FIRST BASKETBALL MEMO
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
Dear Coaches and Officials, Dear Basketball Coaches and Officials: it is hard to believe that football season is winding down and basketball season is right around the corner. Hopefully each of you has had a chance to view the online basketball rules meeting. I will cover some of the new rules in this memo as well as provide some good basketball information that will hopefully benefit coaches and officials. Athletic Director: Make sure you check to be sure your 9‐12 assigned basketball officials are registered and “V” approved for varsity contests and “NV” approved for anything below the varsity level and that 7‐8 contests have at least one licensed official with a status of (“V” varsity or “NV” non varsity). Understand, licensed HS students may only work Jr. High contests and below. Be sure every 7‐12 basketball coach in your system receives a copy of this memo. THANK YOU! Athletic Directors: In cooperation with our officials’ pre‐game meeting with coaches and captains, we ask your cooperation with your pep band that they refrain from playing during this very short time frame. It is very difficult to hear in most gyms. Thank you for your assistance pertaining to this matter. Officials: Just a reminder, any re‐registering 9‐12 basketball officials must be registered with the Iowa High School Athletic Association and have passed the 50 question open book basketball exam, viewed the online rules meeting and (met the required clinic requirement) by December 1, 2014 at 4:00pm. OFFICIALS, DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE! Officials check your account to be sure it lists you as “V” meaning you can work any level, NV means you can work anything below the varsity level. Officials working 9‐12 must be currently registered and meet the above requirements in order to officiate. Reminder at the JR. High level only, we require one licensed official. Varsity officials, make sure you do your sportsmanship ratings for VARSTY games only as the season goes along. Athletic Director/Coaches: Pre‐game/halftime: Teams entering the gymnasium for pre‐game warm‐ups or to start the second half are not to run through the area occupied by the opposing team or under the basket where opponents are warming up. Use the direct line from your locker room to your basket each half. Teams must warm‐up on their own half of the court, even if their opponent goes into the locker room and no one is occupying the other end of the floor. No penalty, on duty administrator should inform the violating team coach immediately. Officials: Make sure you do your online tournament request form and enter your varsity high school schedule if you want to be tournament eligible by no later than December 1, 2014 at 4:00pm. Officials make sure your schedule is correct as we have people who go out and observe officials and need to be sure the observer is going to the site you are officiating at according to your schedule. If you have a schedule change please correct us immediately and if it is the day of a game, send me an email if you have a site or crew change (
[email protected]).
Coaches, take some time in your preseason practice to visit about GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP and the importance of character, integrity and that basketball is an extracurricular activity and an extension of the classroom! 2014‐15 BASKETBALL RULE CHANGES: 3‐5‐3 Arm, knee and lower leg sleeves, and tights are permissible without medical paper work. Anything worn on the arm and/or leg is a sleeve, except a knee brace, and shall meet the color restrictions. The sleeves/tights shall be black, white, beige or the predominant color of the uniform and the same color sleeves/tights shall be worn by teammates. All sleeves/tights shall be the same solid color. Meet the logo requirements in rule 3‐6. Headbands and wristbands shall be white, black, beige or predominant color of the uniform and shall be the same for each item and all participants. Compression shorts shall be a single solid color similar to the predominant color of the uniform; the length shall be above the knee. Undergarments shall not extend below the pants. See 3‐6 for logo requirements. Knee and ankle braces which are unaltered from the manufacturer’s original design/production are permitted and do not require any additional padding/covering nor do the braces need to meet the color restrictions. In general, a brace is defined as anything that contains hinges and/or straps or an opening over the knee cap. 4‐19‐3d Intentional fouls: Excessive contact committed by all players is considered an intentional foul. Players who foul a player with the ball must make a bona fide effort to play the ball or the defender is subject to being called for an intentional foul. If a player is on a drive to the basket and is in the act of shooting and a defender is in pursuit and even though the defender gets a hand on the ball from behind, but in doing so the defender’s subsequent contact takes the shooter forcefully to the floor, an intentional foul shall be charged when the contact is judged to be excessive, even though the opponent is playing the ball in this play situation. Fouling near the end of a game is an acceptable coaching and playing strategy. Officials must determine if a foul is intentional by judging the fouling act itself, not whether or not the coach instructed a player to perform the act. 9‐1‐4g The player occupying a marked lane space…may enter the lane on the release of the ball by the free throw shooter. Restrictions are still in place for the free throw shooter and all players outside of marked free throw lane spaces until the ball touches the ring or backboard or the free throw ends. Get into the case book and read all the case book plays concerning disconcerting and lane space regulations/violations. 10‐6‐12 NEW: The following acts constitute a foul when committed against a ball handler/dribbler:
a. Placing two hands on the player b. Placing an extended arm bar on a player c. Placing and keeping a hand on a player is a foul (rules allow a defender one “measure up” touch on the ball handler/dribbler). Anything more than a “hot-stove touch” on the dribbler would still be considered a foul and should be called as such. d. Contacting the player more than once with the same hand or alternating hands. e. A player shall not extend the arm(s) fully or partially other than vertically so that freedom of movement of an opponent is hindered. We all need coaches and officials to be onboard enforcing this new rule/point of emphasis. The rule is made so there are no advantages. IOWA BENCH DECORUM RULE: A COACH WILL BE ALLOWED TO STAND AND CONFER WITH A PLAYER(S) WHENEVER THE CLOCK IS NOT RUNNING. Communication with the player(s) needs to be done in a positive manner and shall take place in front of where the coach was seated. If a coach is up when the clock is not running he/she must be communicating with a player(s). A coach is not allowed to stand when the clock is not running (shooting free throws) if he/she is not in communication with a player(s). When a coach finishes conferring with the player(s) or the ball is put in play (clock will start) the coach shall return immediately to the bench. Coaches are not to stand and show displeasure regarding any situation they are not happy with. This unsportsmanlike behavior is subject to a technical foul being called. The officials will not delay a throw‐in administration to permit a coach additional dead clock time to visit with a player(s). The rules provide additional opportunities for a coach to coach/instruct when the clock is not running. Coaches are NOT permitted to stand and visit/ask questions to officials, even though the clock is not running. Coaches may ask a question if they are seated. Coaches, there was a day when no timeouts were permitted, then NF rules permitted a couple of timeouts, but coaches were not permitted to visit with the players, it was for rest and a drink of water. Now we are up to 5 timeouts in a regulation game and you can communicate with your players. Disqualified Player: When a player is disqualified, a coach is permitted to stand up following notification of the disqualified player and walk the confines of his/her bench to select a replacement for the disqualified player. The rule states a player must be replaced within 20 seconds from the time the coach was notified. Any unsporting acts on the coaches part are subject to being assessed a technical foul. Coaches, these are two additional opportunities to stand up and coach. The IHSAA/IGHSAU asks that you respect these opportunities and use these positive teachable moments for the right reasons. Understand, if a coach receives a technical foul, he/she loses the right to stand and coach when the clock is not running except for the following. He/she can stand and go to the bench for a correctable error, stand and applaud and outstanding play, stand and call a timeout and stand and coach during the quarter break(s), but the coach loses the right to stand when the clock is not running during the contest. BENCH DECORUM: besides the two above mentioned, coaches may stand or leave the bench for:
1. Charged timeout, to confer with players 2. In case of injury, if beckoned by an official in order to attend a player(s)
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Intermission Prevention or notification of a correctable error (2-10) Stand to show approval of an exciting play Stand up to call a timeout when his/her team is in possession of the ball Stand to congratulate a player being substituted for Confer with personnel at the scorer’s table regarding timing, scoring, or alternating possession error. 9. Head Coach may enter the court to assist officials if a possible fight may or does breakout, head coach no longer needs to be beckoned on the court by an official. Point of Emphasis: Officials and Coaches need to understand illegal contact is to be enforced. Illegal contact is an advantage and the rules are in place so that no team is afforded an advantage. Coaches need to instruct their players in practice sessions of this point of emphasis and officials need to enforce the rules as written. Mercy Rule: 35 point rule is in effect for all games played in the state of Iowa grades 7‐12. The 35 point rule goes into effect starting with the second half and the following will determine when the clock will or will not be stopped. The clock will run continuously except for the following situations when it will be stopped.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Anytime a timeout is charged to a team Intermission between the third and fourth quarter Any time officials determine it is necessary for safety reasons Anytime a foul is called that will result in free throws, the clock stops; please understand if the clock continues to run following a foul call, but as soon as it is determined we are shooting free throws the clock should be stopped and shoot the free throws. We will not put time back on the clock that may have run off prior to recognizing we are shooting free throws.
The clock will resume to a running clock or regular timing if the score falls below the 25 point rule due to made free throw(s). The clock will resume upon the touching of the last missed free throw or when the last free throw is made or when the ball is legally touched following the throw‐in. Athletic Directors, please advise your timers to keep in mind we play the first half to completion with regular timing. If the differential is 35 points or more at halftime or anytime there is a 35 point differential during the second half, the running clock procedure will be used. If the score margin drops below 25 points, then normal timing will resume for the remainder of the game or until the 35 point plateau is again reached. CONCUSSION: Coaches and Officials, please make sure you look at page 81 of this year’s basketball rule book pertaining to guidelines for management of concussions. If an official or a coach sees signs or symptoms, or behaviors pertaining to concussion guidelines, the player should be removed from competition and may not return to competition or practice until a licensed health-care provider has
provided written approval to do so. Officials need to inform a coach you are removing a player from competition due to signs or symptoms of a possible concussion. Officials who remove a player from a contest due to signs and symptoms of a concussion are not to permit the player to return to play (RTP) in that contest unless he/she has received signed clearance from a licensed health-care provider. This clearance must be presented in writing to the referee before a student athlete is to return to play in the contest he/she was requested to leave from due to concussion symptoms. Referee should keep this signed paper work. Coach, if you have a player removed from a contest he/she shall not participate again until the concussed player receives written authorization to do so by a licensed concussion health-care provider. OFFICIALS—GET TO KNOW YOUR BENCH WORKERS EACH NIGHT OUT •
Table workers are an important part of your officiating crew.
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Introduce yourself to coaches and bench personnel
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Visit with clock operator, may be may be his first time running the clock, we all start sometime.
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Timing a 60 second timeout: First horn at 45 seconds into the timeout; second horn at the 60 second mark, both teams should be on the floor ready to play when the second horn is sounded.
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Timing a 30 SECOND T.O.; first horn 15 seconds into the timeout; second horn 30 seconds into the timeout.
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Timing a 20 second replacement (fouled out/injured player) first horn 5 seconds into the timeout, second horn 20 seconds into the timeout. Official should signal the timer to start the timeout/replacement clock.
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In your pre‐game meeting, remind coaches to be back on the floor ready to play when the second horn sounds. Officials, make sure your timer provides the second horn if you haven’t blown your whistle to put the ball in play. If the timer doesn’t blow the second horn, you will have trouble convincing a coach he/she is late coming out of a timeout.
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Timeouts 3‐60’s & 2‐30’S permitted in a regulation game. Overtime, each team is afforded one additional 60 second timeout.
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PROCEDURE 5TH FOUL, scorer notifies official, official notifies coach, official steps back and signals the clock operator to start the 20 second replacement time frame and official stays table side and makes sure replacement player reports properly at the bench and table side official make sure play does not resume until player who fouled out is off the floor and on the bench.
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If overtime is needed at the varsity level it is 4:00 minutes, with each team receiving one additional 60 second timeout. Overtimes are 50% of the normal quarter time.
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35 point rule goes into effect starting with the second half and applies to all games played 7‐12.
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Keep interaction with players, spectators and coaches to a minimum; never confront a spectator. OFFICIALS GENERAL COMMENTS (GOOD PRE‐GAME MATERIAL)
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BE PROFESSIONAL AT ALL TIMES!!!!
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Work hard to maintain good angles, don’t lean and peak, move and obtain good position.
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Lead official, be active, be ball side!! Make sure you stay wide enough to see both post players, especially when a block charge play is in the making. Know if the defender slid or maintained his legal guarding position, READ DEFENSE!
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Keep interaction with players, spectators and coaches to a minimum;
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Do not confront a spectator, if you have a concern with a spectator inform the on duty administrator and let the on duty administrator address the situation.
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Work hard to maintain good angles, don’t lean and peak, move and obtain good position.
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Lead official, be active, be ball side!! Make sure you stay wide enough to see both post players, especially when a block charge play is in the making. Know if the defender slid or maintained his legal guarding position, READ DEFENSE!
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Held Ball: If the defender has his hand on the ball while a player is shooting or passing and the ball cannot be released, you have a jump ball. If the defender merely rolls the ball off the offensive player’s hand, you more than likely have a play on situation.
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Trail official (position yourself at the top of the free throw circle in frontcourt), when ball is on lead side (base‐line), close down and help with traveling.
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Trail, when the ball is in the post area you should be no deeper than the top of the FT circle extended.
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Trail official, help with arc violations especially late in the game when shooting free‐throws, you are responsible for player(s) who break the arc before the ball hits the rim or board. Just know if it is a held whistle or immediate violation. Sometimes preventive officiating can go a long way here! Lead has the closest player in marked lane space and all three players in opposite marked lane spaces.
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C‐ Has shooter and two opposite marked lane spaces closest to the shooter
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T‐ Arc violations, subs, and players who may be in backcourt‐‐open up.
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Center, don’t let the free‐throw shooter late in the game break the plane before the ball hits the rim or the board. Reminder, the ball must hit the rim if it doesn’t go through the cylinder on a free‐throw or a violation has taken place.
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THROW‐IN SPOT—if a foul or violation takes place on the defense and we aren’t shooting free throws, when do we take the ball out of bounds on the end line closest to the spot of the foul or violation? If the foul occurs in the area from each front court sideline/end line intersection, to the top of the free throw circle to the opposite sideline/end line intersection, the ball should be put in play on the end line closest spot to where the foul/violation occurred.
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Make sure with .3 of a second or less on the clock, it is not legal to catch an out‐of‐bounds throw‐in pass and shoot and score. A player could tip or tap the out‐of‐bounds pass in this situation, but not catch it and legally by rule get a shot off, regardless if time is still showing on the clock or not!!
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Know your primary and secondary coverage and TRUST your partners!! Don’t ball watch!!
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Lead, if you instruct post players early, do so by jersey color and number, from that point forward, blow the whistle. Don’t continue to remind, your message has no meaning if you do not enforce. Getting the first foul, is very important, because the second foul is usually a retaliation due to the first foul not being called!!
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Calling a foul: Remember they didn’t rob the bank, they just committed a foul. SLOW DOWN! Closed fist, elbow to ear, hold for 1/1000‐1, 1000‐2, make sure there are no issues, then jog around the players to the reporting area.
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GET SET IN THE FOUL REPORTING AREA: Provide jersey color and number; don’t turn your hand with second number when reporting the foul to the official scorer and don’t point at the bench of the team who committed the foul.
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Remember, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS are important, but understand you were hired to officiate the game. No more, no less!
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Before reporting fouls to the bench, let your replacement official know what you have. Out‐of‐ bounds, shooters number, two shots, bonus. Don’t let 7th team foul catch you off‐guard and not knowing who the shooter is!! Official’s in your Pre‐Game Bench conversation, have the bench personnel assist you by notifying you when the team has committed their sixth foul.
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Lead official, don’t look beyond the three point arc. Trail should signal and stay with shooter back to the floor. Center & trail official, players today are better actors than ever before, and yet there are times when contact does occur, know what happened and rule accordingly!! Don’t let the shooter end up on the floor or in the lap of the players on the bench and not know how he got there!!
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Center, move toward the end line when shot is taken and hold until rebound is secured and first outlet pass is made. Center, find the next competitive match‐up. If no press, officiate just ahead of the ball into to the front‐court.
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Trail you need to step toward the front court end‐line when a shot is taken, you have long rebound responsibilities on your side of the floor.
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Ball out of bounds on sideline toward baseline frontcourt and the ball is staying in the frontcourt: We want the trail official administering the throw‐in if the ball is staying in the front court. Bounce it to the throw‐in player and back toward the top of the free throw circle extended.
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Know what your boundary lines are and only blow your whistle if the ball went out of bounds across your boundary line.
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Lead, when shooting free‐throws, be in the same position as if you were shooting the last awarded free throw. DO NOT STAND next to players in the lane if shooting multiple free‐throws.
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Enforce the rules with no regard for time or score. The bottom line is, don’t let the time of the game or the score influence how you call the game. That is called credibility.
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Enforce the rules, players will adjust; do not permit hand checking or rough play.
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Don’t let players show hands and displace a player by bodying him down below. This illegal action usually takes place on drives to the basket or in trap situations.
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Get the illegal screens early, border line cases, get to the player and let him know what you are seeing. Example: get set, don’t be moving into the player you desire to screen, get set and stay set, don’t pick an opponent off if they attempt to go around the screen. An opponent to go through a legal screen is a foul!
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What you allow is what you encourage to continue and it will in most cases.
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If an offensive player beats a defender going up the floor and then wants to slide over in front of him and attempt to draw a foul, the offensive player created the contact and if a foul is called it is on the offensive player. If there is minimal or no contact, let that offensive player know at the earliest opportunity he is the guilty party, and get it stopped. Obviously if the defender is directly behind the offensive player going up the floor and the offensive player stops, the defender is responsible for any contact that may occur.
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Work hard to be consistent, it doesn’t mean if it was a block at one end it should be a block at the other end. Every play is different, know who created the contact.
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When the ball goes to the basket have a more patient whistle. Don’t anticipate the foul, anticipate the play, let the contact take you to the whistle. Lead work as deep as you can on the baseline. It will provide you a slower whistle and a wider look at the play!
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Call three seconds; it matters. It will also help clean up post play.
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Lead transitioning to trail after a made basket, observe the thrower‐in after a made goal, don’t leave the out‐of‐bounds baseline before the throw‐in is completed.
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Use proper NFHS mechanics. Player control foul, use the proper mechanic!
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If the ball is in control of a player in front court and deflected into back court and the offensive player was last to touch it in front court and the first to touch the ball in backcourt, you have a backcourt violation. If the defense deflects the ball into the backcourt and the defense was the last to touch the ball in frontcourt, use the New tipped ball mechanic (signal 13 that way your fellow official(s) know either team can secure the loose ball.). This mechanic should not be used in any other basketball play situations.
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Make sure teams are back on the floor ready to play on the second horn. Talk about it in the pre‐game conference with the coach/captains.
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Enforce the bench decorum rule; then it’s fair for everyone involved. One warning, unless blatant!!
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A COACH SHOULD NOT BE STANDING VISITING WITH YOU WHEN THE CLOCK IS running or NOT RUNNING, THEY SHOULD ONLY BE VISITING WITH A PLAYER IN FRONT OF WHERE THEY WERE SEATED if the clock is not running!! ONE WARNING! ENFORCEMENT WILL RESULT IN RESPECT!!
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Close down on jump ball situations, get to players on the floor and work them to their feet, then look for assistance from a fellow official who knows which way the alternating possession arrow is pointing.
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Don’t bail out an offensive player out of control, unless the defensive player obviously fouls him.
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Enforce the points of emphasis rules regarding holding, impeding, pushing, diverting, slowing, preventing, rerouting or displacing an opponent. When the offensive player’s rhythm, speed, balance or quickness is interrupted due to a defensive player not in a legal guarding position, even if he is using his body while showing hands, a foul should be called.
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Get the bump, because when you don’t get the bump the dribbler ends up off balance and bangs into two more players or loses the ball and then we have permitted the defensive team to gain an advantage. Once players understand you aren’t going to allow this illegal contact, it will make for a better game.
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Block/Charge: Read the defense and know who created the contact, if you’re going to call a foul on the defense, be able to defend why!! DO NOT PASS ON COLLISIONS.
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If a defensive player establishes a legal guarding position, his entire body is entitled to that position from floor to ceiling within the frame of his body. Don’t penalize the defensive player,
even if the offensive player contacts part of the defensive player, if he established a legal guarding position he/she is entitled to that position! •
If a post player wants to power his way to the basket, know if the defense had position or not, and penalize accordingly.
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My philosophy on border line situations is tell them once, then blow the whistle. Players are smarter than what we give them credit for; they will not change unless you force the change by blowing the whistle.
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Make sure you officiate each quarter to the horn. A foul in the first minute is a foul in the last minute. If a foul occurs at the end of the game have the courage to make the call. Just be sure there was a foul/contact. No air calls, don’t anticipate, let the contact take you to the whistle.
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Call the game by the rules starting with the first minute of play, if you don’t, believe me it’s much harder to get the game back under control.
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Ending a dribble, if a player attempts to end his dribble but muffs/fumbles the ball, the player may recover the ball (pick it up), but if he/she dribbles the ball it is a double dribble violation.
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Muff: If a player muffs a pass and he has not used his dribble, he/she may pick the ball up and legally dribble and should not be called for a violation.
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Be professional and communicate with the players and coaches involved in the game when requested/needed. Don’t explain a call to a coach if he/she hasn’t requested an explanation.
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Have solid game management skills, positive facial expressions and a willingness to listen. During timeouts, be careful, if you do get together as a crew, be professional, say what needs to be said and go back to your respective positions.
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Injured player, if a coach or team physician is beckoned on the floor by an official, the coach may use a timeout and keep the player in the game, if done so before the official starts the replacement clock. If the coach/trainer doesn’t enter the court, a coach may use a timeout to keep the player in the game, as long as the replacement interval has not begun.
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Blood: Team(s) must use a timeout in order to keep player(s) in the game. Can change uniform, but must be done in the locker room. Please understand, under NO circumstance will we hold the game up for a blood situation, a timeout must be used or a substitute must enter the game. The injured or bleeding player once substituted for is not eligible to reenter the game until the clock has run.
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PLAYER FOULING OUT: If a player commits a foul, you report it to the official scorer and the official scorer indicates to the calling official that is the players 5th foul, you need to notify the head coach immediately that is this players fifth foul, then turn to the bench and have the 20 second clock started. Before allowing any free‐throws or the ball to be put in play, the
reporting official must make sure the disqualified player leaves the floor. We don’t want officials going to the fouled out player telling him that is his 5th foul, that is the coach’s responsibility to replace the player.
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Pre-game conference with coaches, captains and officials should be held off the playing floor.
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Use proper NFHS Mechanics: Communication and professionalism remain the most important elements to good officiating. Good mechanics assist in communication.
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Remember, you aren’t here to make friends with coaches and players, you were hired to officiate the game, be honest and fair and your integrity will go a long way in representing who you are.
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Give a 100% and CONCENTRATE, let the game come to you and remember no one came here to watch you; they came to watch the players play.
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When you come off the floor and look in the mirror, there is only one person you have to answer to, and that’s you! Have fun, hustle and the rest will take care of itself.
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Take ownership in wanting to get better and providing players and coaches your best effort every night you go on the court.
Have a great season! Sincerely, Roger Barr Director of Officials