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[Newsletter.]
 Newsletter - Issue 24, January 15, 2002

Issue 24, January 15, 2002
MACBOA Newsletter

In this Issue:

Remarks from the Supervisor of Officials: Donnee L. Gray

[Photo of Donnee L. Gray.]

Donnee L. Gray

TO Officials:

Some thoughts following December conference play. Again, this is the time of the season where level of play reaches another level. Our officiating must also rise to another level.

  1. Please be at the game site, in the locker room, 90 minutes prior to tip off time. 60 minutes before game time doesn't cut it.

  2. If you are assigned as the Crew Chief/"R", please check with your crew and confirm game date/time, travel arrangements, etc. as far in advance as possible. If you are on a crew and the Crew Chief/"R" has not contacted you within 24-hours of the game assignment, please contact Willie Jones or me immediately.

  3. Let me know as far ahead as possible if you cannot get to a game site due to travel problems or business commitments.

  4. A friendly reminder to the fairly new, younger officials working conference games: Like I once told my caddie at a tournament- Show up, Keep up, and Shut up.

  5. I have said this before- I get a lot more complaints from our coaches about things you say rather than what you do. Don't try to match wits with the coaches. It's a battle officials can't win. Sometimes playing dumb or a "yes sir " or "no sir" is the right comment.
  6. Continue to have meaningful pre-, half time, and post-game discussions. Crew Chiefs are responsible for being helpful and constructive always.

  7. Crew Chiefs: please continue to send your game reports as soon as possible. On-line game reports have been a success and I try to comment back to crews on most of them.
  8. On Block/Charge plays:

    There is no difference in the Men's and Women's NCAA interpretation of a Block/Charge scenario. Officials need to be in the correct position to see the whole play and be wide enough to see the whole body of the defender. The defensive player stepping in to take the charge from an offensive player going north/south must be a step outside the basket ring in order to be in a legal guarding position. If the defensive player is under the basket and contact occurs, it is either a no-whistle call or a blocking foul.

    Here are 2 other points to be aware of that involve Block/Charge:

    1. Be aware if a drive to the basket is east/west (parallel with the end line), the defender who is now directly under the basket is in a legal guarding position. In this situation, if the defender has obtained legal guarding position and there is contact warranting a foul call, it will be called on the offense. And,
    2. The offensive player with the ball cannot lower his/her shoulder and push through a defensive player who has legally established his/her position. Make sure the offensive foul is called in this situation.

  9. Post Play: I have observed officials not taking care of post play. Clean it up early so your game does not deteriorate. Pay attention to offensive moves that place the defense at a disadvantage. As in block/charge situations, get into position early to officiate.

  10. Officials are doing a good job of taunting-and-baiting situations and calling the requisite foul(s). There are no warnings given. Keep it up. I also remind officials to not assess cheap technical fouls on players and coaches (if you don't know what a "cheap" technical foul is, ask me.)

  11. Assure that you have a pre-game with the table personnel. Remember, although they are an extension of the game, the officiating crew is ultimately responsible for the game.

  12. Colleges/Universities have tried to extend themselves with refreshments and towels. Please assure that you leave the locker room facility neat and thank them for towels, refreshments, etc.

  13. Please be prudent in your travels. This is the time of year when traffic is impacted by weather. In the event you are running late and will not be able to make the required arrival time deadline, you are directed to contact the college/university’s campus security if you are not able to talk directly to game administration and then contact Donnee, Willie Jones, or the MACBOA office. Request the campus security department to contact the AD or game manager of your situation. You should have a copy of the MACBOA Emergency Procedures, Staff Directory and College/University Directory with you when traveling.

  14. Officials are reminded to notify the MACBOA office immediately if there is a change of address or phone number. You may e-mail changes to macboa1@aol.com or dgray@macboa.org. The necessary changes will be uploaded on to the "Members Only" section of the www.macboa.org web site. Please check the web site for correct addresses, phone numbers and email address. They are updated on a regular bases.

  15. If you know anyone interested in being considered for MACBOA staff next season, or know of a young official who could benefit from attending camp, please contact or have them contact me at 301-283-6807 or via e-mail at dgray@macboa.org. The Time Out Referee School will be held at The American University (www.american.edu), Washington, D.C. The school/camp is tentatively scheduled for the second weekend in July. The Time Out Referee School includes lectures, demonstrations, films and video viewing of on-court officiating during top-level basketball competition. The staff will work with each attendee individually to provide team and leadership skills. After being observed at Time Out Referee School by various collegiate supervisors, participants of the school have been selected to work higher level basketball. Further details will follow. Officials returning to the staff next season and selected to attend camp will be notified.

THE LAST TWO MINUTES
By Frank Stocklin

[Photo of Frank Stocklin.]

Frank Stocklin

Almost every official has experienced the misfortune of having worked an excellent game except for "THE LAST TWO MINUTES". All of the good calls made earlier are forgotten and what coaches and players remember is perhaps that one marginal call or situation not handled properly late in the game, that had a large impact on the outcome of the game. Certainly, if a foul or violation occurs, officials must have the courage to make that call, no question. However, there are many situations that we must be aware of, anticipate what is about to happen and be able to deal with, that will help us get through this critical time. Following are some of those situations that should be expected and need to be dealt with properly:

  1. Be extra aware of the game and shot clocks. Seconds here are perceived to be and are much more critical than earlier parts of the game so make sure the clock is correct. We need to train ourselves to watch the clocks every time the whistle blows or the ball is put in play. With three officials, there should be no excuses for getting this right and making corrections as necessary. Success is when you can go to the table and tell them exactly how much correction is required because you have definite knowledge. Failure is when a coach tells you that the clock is incorrect and you don't know what the correction should be. Of course, you can always use the table personnel to help, but this should be a last option. As the "R" or Crew Chief or Lead Official, you should again remind the crew as you approach this point in the game. Also remind the table about the clock stopping on a score with 1 minute or less in the game. Remember that the game and shot clocks start at the same time, which could be on a tipped ball during a throw in. How about this situation: ball being in-bounded with 2 seconds on the shot clock. Ball gets legally tipped by the defending player on the in-bound and goes high in the air for 3 seconds and comes down to an offensive player who then shoots and scores. The shot clock only started on possession by the offensive player rather than on the defensive tip. Are you ready to make the correct call, which would be to rule a shot-clock violation? We miss this play a lot throughout the game by not managing the clocks to account for tipped balls by the defensive player. Sometimes, it is only a second or two, but some time must have been consumed by the defensive touch. Again, do not rely on the table personnel to do this--the crew needs to make it happen. On missed free throws, the clock does not start until the ball is touched be a player on the court. So, if the miss bounces on the floor without being touched, the game clock should not start and of course one official will be responsible for signaling to start the clock, but the entire crew needs to be aware of this- don't expect the table people to get it right. How about the situation where the ball is being in-bounded with two seconds on the game clock, in a tie game. There is a long pass down court that gets tipped a few times and then gets shot and goes in but the clock never started. Are you prepared to make that call? Did the activity consumed take more than 2 seconds? If so, you need to disallow the basket and proceed to overtime. You better see the tip, have a good sense of time and know whether the clock started or not. If you anticipate this situation, you stand a good chance of getting it right-if you don't then you will be guessing. For the "0.3 second" rule: make sure you understand how you can score and what happens if a player who catches the ball is fouled and may even be in the act of shooting- this is a common foul only and not a shooting foul. In addition, now we can use a court- side video (if available) to help correct timing mistakes but if we do our job correctly we should not need to go there except for extraordinary reasons. Many a great game ended poorly because of seconds incorrectly lost or gained in the last few minutes. If you anticipate these situations, you maximize your chances of successfully handling them. Give yourself the best chance of success by discussing these before the game starts and having them in your mental database of possibilities that you recall as needed.

  2. Be consistent. Try not to introduce anything new into the game that has not been called earlier. For example, if for whatever reason you have allowed a certain level of contact in the post for the earlier part of the game, don't suddenly start calling fouls for that same level of contact in the last few minutes. The players and coaches have already adjusted to your level of officiating and are expecting that to continue- to change at this point would be totally inconsistent and would be unfair. That is not to say that the game should be allowed to go out of control but rather that consistency throughout the game including the last few minutes should be strived for. We are constantly criticized for being inconsistent and sometimes we are. For example: if we have just allowed a great block play at one end of the court and then call a foul on a similar play at the other end-that is inconsistent and understandably will drive coaches and players wild. The entire crew needs to understand the concept of consistency, the R needs to articulate it in the pre-game and the crew needs to work hard at it for the entire game and very hard in the last part of the game. Consistency is not just a word; it is a fundamental of officiating.

  3. Recognize that if a team needs to foul to stop the clock, don't make them have to foul hard to get a whistle-this could lead to rough play, fights and intentional fouls. We need to understand the game situation, which team is winning and/or losing and officiate the game accordingly. You may call fouls here that you ruled incidental contact earlier in the game. This is not inconsistent with what was stated above, but rather relates to a good understanding of the realities of the game.

  4. Make sure your "intentional fouls" are strong. We all know that at this point in the game, that many fouls could be construed to be intentional by the letter of the rule. The advice might be that if you have to think about it, you might not want to call it intentional. Usually the "intentional fouls" are obvious such as pushing the shooter without any chance of playing the ball or grabbing a player from behind on a fast break. Look at the very successful officials and see how they handle this somewhat ambiguous situation. In a close ball game this call can be a major factor and can easily take a close game and make it a six or seven point game very quickly-we need to get it right.

  5. Anticipate when a team will want to call time out (e.g. after a basket, trapped player with ball, ball on the floor, in- bounding). Precious seconds are at stake and if we don't react quickly, it could be a game decider. Here the off- officials are in the best position to observe the clock and make whatever corrections are necessary. (Remember there is no "lag- time" in NCAA, so all clock corrections need to be exact).

  6. Know how many time outs are left for each team. As you report the time outs to the table, this is a good opportunity to find out how many are left. Inform your partners and as a courtesy inform the assistant coaches (don't bother the head coach-he is busy). When a team is out of time outs and has to stop the clock, then you are better able to anticipate what they might have to do. Tip: always report time outs with color/player # or coach/time of the game and have the scorer record that information. If there is contention about time outs called, having a paper trail record like this will usually put any arguments about time outs remaining to rest. During time outs at this point in the game, it makes sense to have a discussion with the entire crew to make sure all are thinking together and aware of the game situation. If a team has the ball and is down by three points with seconds to go, anticipate that they will probably be shooting a three point shot and the crew should set itself in the best position to deal with that. This is a prime opportunity for the R to exert leadership for the rest of the crew and maximize the chance of success.

  7. Be extra emphatic and obvious (both visual and verbal) in instructing players on all in-bound situations, particularly on the baseline and especially after a called time out. If possible you would want to preclude a player from making a mistake and causing a violation to be called. We should always make it a standard practice to have the two nearest officials communicate to each at the end of the time out as to a designated spot or not and which team will get the ball. An ounce of prevention here will keep you out of a major mistake. Remember the player only needs 1 foot over the 3-foot space and go as far back as he/she wants. (Tip: For a designated spot in-bound that is being closely contested by the defense, think about moving the in-bounder back a step. It may save you from having to make the difficult call as to whether the defender touched the ball in foul or fair territory). How about this situation: The defender on an in-bounds play tips the ball. Remember that if the defender reaches across and touches the ball while it is in the hands of the in-bounder, it is a technical foul. If the in-bounder is fouled you have an intentional personal foul. These are significant calls at this point in the game and we do not want to be surprised.

  8. Be absolutely clear about who has the last -second shot. If two officials get involved here with different calls, you will not get this resolved gracefully even if you finally get it right. If possible, the official who has last -shot responsibility should be relieved of all other calls such as fouls and three or two points. The other 2 officials should, if possible, position themselves to help with these calls. A practical thing to do is to signal immediately if the final shot did or did not get off prior to the buzzer. Raising your hand with a two/three signal is not a standard signal but is a great communicator. Again, of course you have the courtside monitor to use if it so close that you cannot make a reasonable decision without it. In a close game, this is a major call; the entire crew has to work hard to get this play correct.

  9. If a game is close or tied, you want the last foul or violation to be a solid call. This is not the time to have a marginal call. If the game goes into overtime, let it do so rather than having it end on a marginal call. The entire crew should be thinking this way. Of course, if something has to be called, we need the courage to make that call. This thinking needs to be discussed before the game; it is too late after the game.

  10. Finally, be very careful about identifying the player on shooting fouls. The calling official needs to clearly identify the shooter so the rest of the crew can help ensure getting the correct shooter to the foul line. "Murphy's Law" says it will happen late in the game. We all know Rule 2-10, but if you have to use this rule you are probably doing something "incorrect" and have allowed yourself to get there. The most successful officials almost never get into correctable error situations because they do the things that prevent them from getting there. Don't rely on the table to keep you out of correctable error situations--that is your job!

To survive and be successful in this officiating avocation, we have to be able to deal effectively and correctly with these situations. It requires experience, thoughtfulness, dedication, and concentration. The people who are successful in officiating have developed these qualities and rise to the occasion in close and/or tough games. Almost anyone can officiate a 30-point game but not everyone can correctly handle the close ones. With all of this to be concerned with, if you do not discuss these situations in your pre-game you are putting not only the game at risk, but you are also putting your officiating career at risk. You should want to have a pre-game to discuss these things not because the supervisor says so, but because it is in your best interests and because you want to do a professional job. As you move up the officiating ladder you will eventually get into one of these situations and if you don't handle it correctly you may self -destruct. Officiating careers have been made or lost in late-game situations. When you are in the locker room after the game, it is too late to discuss what should have or could have done. The wise and successful get it done right during the game by being prepared and having a thorough pre-game. It's a greet feeling to know you successfully handled a tough game and a terribly regretful feeling when you don't and you realize it's because you were not prepared. If the supervisor has enough confidence to designate you the "R" or Crew Chief/Lead Official, then you need to exert leadership with the officiating team to ensure the game is managed correctly and the late part of a game is a golden opportunity to do so. If you are not the R, then you get there by doing the things that an R should do.

Brief Biography of Author: Frank Stocklin
Hometown: Astoria NYC; Education: CCNY; Occupation: Electrical Engineer
Sports Officiated/conferences affiliations: Basketball for ECAC/CBOB/MACBOA
Advice to New Officials: Set officiating goals, work hard to achieve them by improving your skills constantly with a learning attitude. He who graduates today, stops learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after.

The Restricted Area Play
By Michael DiRenzo

[Photo of Michael DiRenzo.]

Michael DiRenzo

Lets review: A1 drives the lane, gets past B1 and attempts a shot (or dunk). B2 is standing under the basket and A1 makes contact. Unless A1 causes undue roughness, we should pass on the play. For purposes of this article and as the title of this article states, I shall refer to the play as a restricted area play.

As some of you know, I have worked and trained vigorously in the professional arena. This play has 'pro' written all over it. By adapting the pro interpretations, we can fully understand the rationale behind the rule and make it work in the college game.

There are pertinent terms that I will use throughout my article. These are restricted area, primary or secondary defender and defender ‘B2’ (or B3, B4, B5). Explanations will follow.

First, we need to identify the argument: why do professional-level referees call a block (or pass) on a restricted area play versus the college interpretation of legal guarding position (any player is allowed any spot on the floor so long as they get there first). What is the difference? Are we to say that A1 is allowed to knock over B2 and get away with it? Not quite. The disparity in the rule lies in the professional interpretation. That is, we want to PROTECT B2 from getting injured.

PROTECT THE DEFENSE??? Yes, believe it or not, the pro referees do care! At the pro level, when a player gets that close to the basket (especially on a drive), he is going to do one thing: go to the hoop as hard as possible, which may include dunking the ball in B2’s face and eventually landing on him. In addition, A1 will try to humiliate B2 as much as possible through the sheer power of his move (imagine a 6'10' 245 lb. power forward driving the lane about to leap for a dunk…would you want to stand in front of him?) The NBA realizes this, so they instructed their officials to call a foul on B2 (or pass on the play). In other words, if B2 has any sense, he will get out of the way. Plain and simple.

Please keep in mind that we are talking about a ‘restricted area play’ that occurs very close to the basket. Without making this article into an NBA rules clinic, the rule states that, "an offensive foul should never be called if the contact is with a SECONDARY (B2) defensive player who has established a defensive position within a designated ‘restricted area’ near the basket for the purpose of drawing an offensive foul." The rule goes on to identify the restricted area as, "bound by an 8’ line parallel to the baseline through the center of the basket and an arc with a 4’ radius measured from the middle of the basket connecting the endpoints of that line." In layman’s terms, if B2 is standing within 4’ of the basket (either front or any side) then he is in the restricted area (the collegiate interpretation only applies if A1 drives down the center of the lane).

Notice that I have used defender ‘B2’ in all the examples. Also, the phrase ‘secondary defender ‘ has appeared. Why B2 as opposed to B1 and secondary as opposed to primary? This is an extremely important concept. In a primary match-up, B1 is guarding A1. So long as B1 is guarding A1, you can have an offensive foul anywhere on the court, including the ‘restricted area’. In a secondary match-up, we have any defender OTHER THAN B1 (B2, B3, etc…). In the restricted area play, A1 has driven to the basket and blown by his man (primary defender B1) to make contact with secondary defender B2 who is standing under the basket. Therefore, the ‘restricted area’ comes into play.

Now, the rule is not meant to stop a secondary defender B2 from making a play. By all means try. Just do not attempt to take a charge in that position. If you do, while you are lying on the floor, with a bruised ribs and shortness of breath because you got the wind knocked out of you, and proceed to look up at the referee and beg for the offensive foul because you were in ‘legal guarding position’, the official’s answer should be, "you were in the restricted area." Player B2 will learn very quickly what is meant by "restricted area."

Nobody can deny that the game of basketball has become faster and stronger. This is evident at all levels. There are plenty of places on the court where a defender can take a charge: just not underneath the basket. It is for the defender’s safety.

My article is not an attempt to turn the college game into the pro game. Rather, I pick and choose the common sense approaches that work at each level and figure out how to incorporate them into my game. I welcome any comments. Thank you!

Brief Biography of Author: Michael DiRenzo
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA / Education: BBA: Finance; The George Washington University
Full-time Occupation: Commercial Real Estate Broker
Sports Officiated/Yrs: Basketball; 7 years
Conferences/Leagues affiliated with: NCAA: Atlantic Sun; Ohio Valley; Peachbelt; MACBOA; IAABO Board #12 / Pro: IBL, USBL, Pro-Am, UBA
Noteworthy officiating accomplishments: With this season, I have reached my 'first' goal of working in a Division 1 conference.
Advice to young officials: Stay Focused; All good things come to those who
wait.

Member News and Accomplishments

Get-well wishes to Jimmy Farabee and Leon Haskins.

Congratulations to Ike Relacion who recently had his article, Being a Crew Chief, published in the January 2002, edition of http://www.Officiating.com. One goal/purpose of Officiating.com is to educate officials at all levels in all sports. The articles and interviews that are published are all done in a positive and educational manner. Officiating.com’s mission is to help officials get better. Officiating.com has over thousand (1000) members (in just over two years!) and continues to grow every day and has several thousand visitors to www.officiating.com every week.

[Drawing of a open book.]SPECIAL OFFER: The 2001-02 NCAA Rules Index

Hurry, while supplies last!

Order Al Battista's best selling, The NCAA Rules Index, at $5.00 per order. Please e-mail Al Battista at albattista12@msn.com or call at (301) 949-9197.

[A drawing of a car driving on a road.]MACBOA College/University Travel Directions now includes a MAPQUEST link.

You may access the MAPQUEST link (get travel/driving directions) at www.macboa.org under "About" then "Colleges/Universities" or go directly to the link at: http://www.macboa.org/about/directions.html

The "Forms" page at MACBOA.ORG:

To view Portable Document Format (PDF) files you must have the Acrobat Reader Plug-in installed on your PC. You may now download a free copy of Acrobat Reader in order to download forms in PDF that allows you to print out forms. MACBOA has provided a link to Acrobat Reader.

Click on the link: http://www.macboa.org/forms/

Check the "New Items - BULLETINS" area of www.macboa.org for recent 2001 NCAA Men's and Women's Officiating Memoranda

Order your MACBOA Logo Whistles!

Be the first to receive your MACBOA logo Fox-40 Classic Whistle while supplies last!

Send your payment of $5.00 for each whistle ordered to Ike Relacion, c/o MACBOA Logo Whistle, 21112 Archstone Way, Unit 101, Germantown, MD 20876-6996.


Reward, challenge, appreciation, stimulation, writing, reading...rarely thanked or noticed.

These are some of the attributes of the well hidden job of MACBOA Newsletter Volunteer. Are you interested in working behind the scenes (screens?) to help get information to members? MACBOA is looking to grow our ranks by a couple of folks and thus, we're soliciting volunteers.

What do you do? Read postings. Write articles, membership news, coordinate interviews, cultivate sponsor relations, etc. Write e-mail back and forth amongst us to establish communication, and guidance to keep this list as valuable as possible for our membership. Although we're virtual, our presence is sensed, we hope...and appreciated, although rarely acclaimed.

We haven't a job description, nor do we know what knowledge, skills, and abilities are required, but some that will come in handy are:

  • having the ability to write
  • being thick skinned, not thick headed
  • being able to express your opinions, while being open minded
  • having at least a free hour or two a week caring for the membership

Please respond directly by e-mail to: irelacion@aol.com

 

[Drawing of flat screen monitor.]HOW TO CONTACT THE NEWSLETTER COORDINATOR

MACBOA welcomes and encourages news and information for the periodic newsletter. Please submit all materials to address letters of comment, article proposals and queries, or news items to:

Ike Relacion, (301) 371-8520
E-mail: irelacion@aol.com

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