Why do we officiate?

[clevelandbrowns#1]

Mlittle,
The defender who goes straight up has the right to that ground and should not be penalized. Exception is when he goes straight up but has his arms out in front of him over his head. When he makes contact with the offensive player then foul should be called on him. Also when a defender is standing there waiting for the offensive player to charge into him and the offensive player does the euro step and draws contact from the defender on his side and not in his chest a block should be called or nothing. For a charge to be called when I officiate the offensive player must make contact in the chest of the defender. Hope this helps you a (little).

[mlittle]

Mlittle,
The defender who goes straight up has the right to that ground and should not be penalized. Exception is when he goes straight up but has his arms out in front of him over his head. When he makes contact with the offensive player then foul should be called on him. Also when a defender is standing there waiting for the offensive player to charge into him and the offensive player does the euro step and draws contact from the defender on his side and not in his chest a block should be called or nothing. For a charge to be called when I officiate the offensive player must make contact in the chest of the defender. Hope this helps you a (little).

I very much appreciate the human answer and not some code rule 113.433 explanation. That does help some. I definitely appreciate your answer on the defender being straight up and not being called for a foul as long as the hands aren’t forward as the contact is made. I definitely don’t feel most officials have the same view Or maybe my angle may be off.

On the other issue. Does the rule state that it has to be chest contact to be a charge? To me this would be putting the defender in a no win situation because if he sees the euro coming and slides over last second to adjust I doubt he would have time to be set before contact.

And thank you for your responses.

[baseball16]

I agree with clevelandbrowns#1. As a ref, I always try to be patient and ask myself in about .5 tenths of a second WHO CREATED the CONTACT? Did Defense cause the collision on a drive to the basket or did the Offense come in out of control and run over someone! Also, when the Offense player puts his or her head down and drives out of control bouncing off of a defender(s) just standing their ground I usually will not bail out the Offensive player and we have an ugly play on!

It's a split second and you have to call one or the other.

[baseball16]

It is legal use of hands to accidentally hit the hand of the opponent when it is in contact with the ball. This includes holding, dribbling, passing, or even during a shot attempt. Striking a ball handler, or a shooter, on that player's hand (in contact with the ball) that is incidental to an attempt to play the ball is not a foul.

[mlittle]

I agree with clevelandbrowns#1. As a ref, I always try to be patient and ask myself in about .5 tenths of a second WHO CREATED the CONTACT? Did Defense cause the collision on a drive to the basket or did the Offense come in out of control and run over someone! Also, when the Offense player puts his or her head down and drives out of control bouncing off of a defender(s) just standing their ground I usually will not bail out the Offensive player and we have an ugly play on!

It's a split second and you have to call one or the other.

Yes that drives me crazy when a player throws himself into the defender who is in position and the referee calls the foul. I am seeing that called less and less tho but it still gets called. I know it’s a tough job

[baseball16]

The intent of the three second rule is to not allow an offensive player in the lane to gain an advantage. There is no three second count between the release of a shot, and the control of a rebound, at which time a new count starts. There is no three second count during a throwin. There is no three second count while the ball is in the backcourt. There is a three second count during an interrupted dribble. There is a three second count while an offensive player has one foot in the lane, and one foot outside of the lane, and the three second count continues if this player lifts the foot in the lane so that neither foot is touching inside the lane. To stop the count this player must have both feet touch the court outside of the lane. It’s a violation for a player to step out of bounds in an attempt to avoid a three second violation. Allowance shall be made for a player who, having been in the lane area for less than three seconds, dribbles, or moves immediately to try for goal.


Here this one a lot during a game!

[Ironman92]

The intent of the three second rule is to not allow an offensive player in the lane to gain an advantage. There is no three second count between the release of a shot, and the control of a rebound, at which time a new count starts. There is no three second count during a throwin. There is no three second count while the ball is in the backcourt. There is a three second count during an interrupted dribble. There is a three second count while an offensive player has one foot in the lane, and one foot outside of the lane, and the three second count continues if this player lifts the foot in the lane so that neither foot is touching inside the lane. To stop the count this player must have both feet touch the court outside of the lane. It’s a violation for a player to step out of bounds in an attempt to avoid a three second violation. Allowance shall be made for a player who, having been in the lane area for less than three seconds, dribbles, or moves immediately to try for goal.


Here this one a lot during a game!

As a fan, fans seem to be getting better at this one. Used to be a constant thing being said. I don’t hear it much anymore.

[Ironman92]

It is legal use of hands to accidentally hit the hand of the opponent when it is in contact with the ball. This includes holding, dribbling, passing, or even during a shot attempt. Striking a ball handler, or a shooter, on that player's hand (in contact with the ball) that is incidental to an attempt to play the ball is not a foul.

? Incidentally hitting the shooter’s hand during the shot isn’t a foul?

[baseball16]

The intent of the three second rule is to not allow an offensive player in the lane to gain an advantage. There is no three second count between the release of a shot, and the control of a rebound, at which time a new count starts. There is no three second count during a throwin. There is no three second count while the ball is in the backcourt. There is a three second count during an interrupted dribble. There is a three second count while an offensive player has one foot in the lane, and one foot outside of the lane, and the three second count continues if this player lifts the foot in the lane so that neither foot is touching inside the lane. To stop the count this player must have both feet touch the court outside of the lane. It’s a violation for a player to step out of bounds in an attempt to avoid a three second violation. Allowance shall be made for a player who, having been in the lane area for less than three seconds, dribbles, or moves immediately to try for goal.


Here this one a lot during a game!

As a fan, fans seem to be getting better at this one. Used to be a constant thing being said. I don’t hear it much anymore.

Go to Fairland! LOL

[Ironman92]

I agree with clevelandbrowns#1. As a ref, I always try to be patient and ask myself in about .5 tenths of a second WHO CREATED the CONTACT? Did Defense cause the collision on a drive to the basket or did the Offense come in out of control and run over someone! Also, when the Offense player puts his or her head down and drives out of control bouncing off of a defender(s) just standing their ground I usually will not bail out the Offensive player and we have an ugly play on!

It's a split second and you have to call one or the other.

I like the .5 tenths part....so often I see the charge kind of coming from the stands like the ref maybe does too and sometimes it seems as if there is a bit much anticipation of the future happening and the ref has enough steps of momentum going for that big charge call that he looks like a CF getting ready to fire the ball home. Also on the lay in where defender is clearly a step late getting there it seems like that call gets automatically whistled so so often and contact seems minimal if any....the timing and quickness of some whistles seem as if they were waiting for it and maybe not seeing it play out. As a fan I appreciate the right call and being extra quick doesn’t seem like the best thing. I know sometimes refs blow the late whistle and may not look “sloppy” a bit with it, but I’d rather a much slower whistle than one that blows it sometimes seemingly before play actually occurs. I know quick and assertive can help sell the call (if that’s a thing) and can look real good to those watching the game, but I think some teeter on it too much. And I really only see it on the block/charge and that late a step lay in I spoke of.

I never said it was easy though. It’s easy to see when a ref really cares about how he’s doing in a game. I very much appreciate that.

[Ironman92]

The intent of the three second rule is to not allow an offensive player in the lane to gain an advantage. There is no three second count between the release of a shot, and the control of a rebound, at which time a new count starts. There is no three second count during a throwin. There is no three second count while the ball is in the backcourt. There is a three second count during an interrupted dribble. There is a three second count while an offensive player has one foot in the lane, and one foot outside of the lane, and the three second count continues if this player lifts the foot in the lane so that neither foot is touching inside the lane. To stop the count this player must have both feet touch the court outside of the lane. It’s a violation for a player to step out of bounds in an attempt to avoid a three second violation. Allowance shall be made for a player who, having been in the lane area for less than three seconds, dribbles, or moves immediately to try for goal.


Here this one a lot during a game!

As a fan, fans seem to be getting better at this one. Used to be a constant thing being said. I don’t hear it much anymore.

Go to Fairland! LOL

I’d rather not

[mlittle]

The intent of the three second rule is to not allow an offensive player in the lane to gain an advantage. There is no three second count between the release of a shot, and the control of a rebound, at which time a new count starts. There is no three second count during a throwin. There is no three second count while the ball is in the backcourt. There is a three second count during an interrupted dribble. There is a three second count while an offensive player has one foot in the lane, and one foot outside of the lane, and the three second count continues if this player lifts the foot in the lane so that neither foot is touching inside the lane. To stop the count this player must have both feet touch the court outside of the lane. It’s a violation for a player to step out of bounds in an attempt to avoid a three second violation. Allowance shall be made for a player who, having been in the lane area for less than three seconds, dribbles, or moves immediately to try for goal.


Here this one a lot during a game!

Surprising because I’ve seen this called once in 21 games this year. The game is getting further and further from the basket so this call just hasn’t been a factor

[mlittle]

I agree with clevelandbrowns#1. As a ref, I always try to be patient and ask myself in about .5 tenths of a second WHO CREATED the CONTACT? Did Defense cause the collision on a drive to the basket or did the Offense come in out of control and run over someone! Also, when the Offense player puts his or her head down and drives out of control bouncing off of a defender(s) just standing their ground I usually will not bail out the Offensive player and we have an ugly play on!

It's a split second and you have to call one or the other.

I like the .5 tenths part....so often I see the charge kind of coming from the stands like the ref maybe does too and sometimes it seems as if there is a bit much anticipation of the future happening and the ref has enough steps of momentum going for that big charge call that he looks like a CF getting ready to fire the ball home. Also on the lay in where defender is clearly a step late getting there it seems like that call gets automatically whistled so so often and contact seems minimal if any....the timing and quickness of some whistles seem as if they were waiting for it and maybe not seeing it play out. As a fan I appreciate the right call and being extra quick doesn’t seem like the best thing. I know sometimes refs blow the late whistle and may not look “sloppy” a bit with it, but I’d rather a much slower whistle than one that blows it sometimes seemingly before play actually occurs. I know quick and assertive can help sell the call (if that’s a thing) and can look real good to those watching the game, but I think some teeter on it too much. And I really only see it on the block/charge and that late a step lay in I spoke of.

I never said it was easy though. It’s easy to see when a ref really cares about how he’s doing in a game. I very much appreciate that.

Also agree with this. The anticipation from the official is a big part of it as well. If the dribbler gets the ball stolen from them at mid court he might as well let the guy have the break away layup because any attempt at all at playing defense will result in a foul 95% of the time. People chalk those up as “frustration fouls” when in reality it’s more anticipation from an official. It’s not unreasonable to think a kid can get the ball stolen from them and go down and actually play good defense with a clear head without fouling. I’m sure a lot of fans will agree and a lot of officials won’t but that’s just how I see it.

[Pol pot]

Charge/block call is probably fans biggest complaint. All refs struggle with that call. Always thought high school needs a charge circle. That’s one of the most dangerous plays in sports

Fans biggest complaint because they are always biased to one side. Maybe you'd like to try your hand at this and come out and teach some veteran officials how not to struggle with that call.

You are correct. The infamous block charge call where half the gym will cheer and the other half will boo no matter how right the call is. Lol. However I don’t disagree that a lot of high school officials do struggle with the call mainly due to positioning I’d say. Your more seasoned crews usually handle this pretty well.

Very fair assessment mlittle, positioning is 95% of the battle, creating the proper angle. The rest is knowledge of the primary and secondary defender and which one you are responsible for. This is definitely something that takes time. It's also something that happens very very quickly. And you know, kids who pull up and shoot the short J, rarely have this issue.

[mlittle]

Fans biggest complaint because they are always biased to one side. Maybe you'd like to try your hand at this and come out and teach some veteran officials how not to struggle with that call.

You are correct. The infamous block charge call where half the gym will cheer and the other half will boo no matter how right the call is. Lol. However I don’t disagree that a lot of high school officials do struggle with the call mainly due to positioning I’d say. Your more seasoned crews usually handle this pretty well.

Very fair assessment mlittle, positioning is 95% of the battle, creating the proper angle. The rest is knowledge of the primary and secondary defender and which one you are responsible for. This is definitely something that takes time. It's also something that happens very very quickly. And you know, kids who pull up and shoot the short J, rarely have this issue.

Something else that doesn’t get talked about enough is how differently the crowd sees things than the officials. Sometimes we do have a better view than an official because we’re up much higher and vice versa. I’ve seen calls where I’ve said to myself that guy has to be blind as a bat what in the world was he looking at? Then watched it on film and said oh now I see it lol. I’ve also thought something was a good call during game and on film see it wasn’t. But I think the higher view from the bleachers sometimes gives us the false impression that we could do what they do. Things look a lot different down there