Basketball Game Intelligence: The Difference Maker in Officiating - Sample Chapter

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 7 CHAPTER 01 Go From Good to Great

9

CHAPTER 02 Prep Your Pregame

17

CHAPTER 03 When in Doubt ...

21

CHAPTER 04 The Video Doesn’t Lie

29

CHAPTER 05 Four Levels of Consistency

35

CHAPTER 06 You’re the ‘R’: Save Your Game

41

CHAPTER 07 Halfway Home

47

CHAPTER 08 What to Say to Coaches and When

51

CHAPTER 09 When Your Partner Makes a Mistake

59

CHAPTER 10 It’s Not the Same on Both Ends

67

CHAPTER 11 Let ’Em Vent (A Little)

73

CHAPTER 12 An Ounce of Prevention

77

CHAPTER 13 Use Your Voice

83

CHAPTER 14 Live Ball Prevents ’Basketbrawl’

91

CHAPTER 15 Stay Focused on the Game

99

CONCLUSION

104

CHAPTER

01 Go From Good to Great

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The basics of basketball officiating are pretty simple. Know the rules, use proper mechanics, see an infraction in the rules and penalize accordingly. It’s a breeze! But what separates the average officials from the great ones?

Is there a magical formula great officials use to get to the next level? Are they truly gifted officials? Did they hop on the short track to success? Are they really better than all the other officials at all aspects of officiating?

The answer to all the questions is: No! Great officials are made, not born. They may possess special traits that enable them to handle different circumstances with perceived ease, but chances are they’ve learned their craft through trial and error.

Average officials can do many of the things great officials do.

It’s not the make-or-break call that got top-notch officials where they are. It was taking charge of what they can control: The little things.

Willingness to learn No matter how long you’ve been an official, you learn something each year you officiate: a seldom-used rule, different mechanic, focusing on refereeing the defense. How you learned those items can come in a multitude of ways: Attending offseason camps and clinics, association meetings or just plain encountering the experience yourself. What you do with that newly found information reflects on you as an official. Do you learn from your mistakes and not allow them to happen again? Do you take constructive criticism in the manner it was intended? Taking the useful information and incorporating it in your officiating can speak volumes with you not saying one word.

Improving year to year is key to succeeding. Officiating in the same area does have its rewards. For example, when starting out as a basketball official, work several freshman games at a local high school and you will become familiar

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with the team’s players and their style. Some players possess raw basketball talent, but their physical maturity hadn’t yet peaked. The following year, work at the same school, but doing sophomore games. You will see the same players from the year before and probably a drastic improvement in their ability to play the game. Post players will be stronger, ballhandlers quicker and the team’s shooting range should increase. It will likely be obvious they worked at improving their skills within the year’s time since you last saw them.

If their improvement is noticeable, does your officiating deserve the same praise? Did you improve from the previous year? If you worked summer leagues and attended some camps and clinics during the previous summer, that probably will help in contests that you receive in the future. Maybe you will be rewarded with a small varsity schedule, which may include the same school at which you worked sub-varsity levels. You will see the players for a third year in a row and as they improve, you probably will be improving as an official with them. From that point on, expect to receive a larger varsity schedule for the next season.

Working with commissioners/assigners Officiating has often been called a “people person business.”

That is true on and off the court. How you deal with commissioners and assigners has a tremendous impact on how many and what types of contests you receive.

Depending on the system of how games are distributed, there usually is a person or body who hands out contests. Your interaction with that person or group can have as much impact on the amount of games you get as your officiating ability does.

When dealing with assigners, treat them as you’d like to be treated and do what they want. Get availabilities and contracts back to them in a timely manner. A phone call a day or two before the deadline isn’t a bad idea to confirm their receipt of

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the mailing. Getting a phone call or email from a commissioner asking you where a contract is isn’t fun. You don’t want to give an assigner incorrect information. It will only cause him or her, and probably you, nothing but headaches. Make a copy of the availability for your records. When your availability changes, you can confirm with the copied availability and report changes to the assigner.

Try not to create problems for assigners. Dumping games for better ones does nothing but create ill will. If you need to get off a contest, be up front and honest with the assigner. He or she may not be happy with your reason, but he will respect you for your straightforward approach in dealing with the situation. Deceptive ways of getting off contests can hurt you quicker than you might think.

Look the part Perception is reality, especially when it comes to officials. You are under the microscope the instant you get to the gym, even before you are in uniform.

Coaches, players, fans and game management make decisions about your officiating competence the moment they see you. Being dressed in anything less than attire that projects professionalism sends the wrong message. Think about it. By whom would you rather have professional services provided?

An individual in dress pants, a nice collared shirt and dress shoes, or one in blue jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers? You hold other’s perceptions of you in your hand; make the choice easy for them.

Your weight can have an impact on how you are perceived as well. Carrying that extra tire around your waist can bring doubts into the minds of others. Your officiating prowess may not be affected by your size but if you can’t cover the court on a fast break just once, it could be blamed on your size. If a person who knows nothing about the game of basketball walked into

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a gym and saw two people in striped shirts, one slender and in good physical condition and the other out of shape and overweight, which one would be perceived as more competent?

Why give critics ammunition with which to shoot you down?

Too much talk Talking with and about co-workers is a natural occurrence in any occupation. That is true in officiating. However, too much of anything can be a bad thing, especially if the talk is negative about a certain individual. Just like on the court, you can paint yourself into a corner by saying too much.

Many officials have aspirations of moving to the next level, whether it be freshman to JV, JV to varsity or varsity to small college. A sure-fire way of not accomplishing that is by bad mouthing fellow officials. It doesn’t matter who you talk bad about: peers who are higher or lower in the ranks than you.

“How did he get the biggest game of the year? He’s terrible. He can’t make a good foul signal and he blew a call in last week’s game. He can’t officiate his way out of a wet paper bag.”

Negative chatter like that breeds contempt among officials. Like your mother used to tell you, “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” It’s sound advice. Those who spread poor verbal comments usually have a short-lived career. They may be good officials and rise up through the ranks quickly, but eventually they will fall just as quickly, if not quicker. Those people who were the targets of the negative comments will be there to greet the originator. The reception won’t be pretty.

Be happy and offer congratulations to those who move up the ladder or get a notable assignment. They will appreciate the gesture and when your turn comes to make it to the next level, you’ll receive the same back. People who talk bad, don’t offer congratulations to those who succeed and make snide remarks about other’s downfalls are not to be trusted. What

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goes around, comes around. Make sure when your go-around comes, it’s a pleasant one with seeds of positive actions you planted earlier.

Attitude Your attitude can be positive or negative. Whatever your attitude, people who interact with you will be able to read it like a book. Officiating is an avocation and your attitude toward it should reflect that. It should never be put on the same level as your full-time occupation. If it becomes a burden to study the rules, attend association meetings and other offcourt duties, it’s not a hobby.

That positive or negative projection of your attitude affects fellow officials. Positive attitudes are contagious but so are negative ones. Walking into the gym with a smile on your face projects a positive attitude — that there’s no place you’d rather be than at that basketball game. People who are infectiously pleasant or cruel are remembered that way by others. How are you thought of? Does your attitude have anything to do with that? Attitude is a small thing that makes a huge difference.

Have yours be a huge advantage to your career, not a detriment to it.

Balance Having your priorities straight means having balance in your life — job, family, officiating and other things important to you. If you put too much emphasis on one over the other, the remaining priorities are affected.

Each aspect of your life needs attention; some more than others. What particular item gets more attention? The ones with the greatest priorities. There are countless stories of basketball officials who concentrated so much on officiating, their family life suffered. Some were so affected by it, divorce was the

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