Lacking consistency in a very bad game - Recap, Wednesday, March 8, 2006
What a game! Two teams who were already out of the race for anything this season, playing each other in front of 400 "lunatics". I already wrote a couple of lines about these fans, but it is still entertaining, every time I work a game there ...Anyways, here is the story of the game. Home team with a very slow start (down 8-20 at one point), sloppy defense, unforced turnovers, all that stuff. Fans are booing their team and the referees, of course! Later home team covers the gap, but can't pull away. Visiting team wins by 3 (last shot from hometeam, a wide open 3-pointer, hits the rim, but doesn't fall).
My partner (one of only two female referees in our league) and I met early, because we had never refereed together, yet. We had an evaluator at the game, who also joined us in our pre-game conference. After a long pre-game, a good warm-up and some personal chat (to build a team spirit) we started the game. Our plan was, to let'em play a bit, because we figured the game wouldn't be very intense. We were right (at least in the beginning), as both teams refused to play defense. The crowd, of course, reacted to this slow start and things started to heat up quickly. Unfortunately, my partner and I missed the point, where the game changed to "battle mode". Suddenly we had lots of contact, but never enough calls. This led to a lot of talk from coaches and players. We managed to avoid a T (nobody really deserved one, said our evaluator), but even with the warnings we gave, the stress level was considerably higher now.
As a consequence our concentration was not there anymore and consistency went out the window! Here is an example: a push from a player (home) to another player's chest ... both of us call it, with only one fist in the air. We knew, it was unsportsmanlike (intentional), but neither of us signalled it as such. We come together and decide to correct it. I signal the unsportsmanlike foul, and while everybody knows it was the right call, we looked pretty bad here.
As I told you, the fans there are a pain in the ..., so is the home team's manager. He is just foul, being friendly before the game and yelling things, worse than any fan would ever say, during the game. I don't have a problem, if this happens in the stands, because we allow spectators to do whatever they want, as long as there is no physical harm. The problem with this guy is that he stands behind the scorers table. At one point late in the game he verbally attacks the visiting coach from behind the table. My partner sends him off to the stands. He starts yelling how we were corrupt and robbed his team. My partner tells him in a very calm way to leave (go to the stands). She is a police officer in real life and handles such situations very professionally, calm but with authority. He leaves, fuming.
In the last quarter I call everything I see (12 fouls), my partner had one call! She just couldn't get back in the game. It must have looked horrible. The only good thing, the players decided the game, not us!
When the game was over, my partner and I left. We waited in our change room, but it took 20 minutes before our evaluator and his buddy (another referee coach) entered the room. He tells us that the manager once again accused us in front of him using words such as corrupt, bribed, and so on. :-( He had an argument with him, telling him that he couldn't say such things (he even could be sued for it), and of course he didn't comment on our performance.
My partner and the evaluator filed reports and sent them to league officials. I think the club will pay some sort of fine, even though I don't think it will be too high.
What did I learn? I don't know, yet! I'll have to find a way to get together with my partner when we are on different tracks as we were yesterday. The game would have been a lot easier if we had just called more from the beginning, at least that's what our evaluator said. If I try to call a loose game I have to be more aware of any changes occuring on the court.
Positives? I was right there in crunch time, I was good at managing players and coaches regardless of the heated atmosphere, we tried very hard to work together (nonetheless the outcome was poor).
posted by BBallRef @ 3/09/2006 02:36:00 PM
3 Comments:
The honesty here is a big plus.
I don't work games at your level, but I always prefer calling it a hair tight at first, then loosening up. It's MUCH easier than trying to do the opposite, and I think the players respond, too.
Hey blogging ref, you are absolutely right. It is definitely easier to call more fouls and keep it that way down the stretch than to follow a more selective approach and still be consistent.
Yet, we try not to interrupt the game more often than necessary. I know I can control any given game, when I call every bit of contact I see. But that's not what I want to do. Even though the rules would still be the same for both teams, neither team would be happy if I called it that way. My point is not, to go out and try to please the teams or win a popularity contest, but to serve the game ... players, fans, the game of basketball in general. It's not about the refs, in my opinion.
To find the right way between calling every ticky-tacky contact and allowing too much is the most difficult part in CALLING the game (not taking into account managing a game without the whistle). I think I am very good at calling everything (that's why I got where I am now), because I work hard for a good position and have the ability to focus my attention. Now, I try to make that next step, where I learn to get an even better feeling for the game and what it needs. This will come with experience, with a lot of video work, with more mental training ... So every once in a while, I will try to give players a little more leeway and carefully watch what's happening ;-)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Post a Comment
<< Home