Rndballref
20 Years Experience
Chicago, IL
Male, 60
For twenty years I officiated high school, AAU and park district basketball games, retiring recently. For a few officiating is the focus of their occupation, while for most working as an umpire or basketball referee is an avocation. I started ref'ing to earn beer money during college, but it became a great way to stay connected to the best sports game in the universe. As a spinoff, I wrote a sports-thriller novel loosely based on my referee experiences titled, Advantage Disadvantage
If an offensive player jumps and causes contact within the defender's space it should be called a player control foul, unless the contact did not change the play in a material way (Advantage Disadvantage Theory of Officiating).
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As of about 10 years ago, NFHS refs are allowed to consult with the scorer's table if they are unsure of who the foul is on, or who the shooter should be. However, it is sloppy officiating in a 3 man crew when none of the officials know who was involved in a foul. In my opinion, it is inappropriate to levy a foul based on personal foul counts. If the table knows with confidence who committed a foul then they can help. Otherwise, the official must determine who fouled, or else don't blow your whistle.
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Your question makes me think you have been tossed out of a gym and you object. Here it is in black and white.
In the NFHS rulebook, Rule 2 Officials and Their Duties, Section 8 Officials Additional Duties, Article 1, "The officials shall penalize unsporting conduct by any player, coach, substitute, team attendant or follower.In the same section under Article 1, "NOTE: The home management or game committee is responsible for spectator behavior, insofar as it can be reasonably be expected to control the spectators.The officials may rule fouls on either team if its spectators act in such a way as to interfere with the proper conduct of the game … When team supporters become unruly or interfere with the orderly progress of the game, the officials shall stop the game until the home management resolves the situation and the game can proceed in in an orderly manner."
In practice the way this works is an official notifies home management that a fan's behavior is unacceptable and the officials ask that home management eject the fan. Home management always complies because to refuse would force the official to penalize the home team starting with technical fouls potentially leading to a forfeited game. I only asked home management to throw out a handful of people in 20 years of officiating and they never refused my requests.
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A ref cannot listen to a coach and do his job while a game is being played. So a ref should not respond during live balls. On the first dead ball i would approach the coach, listen to what the issue is, resolve it if legitimate, and explain that I will not listen or be interupted during live balls. If he insists on communicating while i have in game responsibilities i will consider it unsportsmanlike.
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Antiques Dealer
Do you think today's "stuff" will one day be collected as valuable antiques?
Zookeeper and Animal Trainer
Why are some people so protective of endangered species?
EMT
What was the most gruesome trauma you witnessed while on the job?
When a shot is released before time runs out, it becomes dead when it becomes apparent that it will not go directly into the basket. Of course, when it hits the floor it is a dead ball, and therefore does not count if it then bounces into the hoop.
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The rule book does not spell out all the ways of committing a technical foul. I believe that working your way up through ranks sifts out most referees with poor judgement and thin skin, not always but at most levels it is so competitive that the better officials tend to move forward and ref the better games. That is how the system cultivates good judgement - and I'll admit there are officials who come in with a chip on their shoulders and stretch their judgement unfairly against a team or player, but it is the assignment chairman's job to weed out these kind of officials.
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I believe the new rule (added in 2014-2015) allows players lined up along the free throw lane to break the plane as soon as the ball is released (like the NBA). If a defender violates it is a delayed violation (live ball) and so you would enforce the subsequent foul. However, if a lane violation is committed by a teammate of the shooter, the ball is dead and any subsequent unintentional fouls are not enforced.
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