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What is everyone's take on the state of officiating? And I am not advocating naming individuals, just truly curious as to what everyone thinks of the officiating as a whole.

I think it is far worse than 20 years ago. I feel like guys go to the little schools that the refs run, learn the test, then never ever look at a rule book again. So many young officials don't even know the basic rules:

Examples I've seen this season:
1. ball get stuck between rim and back board - should be a jump ball. yet the ball was awarded to non shooting team it was not called a jump ball
2. traveling violation called on a player who caught his own shot on an airball. If the official deems it an actual shot the shooter can rebound and shoot again, I actually asked the official after the game and he said yes it was a shot but he cannot catch an airball...the ref is wrong in scholastic ball an attempted shot is an attempted shot and can be rebounded by the shooter regardless of it hits anything or not.
3. also have seen refs call the ball out of bounds for hitting the side of the backboard...that is not out of bounds. it must hit a piece of the apparatus holding the backboard to be out of bounds.
4. I also see refs struggling to figure out the euro-step the same ref will call a walk one time and let it got the next...

I have seen examples of these in middle and high school games.

also the level of consistency is bad, even from quarter to quarter is very bad....

again just my opinion. what are your all's?

I've seen some bad officiating but I've seen many really good officials as well.

It's the one job where the right call makes 50% of the gym mad. My problem has always been with certain areas want games called different. Combs, Maddox, and StIverson want no physical play while teams like SVSM, Watterson, and Parkersburg are like football games

My favorite is when a 5'9 kid drives on a 6'5 kid and they always call a foul. Also we need a charge circle. That's the most scary play in high school basketball and a very dirty play

Since when have LE and VC not wanted physical games? lol

There are way more good officials than bad ones.

danicalifornia wrote:Since when have LE and VC not wanted physical games? lol

There are way more good officials than bad ones.

I have no clue why if a 6'5 defender goes straight up and down vs teams that have a realistic shot at state its not a foul but in southern ohio it's a foul.

I might go to Parkersburg at warren since it will be great entertainment from the officials

I've watched 9 JV boys games, 9 varsity boys, 4 varsity girls and 8 jr high games so far the season. The best high school crew I have seen is Ward, Wright and Kreischer and next best has Phipps and the other Beaver ref. Those two crew maintain control in the game and are assertive with their calls.

The next best crew was our jr high boys game AT Alexander. Both were probably mid 20's. Probably a 6'4 dark headed one a 5'10 blonde hair kid....they were excellent.

What makes me sick is official 90% of the time calling a foul on the defensive guy when he's standing straight up and the offensive player jumps into the defensive player causing the contact... Usually lowering their shoulder...Total bull crap...Another thing referees are letting players down low who don't have position push kids under the basket....Goes on the whole game and only called if the player jumps and hits him creating over the back calls....Dirty players using their knees to Charlie horse other players...I wish they had videos to play back and eject the dirty players like in college...Every team has these players because they get by with it most of the time......if these games were all reviewed on tape several grayson allen's would be exposed..... Most people know who they are.....

mrwonderful wrote:What makes me sick is official 90% of the time calling a foul on the defensive guy when he's standing straight up and the offensive player jumps into the defensive player causing the contact... Usually lowering their shoulder...Total bull crap...Another thing referees are letting players down low who don't have position push kids under the basket....Goes on the whole game and only called if the player jumps and hits him creating over the back calls....Dirty players using their knees to Charlie horse other players...I wish they had videos to play back and eject the dirty players like in college...Every team has these players because they get by with it most of the time......if these games were all reviewed on tape several grayson allen's would be exposed..... Most people know who they are.....

Agree with a lot of this.

Good post, OP. I think those are all legitimate, worthwhile observations.

In case anyone was wondering about #1 for when it happens in biddy and levels below 7th grade: some leagues eliminate the jump ball completely and in cases like what OP describe, possession goes to whoever the possession arrow is pointing for.

Regarding stuff down low in the paint: while it's never permissible to neglect said conduct & dirty play, bear in mind the fans in the stands can see more than the stripes. If you're lead on baseline, you have 7-8 bodies roughly the same height (or taller!) than you in an area that's from the arc to half of the stripe. It gets congested. It's also worth considering that crews operate loosely on trust that your partner will make the call in his PCA (primary coverage area.) Is it necessarily wrong to make an occasional call if it's out of your area? No — so as long as it's the right call. But multiple calls out of your PCA makes for a messy affair in all corners of the game.

Does not make difference in what level. Last Friday at Ohio officiating was just as bad as any high school game a seen this year and has for videos the game they stop the game 8-9 times and only change one call. I seen them take up over 10 minutes to make a call it wasn't in this game

I like to see the officials cleanup the trash talking by players after the play is blown dead. Most officials try to keep things in check like dirty play . Hand checking is a big issue some call it and some do not . Some officials pick up the 5 second count as soon as ball passes mid court. Does anyone know that rule for sure . Seen the count start at mid court and official still counting when ball handler at the baseline . Have seen different styles between North and South officials . Like someone said not all are happy after a call but that will never change . Good luck to all the officials ,players, coaches and fans.

3 seconds!!! Is this still even a rule in basketball????

I counted one kid stand in the lane on three separate occasions well over 10 seconds. Not one time was he whistled for 2 seconds.

george wrote:Does not make difference in what level. Last Friday at Ohio officiating was just as bad as any high school game a seen this year and has for videos the game they stop the game 8-9 times and only change one call. I seen them take up over 10 minutes to make a call it wasn't in this game

I was there I have no idea what they could even of been looking at on some of those replays

Probably my biggest problem with officiating is refs calling plays when they are totally out of position.. if your in position good or bad call I don't mean no if your add of position.. don't guess

My peeve is when officials call what they anticipate or believe happened instead of what actually happened becuse they're out of position

For the most part I feel refs do a good job. A few bad calls happen every game. Sometimes because they are out of position, sometimes because the game is to fast, and sometimes just because they miss one. As long as they are consistent on both ends I can live with it. I would however like to know if refs are evaluated and punished when appropriate. We had a situation at Hillsboro during the Hillsboro Waverly JV game in which a ref teed up the only black player on the bench and ejected the black coach even though neither was warrented. Even the Hillsboro fans agreed it was unjustified. It is all being handled by OHSAA but I was told they don't make public their findings or punishment if necessary.

bbn77 wrote:My peeve is when officials call what they anticipate or believe happened instead of what actually happened becuse they're out of position

AMEN.... This happens a lot. Exsp in southeast OH. When in doubt call traveling seems to also be the norm.

Well they are looking for good officials, here is the link and your opportunity to give back to the game, the community and the kids.

http://ohsaa.org/Officiating/permits

Don't talk about it, be about it!!!!

I think if a lot of them would go back and look at some of the game film after some games that would help.

Raider6309 wrote: My favorite is when a 5'9 kid drives on a 6'5 kid and they always call a foul. Also we need a charge circle. That's the most scary play in high school basketball and a very dirty play

Yes, my largest criticism is that the initiator of the contact, often the 5'9" kid gets rewarded, and the one who held his ground and went straight up, often the 6'5" kid, gets penalized.

A couple weekends ago I did see three 3 sec calls in two games!

Also walking calls are too lax. And on the euro step they try to get a lot of lateral movement and drag the back foot quite a bit that isn't called.

Also on loose balls they allow way too much roughness, many times letting one player blatantly jump right on top of a player on the floor and reward them with a held ball call.