BASKETBALL

There is no reason for officials to keep secrets on the basketball court. Here the crew of, from left, Jerry Sutter, Lansing, Mich.; Christopher Paytas, Midland, Mich.; and Dan Sweet, Perrinton, Mich., come together to share information that will assist them in officiating the game.

SHARING IS CARING

It’s Often OK to Verbally Communicate on the Court

By Scott Tittrington

As a three-sport official, the manner in which I communicate with my fellow officials varies greatly depending on the season in which I find myself.

On the baseball diamond, I often go entire games without verbally saying a word to my crewmate. If it’s a two-person game and I am the base umpire, and there are no questionable rulings we need to get together to discuss, the only communication between my partner and myself will occur through pre-pitch signals. We don’t shout at each other about what we are doing, and we don’t get together between innings to have a chat, unless a rare situation calls for doing so.

On the football field, at least at the level I work, verbal communication is also limited, due in part to the large distances between any two officials. If I am the referee, there are brief bits of information shared between me and the umpire, and I will need input from any official who throws a flag about the penalty and its proper enforcement. However, a line judge might not say a word to a head linesman for an entire game.

On the basketball court, it’s a much different story. With two or three officials working in a relatively confined space, and with officials constantly rotating and switching on the floor during the course of a game, we are afforded a prime opportunity to spend time in one another’s orbits. As such, it makes perfect sense that basketball officiating would allow for, and embrace, both a “show” and “tell” mentality when it comes to communicating with your partners.

This doesn’t mean we should all be overly chatty with one another while working a game. We have a job to do, and we lose an air of professionalism and focus if we are engaging in regular jocularity with a fellow official during a game. That communication needs to be saved for the locker room, well after the final whistle has sounded.

However, there are several

situations during the course of a game that demand officials use their verbal communication skills with one another in addition to the official signals that have been prescribed for the level they are working.

Free-throw administration. It shouldn’t be lost on any basketball official that four of the five correctable errors listed in the NFHS and NCAA rulebooks deal directly with free throws and their enforcement. That should be a pretty good indicator these situations are ripe for miscues, and as such, are moments when great care should be exercised by all members of the officiating crew to get them correct.

The first verbal exchange occurs soon after the foul is called and the reporting official heads to the scorer’s table to report. “White 32 is our shooter.” This can be the ruling official letting partners know who is shooting, or a non-reporting official responding in kind the shooter has been identified while working to line up two teams for the ensuing free-throw attempt(s). This brief give-and-take does wonders in helping head off the wrong player stepping to the line.

Next, there should be no doubts among all members of an officiating crew about how many free-throw attempts are being awarded when a player steps to the line. Strong physical signals, mechanics and eye contact should be accompanied by verbal confirmation among all members of the crew. “One shot!” “Two shots!” “One-and-one!” If you are a perimeter official and the words you hear from the administering lead official are not correct, hit your whistle and make sure the entire crew is on the same page.

Relaying pertinent information.

One of the issues I always cover in my pregame with my partners is when a player or coach has received a warning, the official who issued it needs to tell all the remaining crew members. This avoids allowing a problematic coach to have three different cracks at three different officials, each blissfully unaware a partner has already talked to a coach about the behavior.

Sometimes, this verbal communication is between the administering official and every person in the gym. I’ve handed out bench conduct warnings where my actions, including instructing the official scorer to mark it in the scorebook, make it clear to everyone, including fans in the last row of the bleachers, what has happened. Other times, it requires huddling the crew together during a timeout to share the information. “OK, I’ve given the blue team’s coach a warning and told him no more discussion about handchecking. If he brings it up again, whack him.”

The same goes for sharing information about plays and players that have developed early in a contest. “Red 42 is struggling to set legal screens. Keep an eye on her whenever she gets near the elbow.” “I’ve found our gamewrecker, and it’s Green 55. I’ve talked to him about the need to tone down the rough play.” This isn’t meant to be a siren call to the crew to go looking for trouble. However, it keeps everyone aware and informed so there are no surprises the next time it happens.

Late-game situations. The officiating crew should not be huddling every time a timeout is called during a basketball game. We have responsibilities to attend to and places on the floor where we have been instructed to stand. If we are having to forego those mechanics to have a crew discussion on every extended stoppage of time, something is amiss.

However, late in a tight ballgame is exactly when a crew should be coming together to ensure everyone is on the same page. Clock status, which team is in the bonus, which team has the alternating-possession arrow, which teams have timeouts remaining and how many — these are all pieces of information that should be shared and discussed.

Good officials are good communicators — with game personnel, with players and coaches, and with one another. The basketball court provides an environment where we can use our voices for good. Don’t be afraid to do so. Scott Tittrington is an associate editor at Referee. He officiates women’s college and high school basketball, college and high school baseball, and high school football. 

BY THE NUMBERS 1985

Perhaps no year has had a more lasting impact on how basketball is played at the NFHS level in the modern era. During the in the modern era. During the 1985 NFHS rules meeting, the 1985 NFHS rules meeting, the committee approved the use committee approved the use of a 19-foot three-point arc by of a 19-foot three-point arc by state adoption, approved the state adoption, approved the alternating-possession throwin procedure for all held-ball in procedure for all held-ball situations except to start the game or any extra period, and approved period, and approved a basketball for use a basketball for use in the girls’ game in the girls’ game that is one inch that is one inch smaller and two smaller and two smaller and two ounces lighter than ounces lighter than the boys’ version. the boys’ version.

THEY SAID IT “We call him Jay Kill-us.”

— NCAA men’s basketball official John Higgins, about ESPN television personality Jay Bilas, who is often critical about college basketball officiating

SOURCE: OMAHA.COM

TOOLS

Rules By Topic

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TEST YOURSELF Know When to Color In each of the following, decide which answer or answers are correct Outside the (PCA) Lines for NFHS, NCAA men’s and NCAA women’s rules, which might vary. Solutions: p. 85. By Tim Sloan 1. All of the following are guidelines (NFHS) or requirements (NCAAM/W) for the display of the shot clocks, It was late in a hard-fought girls’ varsity game last season, with the except which? outcome still in doubt. a. A shot clock shall exist on each end of the court. b. The shot clocks shall be I was the lead official when an offensive player drove down the mounted on the backboard lane line in front of me, suddenly supports. stumbling forward and knocking c. The shot clocks shall be recessed behind the backboard. d. LED lights shall exist around the girl guarding her on her rear end. I popped out with a charge the shot clock. signal but noticed my crewmate, the center official, out of the corner of 2. All of the following result in no reset of the shot clock, except which? my eye coming toward me on urgent business. He told me the offensive a. A1 is holding the ball, player had been shoved from behind defender B2 also grabs the ball, a by another defender, causing her held ball is called, and team A has the possession arrow. b. A1’s try does not strike the to crash into the first one. This was news to me, not being Clark Kent. As ring or flange, A2 and B2 grab the my partner explained what he had rebound simultaneously, and team seen, I noticed coaches and players A has the possession arrow. c. A1’s try does strike the ring or flange, A2 and B2 grab the rebound standing by with wait-and-see looks, confirming that I hadn’t seen the simultaneously, and team A has the whole event. So, I deferred to my possession arrow. partner. He reported the foul, there d. A1 is holding the ball, and an official inadvertently blows the whistle. was the odd murmur from the crowd, but life went on. The situation I described evokes 3. Which is true of setting a screen a range of reactions in the officiating on a stationary opponent outside that opponent’s visual field? a. The screen may be set just community, coaching fraternity and around the office water cooler come short of contact. Monday. Strictly speaking, at the b. The screen must allow the NFHS level, the center official has opponent to take one normal step without contact. c. The screen must allow the responsibility for the weak side of the lane; the lead’s lane line isn’t in that opponent time and distance to area. Meanwhile, the trail official has avoid contact. a 60/40 split with the lead, but would d. The screen must allow the opponent the ability to stop or change direction to avoid contact. have been 20-30 feet away in this case, while the lead was within reach of the crash. 4. Which of the following is true Some officials would be irked of the color of arm sleeves and full-length tights for team A, who is wearing blue uniforms with yellow at the center official poaching in his area. “I don’t need any help,” would trim? be the quote; the thought process a. Both can be yellow. being that their personal control and b. Both can be blue, but the color of the arm sleeves must match the color of the tights. command of the game would be compromised by admitting some kind c. The arm sleeves can be yellow of error here. Others would wonder and the tights blue. why the trail didn’t help, instead of d. A1 can be wearing black arm sleeves and tights, and A2 can be wearing blue arm sleeves and the center. Some coaches and players, who actually know what the officials tights. should be covering, would see an e. Both a and c. opportunity to start shopping for the best calls among a crew apparently so eager to help one another. A third reaction, in the same situation, would depend on what had gone on in the game to that point: If the officials were on top of it from the get-go, this event would properly go down as “good officiating.” If, instead, it was the latest oddity in the crew’s work — right or wrong — it might have brought down the house. Primary coverage areas (PCAs), as laid out in the mechanics manuals, are a good start in making sure all the elements of the game are being monitored by someone at all times. They shouldn’t be taken as absolutes, however, as the case we’re addressing illustrates. There are times when the covering official is too close to a play to notice a critical element. Sometimes traffic or another distraction has an official looking elsewhere, making that official the only person in the building who wasn’t a witness. In these cases, the prudent approach is for a fellow official to step up, right the obvious wrong and help assure the participants that the crew’s “got” this one. In my experience, there are times when a well-oiled crew should be ready to hop across the dotted lines in the mechanics manual and help a crewmate. Here are some thoughts: Traveling: I see this most when an offensive player is in the lane with the ball, struggling to put back a rebound. The lead is going to be focused on the hands and arms around the ball and might not have the player’s feet in view while he or she dances into position. That’s a great time for the trail or center to step up with the violation. The lead has the major issue (illegal contact), while partners have the minor issue (illegal footwork). Rebounding: In general, court mechanics are designed for the two nearest officials to be viewing this activity at 90 degrees to one another, so someone is always looking between players. There are still going to be

times when a shirt-grab or a shove has to be called, but neither official gets a clean look. Done in moderation, the third official should never hesitate to come and help when game control is threatened by doing nothing. If a crew finds this is becoming a habit, however, it should look at why this is happening; it’s often a case of too much ball-watching.

Transition: When a team is pushing the ball up court, particularly under a press, the officials are in transition, too. The process of the old lead having endline responsibility but becoming new trail with sideline responsibility isn’t always prompt enough to keep up with unfolding

These are the primary coverage areas for officials in the frontcourt using threeperson NFHS mechanics. However, they are not absolute. An official must be willing to go into a secondary area to make a call if it’s the right thing to do for the game and the crew.

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complete guide to VISITOR This is the basketball season basketball season comprehensive guide you need to be ready to work High School work High School basketball this season. All new and season. All new and recent rule changes recent rule changes broken down, Points of Emphasis Points of Emphasis clarifi ed and tough clarifi ed and tough situations made simple - all in a full-color, magazinefull-color, magazinesized annual guide. sized annual guide. Includes hundreds Includes hundreds of caseplays and quiz questions! NEW for 2022

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CASEPLAYS

Throw-in to Wrong Team

Play: After a traveling violation by A1 in team A’s backcourt, team A is granted a timeout. Following the timeout, the administering official mistakenly awards the ball to team A for the throw-in. Thrower-in A1 (a) is still holding the ball, or (b) has completed the throw-in by passing the ball to A2, when the officials realize the mistake, and an official blows the whistle to create a dead ball. Is it too late to correct the throw-in mistake? Ruling: In NFHS and NCAAW, when the ball is awarded to the wrong team for a throw-in, the error must be rectified before the throw-in ends. In (a), since the throw-in had not ended, the mistake shall be corrected by awarding a throw-in to team B. In (b), since the throw-in ended when A2 touched the ball, it is too late to correct the mistake. Team A shall receive a throw-in at the spot nearest where A2 had the ball (NFHS 7-6-6, 7.6.6; NCAAW 7-6.13, AR 231). In NCAAM, when the ball is awarded to the wrong team for a throw-in, the error must be rectified before the first dead ball after the ball becomes live. Therefore, the mistake can be corrected in both scenarios. The official shall award the ball to team B at the original throw-in spot, and in (b), shall correct the time on the game clock to the time when team A’s violation occurred (7-6.13, AR 191).

Throw-in in Backcourt

Play: A1 attempts a three-point try that hits the ring, and the long rebound bounces back toward the division line. In an attempt to secure the rebound, players from both teams bat the ball toward team A’s backcourt. A2 is the last player to touch the ball and the ball ultimately goes out of bounds on the sideline in team A’s backcourt. Where shall the throwin spot be, and how much time shall be put on the shot clock? Ruling: In all codes, the ball is awarded to team B for a throw-in at the spot where the ball went out of bounds. In NFHS, the shot clock shall be set to 35 seconds (2-14, Shot Clock Guideline 6). In NCAAM, the shot clock shall be set to 20 seconds (2-11.6.d.6, AR 30). In NCAAW, the shot clock shall be set to 30 seconds (2-11.6.b.9).

Sometimes, two officials will blow their whistles on the same play. That means someone went outside of their primary coverage area to make a call. If it’s in the best interest of the

game and the crew, that’s an acceptable thing to do. Brenda Pantoja, Long Beach, Calif. (back to camera) and Danielle Johnson, Oakland, Calif.

events. “Blarges” or questionable screens take place in that blind spot the center — clear across the floor — can easily witness. He or she should go and get that call. If it comes across as a “cadence” whistle, that official is on solid ground. A cadence whistle is one blown only after the covering officials had a chance to make the call, couldn’t, but should have, and someone else helps.

Backing up center: I often describe the center official as the “freedom of movement person” whose job is to keep players off the ball honest. There will be times throughout the game, though, when the center is suddenly the person on the ball, with contestants coming out of the walls. Obviously, the trail or lead should be monitoring and jumping on illegal activity as the play moves away from them even if they have yet to rotate.

Secondary coverage is a kind of tipping point in officiating mechanics. It balances proper management of assigned areas as a part of full court coverage against the impression of papering over weak or indecisive play calling. If your crew’s philosophy is to avoid secondary coverage, you’re more likely to be judged “inconsistent” rather than “disciplined” by not calling obvious infringements that aren’t “yours.” If you find yourselves “helping” too often, it’s an indication you’re not policing your primaries well enough; things like ball watching, poor positioning and lack of conditioning tend to play into this. These are all correctable but might not happen before your credibility is lost.

Appropriate secondary coverage is about common sense. Call the obvious foul or violation only after your primary had the chance and didn’t or couldn’t, as opposed to wouldn’t. You control the game as a crew and having each other’s backs in this way is an excellent way of affecting that. Tim Sloan, Davenport, Iowa, is a high school football, basketball and volleyball official, and former college football and soccer official. 

Flops Again Draw NCAAM Attention

While the 2022-23 season is an off year in the rules cycle for both NCAAM and NCAAW basketball, that doesn’t mean significant change isn’t in place for one side of the game this season.

The issue of flopping by players, an ongoing thorn in the side of basketball officials, has been addressed in NCAAM play with a new tool for 2022-23. A rule change states that any player who commits a flop will be assessed a Class B technical foul, removing the required initial warning provision previously in place (4-10.2).

The rationale for the rule change, approved by both the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee and the Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP), is as follows: “Flopping continues to be a major concern in our game, and the rules committee felt that the current penalty of an initial warning for flopping has not deterred players from continuing to flop. An immediate penalty for flopping is needed to curb this behavior. The rules committee will also provide additional guidance to players, coaches and officials to better define flopping.”

The penalty associated with a Class B technical foul is one free throw awarded to any member of the offended team, after which play will resume at the point of interruption using the procedures spelled out in rule 7-3.2. Any such infractions

An NCAAM rule change for the 202223 season states that if the defensive player on this play is ruled to have flopped, he will be assessed a Class B technical foul. No longer is such an action first penalized with a warning.

count toward ejection but do not count toward the team-foul total or disqualification (10-4.1 Pen.).

NCAAW Interpretations

While NCAAW made no rule changes for the 2022-23 season, three rule interpretations have been published to provide additional guidance to officials.

The first is in response to a rule change last year that allowed officials (in the final 2:00 of the game) or coaches (by an appeal at any time during the game) to use replay to determine whether a goal should count or not when an off-ball foul occurred (11-3.2.b, AR 28).

Last season, the foul was considered to have occurred when the official signaled. This season, the revised interpretation is that the foul occurs when the illegal contact occurs. As such, the game clock shall be adjusted to the time of the illegal contact.

The second interpretation is also in response to a 2021-22 rule change that causes a replay review to trigger the electronic-media timeout and the timeout not starting until the review was completed (AR 179). The change in the interpretation is the review and the timeout now run concurrently.

The interpretation affects how substitutions are handled during this timeout. If the electronic-media timeout would have ended before the officials completed the review (when both head coaches have been informed of the results and the officials have finished their communication with the table), the timer is instructed to sound the horn, followed by a second horn 15 seconds later. All substitutes must report before the second horn. If the review is concluded before the end of the electronic-media timeout, substitutes must report before the warning horn.

The final interpretation, while not new, reinforces the legality of the clear, pliable plastic retainer that players may wear to prevent a narrow piercing hole from closing (1-26.7, AR 22). Officials have been told the retainer must be clear and any player wearing one that is not clear is not permitted to participate. 

5 MINUTES WITH NATASHA CAMY

NCAAW official shares thoughts for improving clock awareness.

Resides: Swedesboro, N.J. Experience: Nine-year NCAA D-I women’s basketball official working several conferences, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. Advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA women’s tournament.

REFEREE: When I say “clock awareness,” what does that mean to you as an official?

CAMY: The first thing I think when you say clock awareness is just focus, right? The game can’t be played without time and it’s our most important thing. It’s definitely one of my top three things that I focus on throughout the entire game because the importance is there. It’s something I have to consistently remind myself throughout the duration of the game.

REFEREE: How does your crew address clock awareness during its pregame discussions?

CAMY: Depending on the level you’re working, there are rules for how you can fix time, how you can add time and then the different timing mechanics you’ll have. So, whether you’re doing high school and your high school has the shot clock or not, or whether you’re aspiring for college and they have a shot clock as well, if the shot clock is available, if your clocks are visible, where are they located? Depending on the gym you’re in, how visible is it? Is it only on one side of the floor? Obviously, the mechanics may say one thing, but depending on where you are we might have to assist in another position on the floor, right? So those are things that I try to go over in pregame based off of where we’re located and what we have as tools to our advantage.

REFEREE: Do you have anything that you specifically do mentally each possession to make sure you’re staying checked into clock awareness throughout the game?

CAMY: Yes, I wouldn’t be an official if I wasn’t diligent in that way, right? We’re all a little type A, so we all have our nuances, our musts, that we must do to feel comfortable. Anytime I’m putting the ball in play and I’m the person who’s putting the ball in play, I’m immediately checking the clocks first. Because normally where the clocks are there’s multiple things of information. Not just the clocks — we have the score, we have team fouls, we have the possession arrow normally. So I’m not just checking the clock for a time, but I know it holds a lot of information when I’m going to look to make sure there’s a ball in play.

REFEREE: So when I say “clock awareness,” it’s about officials needing to understand what’s happening in the game related to the clock, that it’s not just about the numbers that are showing up?

CAMY: Before you’re even giving that ball to the inbounder, you’re saying to yourself, “OK, this is how much time I have, this is where we are in the game. These are some scenarios that could happen.” And, again, maybe this is part of your halftime speech. During a timeout, we might talk about this when officials get together, again, talking about clock awareness. But you’re bringing all the information to yourself and to your crew to say, “OK, guys, this is what we have. This is what could possibly happen.”

REFEREE: Can you discuss the need for all members of a crew to be aware of what’s happening with the clock, and not just whichever official is responsible according to the mechanics manual?

CAMY: When you think about clock awareness and who is responsible, you’ve got to understand when you’re in those positions where you would like assistance as a trail or the center. You would love for your partner to be aware that you have a lot going on, and that any help and assistance with the clock, especially because you can’t look at that and two or three players in two or three players in your primary, would your primary, would be great. Yes, the be great. Yes, the mechanics talk mechanics talk about who is about who is responsible, who responsible, who should be the should be the designated person. designated person. But we have to But we have to understand the game understand the game is very quick, it has is very quick, it has multiple players in a multiple players in a very small space and very small space and there’s only three of us there’s only three of us right now. So with that right now. So with that being said, we have to being said, we have to use everything we can use everything we can we have control over we have control over to say, “OK, how to say, “OK, how can I assist at this can I assist at this point?”

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