2A basketball referee problems

[Hornet4ever]

I know each of us are partial to some team. (Besides HF) and when we are at basketball games some of us may get kind of fired up over missed calls, or bad calls. An some may accuse some of us for being a tad bit bias, but people we seriously have a problem. I've been watching high school basketball for awhile now and I promise the problems were no where near as evident as they are now. The last few games I have attended the calls have been so bad that both sides have almost lost their mind at the lack of good calls, and just no general in-sight on how to ref. I'm not sure if it is a training issue, or if there is just no accountability. I know for Hackett we played Magazine last night and at one point in the first half Hackett had 8 fouls and Magazine had 0. Multiple inside shots taken by Hackett and no fouls called at all. I know it sounds like sour grapes, but it's just an example. I've heard from several other people of issues pertaining to officiating in 2A. Some regions may be better but I know in our region it's ridiclous. There needs to be a change, and I do not agree with schools having the same refs every week for their games. Even if extra money is involved that is not right.

[HorseFeathers]

I know each of us are partial to some team. (Besides HF) and when we are at basketball games some of us may get kind of fired up over missed calls, or bad calls. An some may accuse some of us for being a tad bit bias, but people we seriously have a problem. I've been watching high school basketball for awhile now and I promise the problems were no where near as evident as they are now. The last few games I have attended the calls have been so bad that both sides have almost lost their mind at the lack of good calls, and just no general in-sight on how to ref. I'm not sure if it is a training issue, or if there is just no accountability. I know for Hackett we played Magazine last night and at one point in the first half Hackett had 8 fouls and Magazine had 0. Multiple inside shots taken by Hackett and no fouls called at all. I know it sounds like sour grapes, but it's just an example. I've heard from several other people of issues pertaining to officiating in 2A. Some regions may be better but I know in our region it's ridiclous. There needs to be a change, and I do not agree with schools having the same refs every week for their games. Even if extra money is involved that is not right.

Get certified

[Hornet4ever]

I know each of us are partial to some team. (Besides HF) and when we are at basketball games some of us may get kind of fired up over missed calls, or bad calls. An some may accuse some of us for being a tad bit bias, but people we seriously have a problem. I've been watching high school basketball for awhile now and I promise the problems were no where near as evident as they are now. The last few games I have attended the calls have been so bad that both sides have almost lost their mind at the lack of good calls, and just no general in-sight on how to ref. I'm not sure if it is a training issue, or if there is just no accountability. I know for Hackett we played Magazine last night and at one point in the first half Hackett had 8 fouls and Magazine had 0. Multiple inside shots taken by Hackett and no fouls called at all. I know it sounds like sour grapes, but it's just an example. I've heard from several other people of issues pertaining to officiating in 2A. Some regions may be better but I know in our region it's ridiclous. There needs to be a change, and I do not agree with schools having the same refs every week for their games. Even if extra money is involved that is not right.

Get certified

Rather ref football. Like I said though, it's not always been this bad.

[AT]

If we are talking about getting homered by refs, it used to be a lot worse.

[razorsharp94]

At the 2A level you get a lot of inexperienced refs to do your games.  It's not bias.  It is allowing coaches and crowd to dictate calls.  When you ref you have a whole different perspective on officiating.  There are some good guys in it there are some bad guys in it but very rarely do you ever get someone that will just blatantly cheat.  Now there are some exceptions just like anything else.  Most are just trying to make a little extra money and be close to the game.

[AT]

At the 2A level you get a lot of inexperienced refs to do your games.  It's not bias.  It is allowing coaches and crowd to dictate calls.  When you ref you have a whole different perspective on officiating.  There are some good guys in it there are some bad guys in it but very rarely do you ever get someone that will just blatantly cheat.  Now there are some exceptions just like anything else.  Most are just trying to make a little extra money and be close to the game.

This is the perspective I have on it myself. Well said.

[Hornet4ever]

I understand bad calls will be made. Nobody is perfect, but when it gets to the point where the group of refs can't seem to make a correct call, or one ref is having to make the calls from the other side of the key it gets frustrating. When your team is working hard but not getting any help from the refs especially when it comes to driving in the lane and going up strong it's very annoying. That's the point of going up strong under the basket (drawing the foul) when refs cannot see that under the basket or get that mentality it's very frustrating. Like I said, last year was even not this bad. It just seems as if this year we have gotten a bad group of refs. I was actually told a couple of the refs who work our games were actually black balled last year. I don't think you should be able to ref again until some kind of proper refresher or training is done.

[Fan9876]

It has been very very bad in years past.  It actually seems just a tad better to me this year.  However, I can think of a couple of glaring examples in the past years that it has been bias.  They not be being paid, but they definitely have a personal satisfaction in not calling for certain teams.  For one thing,  I don't think refs should be allowed to ref games in conference of their home district at all.  Secondly, the AAA seemly do not police their employees in any way.   There will always be abuse by those that have absolutely not supervision.  I've also been told that it does no good to complain to AAA about particular refs.  Recently, I watch a game where two out of three did not appear to be cheating for any particular team, but did not appear to know virtually a single thing about how to ref basketball and at times seemed to not even be paying attention to the game.  That being said,  I do realize that being a ref is a thankless job.  There is always someone that is going to be unhappy with what you call.  They should at least want to do a good job for their own pride.

[razorsharp94]

here are a couple problems I see with officals.  Number 1 it's too political.  There are bad officials that have been reffing for years and years but because they have been doing it for years they continue to get games.  I recently went to a clinic in another sport where there were more 60 year old officials than 20 year old officials.  They stated they did want to change that but when they do get younger guys in there all they end up doing is 7th grade games.  How long can they wait it out.  There are too many guys that are still officiating that have a hard time getting up and down the floor.

Number 2 officials/coaches are too worried about zones instead of just getting the call right.  When you have three officials on the court automatically there will be three officials with different skill levels.  Two guys may be top notch but one may not be and they are in the same zone more than the other two guess which one suffers more.  Also, sometimes even if a play may not necessarily be in your zone but you could possibly have a better vantage point than the guy that's watching that particular zone you should be allowed to make the call and get it right.  Too much bravado goes on in this instance, "don't you call fouls in my zone." This to me is why there are so many calls that are missed.

A problem I see with coaches/fans is that they can't take the emotion out of the play to see what actually happened.  Too many times coaches act like lunatics about calls that they either do not know the rules or they just can't see it any way but their way.  For instance, last year I reffed a game where I saw a girl A shoved girl B right in the back both hands.  She was upset they were losing and I called an intentional foul.  Could have called a technical.  Could have even threw her out of the game but I didn't bc it was actually a JV game.  The lady assistant coach went crazy and got out on the court.  She said some moronic things only to incite her crowd.  I told her she shoved her with two hands in the back.  She said that's not how we saw it.  Of course, she didn't see it that way she was coaching that team.  It got kind of nasty.  I should have given the coach a tech and sat her down but again it was a JV game, but this is an instance of what I am talking about.  It makes officiating games much more difficult than it has to be.

[Fan9876]

In the game I'm speaking of,  one ref called back court because he forgot which end was whose.  A play clothes lined another player and he called a walk.  They blew the whistle and didn't even know why they had blown the whistle.   In the past, I've seen them give players techs because they answered their coach's question.   

[razorsharp94]

In the game I'm speaking of,  one ref called back court because he forgot which end was whose.  A play clothes lined another player and he called a walk.  They blew the whistle and didn't even know why they had blown the whistle.   In the past, I've seen them give players techs because they answered their coach's question.   

I'm not saying there aren't bad ones out there but I have yet to meet one that I thought would cheat just to cheat.  As for the play.  Maybe the player did walk but was clothes lined after the play.  In which case it could have been a dead ball foul--most likely a technical in that case or intentional.  In a heated game, which many of them in smaller schools get that way, I can see that happening.  Did the player have any interaction with the official before?  I've been reffing for about 15 years in many different ways and I have seen many things.  I will tell you this too kids are much more brave than they used to be.  I usually will get at least one kid per game talking to me from pee wee all the way up. The respect just isn't there.

[Fan9876]

There was no walk.  Another player passed the ball.  The player caught it.  The player from the other team was just hustling to try to intercept it and made contact.  I don't think it was intentional on the other players part.  But our player didn't even have the chance to walk.  Apparently, having the ball in her hands and the trip to floor was considered a walk lol.  Fortunately, another ref changed the call.  No interaction with the ref at all.   Trust me even if the refs are terrible, I tell mine it's not their place to argue a call.  That's the coachs job and the fans lol.  They are to stay focused on what is going on in the game.

[Fan9876]

Don't get me wrong,  I have much respect for officials.  It's a job I wouldn't like to do.   They won't ever get 100% of the calls right and that's ok.   But through the years,  there has been some very blantant stuff going on.   I'm just saying,  AAA makes it too easy to get away with a lot of this stuff.   No supervision at all, as far as I can see.

[razorsharp94]

I'll agree and say that there should be more accountability on all levels for officials, but it is almost impossible to get that kind of accountability at the high school level.  Now a school can call an assigner and say don't send this guy back, which does happen, and they never get sent back.  That's about as accountable as it gets. There are too many games to hold them too accountable.

[Fan9876]

But you and I both know most schools won't call and do that.  Some of the others refs would hold that against the school, im sure.  People should be allowed to complain and after a significant number of complaints the AAA should just keep a closer eye on that ref and see what they see.

[bluegrassboy75]

here are a couple problems I see with officals.  Number 1 it's too political.  There are bad officials that have been reffing for years and years but because they have been doing it for years they continue to get games.  I recently went to a clinic in another sport where there were more 60 year old officials than 20 year old officials.  They stated they did want to change that but when they do get younger guys in there all they end up doing is 7th grade games.  How long can they wait it out.  There are too many guys that are still officiating that have a hard time getting up and down the floor.

Number 2 officials/coaches are too worried about zones instead of just getting the call right.  When you have three officials on the court automatically there will be three officials with different skill levels.  Two guys may be top notch but one may not be and they are in the same zone more than the other two guess which one suffers more.  Also, sometimes even if a play may not necessarily be in your zone but you could possibly have a better vantage point than the guy that's watching that particular zone you should be allowed to make the call and get it right.  Too much bravado goes on in this instance, "don't you call fouls in my zone." This to me is why there are so many calls that are missed.

A problem I see with coaches/fans is that they can't take the emotion out of the play to see what actually happened.  Too many times coaches act like lunatics about calls that they either do not know the rules or they just can't see it any way but their way.  For instance, last year I reffed a game where I saw a girl A shoved girl B right in the back both hands.  She was upset they were losing and I called an intentional foul.  Could have called a technical.  Could have even threw her out of the game but I didn't bc it was actually a JV game.  The lady assistant coach went crazy and got out on the court.  She said some moronic things only to incite her crowd.  I told her she shoved her with two hands in the back.  She said that's not how we saw it.  Of course, she didn't see it that way she was coaching that team.  It got kind of nasty.  I should have given the coach a tech and sat her down but again it was a JV game, but this is an instance of what I am talking about.  It makes officiating games much more difficult than it has to be.

On point #2, I don't mind someone calling something that is in my primary if I miss the call to get it right, but wait for me to have a chance to call it.  We get too many newer officials that ball watch like a fan does and can miss something in their area away from the ball that needs to be called.

On point #3, since that is an Assistant Coach, yes you should have called the T on the bench.  If it is the head coach, that's fine.  Assistants have no business coming on the floor yelling at officials (IMHO).  If you are feeling generous, then tell the Head Coach to calm their Assistant down or you would be forced to call a T on the bench and the Head Coach would then lose their coaches box.

[Hornet4ever]

I have heard that Hackett has tried to get a different group of refs to do our games, but it hasn't worked. It really does make the games unenjoyable.

[sevenof400]

Hmmm - let's have a deeper look at this:

... They not be being paid, but they definitely have a personal satisfaction in not calling for certain teams.  ...

I'm not sure of the point you're making here. 

For one thing,  I don't think refs should be allowed to ref games in conference of their home district at all. 

So if this was implemented, one reality you've just created is that referees would have to travel further for games.

In the lower classifications, with schools playing so many games on one night, how are you going to get referees for games when they will have increased travel time?  Referees work jobs as well - most during the day - and many are pushed now to leave in plenty of time to make the games they work in their area. 

Increased travel time means fewer referees. 

That solution won't fly.

Secondly, the AAA seemly do not police their employees in any way.   There will always be abuse by those that have absolutely not supervision.  I've also been told that it does no good to complain to AAA about particular refs.

Referees are not employed by AAA - referees are independent contractors.  As such AAA really has not control over officials.  At present, the 'power' in basketball lies with the assignor - if a conference uses one. 

Where I agree with your (in general) here is AAA should have some official working relationship with the assignors.  At present, they don't. 

Recently, I watch a game where two out of three did not appear to be cheating for any particular team, but did not appear to know virtually a single thing about how to ref basketball and at times seemed to not even be paying attention to the game.  That being said,  I do realize that being a ref is a thankless job.  There is always someone that is going to be unhappy with what you call.  They should at least want to do a good job for their own pride.

New referees (if that is what these two were) are not given ANY support by AAA at all.  I agree the entire referee program / process is in serious need to revamping but AAA will not do this on their own.  The reality is it will take some sort of serious event to focus attention on this issue before changes will be made.  That's sad to say, but given their track record to date, AAA will never be accused of being proactive on any matter.

[sevenof400]

Here is another problem:

..I was actually told a couple of the refs who work our games were actually black balled last year. I don't think you should be able to ref again until some kind of proper refresher or training is done.

Referees are blackballed for a variety of reasons - many of which may have nothing to do with the referee's application of the laws of the sport.  Referees may be spot correct with their call and a coach may not like the call anyway.  Do this enough and some coaches will blackball a referee. 

What is missing here is an opportunity for coach and referee to sit down and work through a play - not at (or during) a game but later.  I think each conference should have a work day each season (likely on a Saturday) where coaches and officials get together and discuss the calls made during the season.

Obviously, useful game film would be needed to make this work but given that at present, there is NO official opportunity for referee and coach to gather together and discuss issues like these only allows matters to fester. 

[Fan9876]

Honestly, I think my point with that comment was obvious.     Secondly,  admittedly, I may not be super knowledgable about the divisions of school all over the state but I think is you actually look at it, there will still be plenty of opportunity to obtain refs without out them driving any farther than they r now.   Most schools in one geographical area are not all in the same divisions.  Some are 1A, 2a etc.      Even as contractors,  the entity that is contracting with that company does ace some say in their job performance.  Come on now.    Just because AAA has chosen to ignore it doesn't make it right.   Doesn't mean changes shouldn't be made.

[bdubyab60]

The refs should apply the rules fairly throughout the game. Fouls being even is not calling the game fairly. But I see it all to often refs catching fouls up. If a team is settling for jumpers and the other is attacking you should expect a greater number of fouls on another team.

There are some good refs but I see more to the bad side and nothing is worse than a ref that wants to be seen. No since and making a charge call and doing a dance halfway up the court.

Calling infractions from out of position. I stand on the baseline sometimes and you will sometimes have the vantage point of the ref or very close. Then they make some call where you know there was no way they saw a darn thing. Asked one, one time how could he tell if that kid fouled him. Answer, I just knew he was going too. Yet the reg that was there on that side told him there was no contact.

Got one red that has been at our place at least 3 times. One of our players, I don't know if he's said anything to him or what but he will be in the bench within a minute cause he's gonna have two fouls called on him before he knows. Same ref about 90% of his calls go against us.

Those are things I can't stand.

Call the game fairly to the best of your ability. I think everyone understands you are gonna miss some. But don't make the crap blatant. I think some officials get mad at the fans or even try to quiet them down sometimes. That shouldn't happen

[sevenof400]

Honestly, I think my point with that comment was obvious.

I'm copying your previous quote with this section bolded:

It has been very very bad in years past.  It actually seems just a tad better to me this year.  However, I can think of a couple of glaring examples in the past years that it has been bias.  They not be being paid, but they definitely have a personal satisfaction in not calling for certain teams.  For one thing,  I don't think refs should be allowed to ref games in conference of their home district at all.  Secondly, the AAA seemly do not police their employees in any way.   There will always be abuse by those that have absolutely not supervision.  I've also been told that it does no good to complain to AAA about particular refs.  Recently, I watch a game where two out of three did not appear to be cheating for any particular team, but did not appear to know virtually a single thing about how to ref basketball and at times seemed to not even be paying attention to the game.  That being said,  I do realize that being a ref is a thankless job.  There is always someone that is going to be unhappy with what you call.  They should at least want to do a good job for their own pride.

They not be being paid? 

I'm not trying to make fun of anything here, honestly I am not sure what this point is.  Can you rephrase it?

[Fan9876]

Just because one word got missed by typo doesn't mean the point isn't perfectly intelligible.   Not to be rud, but everyone else seems to have gotten it with no problem.   So here is your rephrase.   That was in responsible to a previous comment where someone said that they didn't think the refs were being paid to cheat.   I'm not so sure of that with some.  However,  even if they aren't being paid to cheat,  the enjoy calling against certain teams for personal reasons.    It can't get much simpler than that.   Hope it clears it up for you.

[sevenof400]

Honestly, I think my point with that comment was obvious.     Secondly,  admittedly, I may not be super knowledgable about the divisions of school all over the state but I think is you actually look at it, there will still be plenty of opportunity to obtain refs without out them driving any farther than they r now.   Most schools in one geographical area are not all in the same divisions.  Some are 1A, 2a etc.      Even as contractors,  the entity that is contracting with that company does ace some say in their job performance.  Come on now.    Just because AAA has chosen to ignore it doesn't make it right.   Doesn't mean changes shouldn't be made.

There's a referee shortage at present - but before I get to that further, what area of the state are you from? 

With respect to the bolded point - don't get me wrong, I agree with you that changes need to be made.  But any change has to be carefully weighed and measured so it doesn't make the situation worse. 

I've long been a proponent of the idea that AAA needs to be forced to be an active party in improving the referee situation.  One way this might be accomplished is to force AAA to assume the role of assignor - for every high school game in Arkansas.  Only by direct involvement with the referee situation can/will AAA begin to get an idea of the severity of the issues surrounding refereeing in Arkansas. 

[Fan9876]

I'm in NEA.  Honestly,  it can't get much worse here without it being a free for all.   That is what it will get to when nobody thinks they can trust the refs.

[Fan9876]

As I said,  in my opinion,  it has been a tad better this year.   Previous years,  there have been a couple of teams that get away with virtually anything.

[Fan9876]

And none of it was bolded on the mobile app.

[AT]

Why are so many of you convinced it's gotten worse?

I have a father who coached over 20 years in basketball and he said reffing, although still far from great, is much better than it used to be.

We don't have a measure so it's all subjective, but I have a hard time believing reffing has gotten worse overall.

[Hornet4ever]

Why are so many of you convinced it's gotten worse?

I have a father who coached over 20 years in basketball and he said reffing, although still far from great, is much better than it used to be.

We don't have a measure so it's all subjective, but I have a hard time believing reffing has gotten worse overall.

This is just an opinion, and it's not just me. I've heard it from several people. I promise it used to not be this bad.

[bigworm]

It's not thankless. They get thanked when they collect their checks. I don't want their job but I promise they don't want and couldn't do mine. They are too lazy to do what I do. Haha. I get sick of folks saying "it's a thankless job". That's a joke. Volunteer work is thankless not getting paid to ref a ballgame. Most of the jack legs like one team better than the other and lean that direction or are there to get done asap and get their money. Most suck. Some are good. My opinion from a coaches perspective is to focus on the things you control. I always told kids b4 a game that we wasn't going to get a single call and that there is nothing we could do about it. Just control what you control and don't focus on what you can't. If the kids start listening to us whine about refs they lose focus on their own mistakes and start laying blame on the goobers in stripes. I always told them too that when we played a game without a single mistake we could blame a ref if we lost.

[NoPlace2]

I've been watching mainly 2A Ball the past six years, some 1A and tournaments in our area that include a few higher Classes – 2A north and east. My opinion is that some of the Refs thrive on being noticed; some get caught up in the game and rather than watch their zone they watch the ball and miss calls in their zone; some anticipate fouls and automatically blow the whistle rather than actually see infractions; some seem to have a vested interest in particular teams and/or players and some are pretty good most of the time. When you get a mix of these all in one game it usually evens out and you walk away saying it wasn't too bad or at least they were consistent both ways. It's when you get two or more Refs that fall into the less desirable categories that it becomes frustrating. It's my experience over the past six or so years that Officiating has remained about the same – and my overall opinion is that it is poor more times than not.
I also think that the Fans are more affected by this (and I'll put myself in this category) than the Players or Coaches. When a game has been badly officiated in my opinion or terribly lopsided I always ask my son (who plays) what he thought and he always has the same answer – "It is what it is and I really didn't notice that much". He has never been as upset with officials as I have been on certain occasions.
So I think the Post above describes the best approach that everyone should probably take. I would rate the overall officiating as poor though and I would hope that the AAA and the Officials Assn would strive to do something about it but from what I've seen I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

[RedWolf275]

Refereeing in NEA in the lower classifications is really bad. And occasionally you see officials with agendas for or against certain teams. There is no doubt that this happens.

[neafan0653]

I was at the Marked Tree and BIC game and BIC had 7 fouls at the end of the first and MT had 0. It's not like MT wasn't fouling either but BIC couldn't get a call.

[AT]

Why are so many of you convinced it's gotten worse?

I have a father who coached over 20 years in basketball and he said reffing, although still far from great, is much better than it used to be.

We don't have a measure so it's all subjective, but I have a hard time believing reffing has gotten worse overall.

This is just an opinion, and it's not just me. I've heard it from several people. I promise it used to not be this bad.

I could say the exact same sentence. Reffing used to be home cook city in Arkansas. I promise it used to be this bad and probably worse.

[bigworm]

I think back to the kids on the football field in San Antonio, TX that laid the licks on that ref during a football game. The only thing that I heard mentioned was how terrible those kids were. I've heard refs talk crap to players and laugh when they made a call against their team. I honestly can't see why those kids would have done what they done without being taunted and probably was getting a major screwing in that game. I'm not saying it was justified. I'm just saying those kids didn't do that for no reason. They shouldn't have done it and should have been punished. But I would be willing to bet if we knew the whole story it would make more sense.

[Hornet4ever]

Moral of the story I think the ref problems are evident. It's getting old too.

[tacomeat]

If the pay was more there would be more officials to choose from & some of the horrible officials wouldn't be used all the time at the lower classification level. You get what u pay for. My advice is to expect bad officiating every game going in & tell your child/player that if a whistle doesn't blow it's not a foul.

[HorseFeathers]

Man.....y'all would have hated the 7a officials I watched last night...calling fouls that were actually fouls. Walls when superstar Malik monk shuffled his feet...how often do we see the stars in the lower levels actually get called for stuff? Not very often...Monk had 3 fouls last night.

My favorite though are fans that don't know the rules(over the back isn't a foul, and your especially not going to get a call if you don't bother to block out)....I thought the fans at atkins were going to storm thebcourt when Brandon fenner missed not one but two blocks, which both led to him slapping the back board.

I have a feeling most that complain about the refs wouldn't like it if they called everything 100 percent by the book....could you imagine the outrage of a red calling the technical on a coach for delaying the game by arguing calls, every time? Or the technical for delaying the game by pretending he's in the nba and trying for continuation.

Also traveling can't happen if the kid is still dribbling the ball...been to a couple gyms where they didn't understand that this year...pivot feet and pro hops are legal...shuffling isnt...

My point is, I don't think officiating is getting worse...people getting mad cause baby boy or girls team is getting kicked to sleep does seem to be increasing...at least I'm my area anyway...

[sevenof400]

This is becoming a problem though:

...Also traveling can't happen if the kid is still dribbling the ball...

There are a LOT of bad ballhandlers out there that love to palm the ball (which is not called nearly enough) and many more who carry the ball while dribbling (the ball stays on the hand entirely too long).  The hesitation in the dribble (the ball staying on the hand for an excessive amount of time) should be construed as stopping the act of dribbling.

[bdubyab60]

I was at the Marked Tree and BIC game and BIC had 7 fouls at the end of the first and MT had 0. It's not like MT wasn't fouling either but BIC couldn't get a call.

Did their coach send out a bench player to foul to kind of even things up.

[bdubyab60]

Man.....y'all would have hated the 7a officials I watched last night...calling fouls that were actually fouls. Walls when superstar Malik monk shuffled his feet...how often do we see the stars in the lower levels actually get called for stuff? Not very often...Monk had 3 fouls last night.

My favorite though are fans that don't know the rules(over the back isn't a foul, and your especially not going to get a call if you don't bother to block out)....I thought the fans at atkins were going to storm thebcourt when Brandon fenner missed not one but two blocks, which both led to him slapping the back board.

I have a feeling most that complain about the refs wouldn't like it if they called everything 100 percent by the book....could you imagine the outrage of a red calling the technical on a coach for delaying the game by arguing calls, every time? Or the technical for delaying the game by pretending he's in the nba and trying for continuation.

Also traveling can't happen if the kid is still dribbling the ball...been to a couple gyms where they didn't understand that this year...pivot feet and pro hops are legal...shuffling isnt...

My point is, I don't think officiating is getting worse...people getting mad cause baby boy or girls team is getting kicked to sleep does seem to be increasing...at least I'm my area anyway...

I would say this. The home cooking isn't as bad as it used to be. But the overall calling seems to be worse. Very inconsistent from one minute to the next in a game.

[Oldref]

I am sure we can argue this from now on but here is my two cents........I think some refs do have agendas against some teams, players and even fans in the stands. Probably always have but it seems they want people to know they are large and in charge. I know it is hard to officiate games these days and there are some crazy things that happen more often than they used to. I  watch some coaches get on the officials every trip and think every call goes against them and they in turn incite their fan base to act crazy.

I am also so tired of watching officials blow the whistle and then look at each other to see which one is going to make the call. Many times they see it different ways but one of them defers to the other because of the hesitation to take charge. I believe that got much worse after we went to three officials. I  watched a tournament in Missouri earlier this month that used two officials and they did fine. There are not enough good officials in Arkansas for three officials every game and going back with two would help on that. I read the other day that in Kansas they are considering offering a reward for coaches to identify former players that could be trained to be officials. Too many people that could do it don't want to put up with the abuse so we have too many that do it for the wrong reasons.

Just my opinion:-)

[neafan0653]

They didn't send a player out there to even it out either lol

[BoxNOne]

Oldref is right about the officiating going downhill when it went to three man crews. Seems like they all feel a need to get in on the action and call something. I guess they figure they need three to cover the 3pt line.

[sevenof400]

Three man refereeing should be better.  The problem inherent with three man crews is the lack of continuity within crews anymore.  You seldom see a three man crew sticking together from game to game - let along throughout a season. 

Familiarity with your partner was a considerable asset in two man crews - that has been lost in the constant shuffling of referees in three man crews. 

[bigworm]

I'm watching Kansas/Kentucky. These refs may be worse than our raged 2A refs. I guess they just all suck.

[Hornet4ever]

I'm watching Kansas/Kentucky. These refs may be worse than our raged 2A refs. I guess they just all suck.

I think the issue in today's world is the lack of training. I really don't think there is enough when it comes to reffing. My cousin told me that to ref it's not a big trial process and not much class room time. You can see it on the court as well....

[Cheek]

I hate to complain about officials, because it will not do any good.  My biggest complaint is when officials steal calls.  If an official is standing under the basket three feet from a play under the basket, why would an official at half court make a call.  Makes no sense.

[bigworm]

Or when one sees something. dont call it and when asked about it his response is "not my call". IF YOU'RE THERE GETTING PAID TO CALL A GAME, IT'S YOUR CALL!!!

[Hornet4ever]

I would like to get certified to ref just so I could tell the other ref at half court making calls for under the basket that it's not his call and to keep the whistle out of his mouth