about 'zones' each official were to watch, then the furtherest away official would call a foul under the basket? Does one official see more then rest, and call all of violations, seems like it at times?

I know it is a tough job...but should the officials close down the bar after the game, and be ready the next day? This happened in Billings. I don't call that professional.

I just think for the betterment of the game, and the profession of the officials there just needs to be some additional accountability. I sincerely believe that 90+% of these people really try to do a equalable fair job, and that they don't favor one team or the other. But there should be some consequences for those that don't, and some process that allows for growth and improvement, just like any other job or profession.

At the end of the day as quoted earlier, only 50% of the people are ever happy with a call.

[Billings_Griz]

I know it is a tough job...but should the officials close down the bar after the game, and be ready the next day? This happened in Billings. I don't call that professional.

Nothing better than an ice cold beer or 6 after listening to whiney-ass fans.

Besides, being a little hungover slows your timing down (which is a good thing).

[catamaran]

I know it is a tough job...but should the officials close down the bar after the game, and be ready the next day? This happened in Billings. I don't call that professional.

Nothing better than an ice cold beer or 6 after listening to whiney-ass fans.

Besides, being a little hungover slows your timing down (which is a good thing).

This is the first time I"ve ever heard of officials having alcohol...........I"m shocked

[Bobcat4Life]

The actual rule it's that the defensive player must have obtained legal guarding position on the offensive player and then must maintain that legal guarding position by moving forward, backward our laterally. There is nothing in the rule about being planted.

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[WalkOn79]

If we are going to discuss the quality of officiating, we should discuss what calls are missed most frequently. For me, as a fan and a coach, I see the most incorrectly called infraction as being the offensive vs. defensive foul. In my estimation, the biggest failure is when an offensive player drives into the key with wreckless abandon and runs into or over a defensive player, where that defender is clearly in the path to begin with. The common theory is that the defender has to 1) have position and 2) be planted. My issue is with 2. If a defensive player is clearly in the pathway of the offensive dribbler, planted or not, and that dribbler drives into the defensive player creating the contact, 9 times out of 10 the foul is called on the defensive player, even in the absence of swatting or other action of the defender. Why? It seems many - almost all - officials think the defender is supposed to just 'disappear' and allow the offensive dribbler free access to the hoop. This issue needs to be addressed and more offensive fouls or non-calls would appear to be the proper thing.

I believe the rule states that the defender only need to have 2 feet on the floor. No specific length of time, etc. This call bothers the hell out of me as well. One official who I believe is truly among the best in the state told me he calls it based off of advantage. He doesn't really look at whether the defender is "planted" or "set". If he is in good defensive position and the offense creates an advantage by initiating contact then he calls it offensive. If the defender gains an advangtage by "riding" the ball handler, he calls it defensive.

I also hate that so many players are rewarded for flopping with very little contact...

geez guys, you haven't had to be set for years. It's called legal guarding position. And if the defender has it I make that call 9 times out of 10.

[WalkOn79]

Hey L-Town, whoever this official friend of yours is, I want him to run a clinic on how it should be called. Sounds like someone who really knows the game and understands proper officiating.
I also know personally know several officials - some good and some horrible. The ones who actually take the time to think about what their role is in making the game better are the better officials. Unfortunately, I also know and see several who blow a whistle and call a foul because they assume a foul occurred - didn't actually see it happen, but just assume it did because a defender was close to the offensive player. Simple rule on fouls - only call them if you see them, and you better be in position to see it.

Exactly--see a foul, call a foul. One of my biggest pet peaves is when an official says it wasn't in my zone. To me it doesn't matter if you see it and think there is a foul, call it. Conversely, if you don't see it--don't call it.

My other pet peave, and we have at least one here in town, is the official who always makes the dramatic call to get the attention on himself. I swear some of them don't know the signal for a block because all they ever call is offensive...of course, offensive is a more dramatic call...

So you'd be happy if you ran across an official that was calling a foul from the other end of the court even if there was an official standing in perfect position and didn't have a foul.......

The reason they say 'it isn't in my zone' is because they aren't watching that area (obviously). If they are calling fouls from that far away, they aren't doing their job and are probably missing things they should be catching. Not knowing exactly how basketball mechanics work, I can't refer to specific zones of coverage but I can bet no official watches the entire court

exactly!

[WalkOn79]

Their is a rule against drinking on game day. Doesn't apply from after your contest and midnight