A story, if I may: I was reffing in a HS tournament some 20 years ago, and the coach (a guy I learned later was from North Carolina) whose team was ahead in the game had his point guard pick up the ball and stand in the front court, while the other team was in and around the lane. After about 6-7 seconds he says to me (I was "trail") "When are you going to instruct the defense to come out and play the ball?"
"I'm not."
"Why not?"
"Because we have a shot clock, and it's ticking down, btw."
At which point his eyes opened wide, and he called to his team to run their offense.
Later at halftime, he said to me with his best furtive glance, "I'm going to check this out." Maybe he thought I was going to relent so he could move the game back into the Late Cretaceous period where he still was?
I have to points to make from that. First, there are a lot of coaches who have no idea what's in the rule book because they're never really looked in one. And there are even
fewer fans who have. You can easily tell by the kinds of things people say during games which camp they're in. Second, the game has evolved. Athletes are bigger, faster, stronger and smarter than they were when you or I played. Believe it. It is completely outside the realm of all things reasonable or even possible to have ten very athletic persons running around in a space as small as a basketball court with no physical contact. So to take that further, understand that contact alone does not constitute a foul. Contact creating an unfair advantage/disadvantage constitutes a foul. If one doesn't accept this, go back two sentences and begin reading again. So, advantage/disadvantage necessarily requires judgment. And since 90% of coaches and 99% of fans can't even tell me what "legal guarding position" is, I don't place a lot of credence in their ability to decide what is or isn't a foul. Because that's the
first thing I see in a "foul/no call" situation.
I did a HS game this past week in which we never got to bonus in any 10 min. quarter.In fact, in the 3rd Q there was only one foul called between the two teams. How did this happen? Both teams ran hard and tried to play without creating contact, so the clock ran and the ball went through the basket, the kids enjoyed playing and the fans enjoyed watching. Both coaches and several fans came over afterward and said, "Thanks, that was the best job we've had all year." But I had a game the next night in which we were in bonus (5) with 3 minutes left in each quarter. So here's the "dirty little secret:" it wasn't only the refs who made that first game happen, it was because the players played basketball. And it wasn't the refs who made the second game happen, it was players who chose indoor rugby over basketball who did that.
I have to adjust to the many different levels of play I deal with. I cannot call the same game in jr hi as I do in a men's league or in HS/college, because they play differently. I was at a clinic once in which Dave Libbey was the head clinician (he of several final 4's) said, "Pretty much everyone here knows what they'll call. But, do you know what you
won't call?" I became a better official after I understood what that meant.
Finally, players need to learn to adjust also - believe it or not. Some years ago I was reffing in a first division men's league, and one of the guys had been the leading college scorer in the country a year before. So yes, he was most certainly an elite player. His team was stubbornly fouling on every entry pass, so he called a time out. In their huddle he said, "Can you figure it out? If they're F-ing calling it, STOP DOING IT!" So I looked at my partner and smiled and said, "I'm not T-ing him for that." and the game improved dramatically.
