For those not caught up on all the lingo and "hip" terms, I am not referring to the horse-like creature with black and white stripes native to Africa and your local zoo. I'm referring to the man or woman who tends to move less gracefully up and down the court during a basketball game with black and white stripes, officially known as referees. Don't get me wrong, I know that not all of them are bad, and generally they tend to do a decent job. But there are just some things I don't see eye to eye with that seem to be common practice in the games I've been involved in.
Allow me to explain:
1. Delay of game? Really?
I've seen it time and time again, while on the winning end and the losing end, that the referees seem to make up new rules as the lead gets larger in the name of 'sportsmanship'. For instance, many youth tournaments and leagues have this rule where you can't press (apply full court defensive pressure) if you are ahead by so many points. For starters, that rule in itself is an issue if you ask me and its not an official rule in any governing body of basketball. We can't teach our kids how to lose now can we....but I digress. The rule is there, and I can't change it. Cool, I'll follow it. My issue is the enforcement of the rule. For instance - Team A is not allowed to press because of this rule, and when a player from Team A shoots and misses, Team B gets the rebound. A player on Team A is getting back to play half court defense, and makes an attempt to steal the ball as he is getting back to his place in the half court defense. Said player is issued a 'Delay of Game' warning. I want that kid to make an attempt at the ball. Playing defense is all about being opportunistic, aggressive, getting the offense to make a mistake. But if you are a good team, you have to take it down a notch and can only go at 100% once the other team has advanced to half court. Now how exactly do you tell a kid, " Give me one hundred percent, one hundred percent of the time, except when we are up by 20." In most cases, because we've coached them to be aggressive and play tough defense (or at least try to), it's pretty much impossible to stop this swipe at the ball - it's borderline instinct by the end of the season. However, they also tend to realize what the rule is and that's why it is limited to a swipe. So now, we're going to punish Team A for playing good defense and being into the game all the way through, and award Team B with Technical Free Throws and the ball because of it. It gets worse. I've seen Team B actually pass right in front of Team A, who again, out of being taught proper defensive principles, reacts and gets what should be an easy steal. Nope. "Dead ball, possession Team B. Team A can't press." It makes no sense. Ah, well...there are no rules in high school about pressing...at least not officially.
2. The rules at the end of the game need to be the same ones from the beginning
I've seen some games where this "no press" rule didn't exist, so the referees made up their own. I've even heard a ref admitted that it happens. "If you are up by 20 or so and are still pressing, the whistles get a little quicker." Really? So the same little one hand check that was allowed at the start of the game and that coaches were told is allowed is now not allowed, simply because one team is better. I've had one ref tell me I'm not allowed to play zone defense after 3 quarters because the other team couldn't break it and were losing by so much, or to sub a guy out because he was "too" good to be in at that point in time. But it was completely legal to play zone defense, and this kid wasn't breaking any rules by playing. I've watched a kid clearly step out of bounds, travel, and double dribble, and when I asked the ref why no whistle was blown, he looked at me with a straight face and said just one word: "Scoreboard." What the heck does that mean? "Hey play bad to start the game, and out of pity, rather than correct these mistakes and force your coach to correct this during practice, I'm going to let you play worse and get away with it." There's no place in college, NBA, or international basketball (that I'm aware of) that says that referees can purposely change the game to make it a more competitive event. In fact, it's illegal and usually referred to as "fixing". Why is it allowed in youth sports then? On the other hand, you can't let a game get very physical and "let the boys play" and then try to get the game under control when you notice tempers starting to flare. Do your job, and manage the physicality by calling a fair game from the start and keeping it that way. Easier said than done I'm sure, but that's why you went to referee school and work in teams.
3. You are a referee, not a Harlem Globetrotter
One thing that annoys me, especially with younger teams, is that brothers and sisters come along and think every time out and quarter intermission is a sign for them to run out and chunk air balls at the rim. While I'd love for parents to do their job and tell their kids to sit down and chill, it's also the referees job to manage the game, include time outs and intermissions. While by most rules it is the home teams responsibility to keep the courts clear, the referees could minimize this by doing what they are supposed to - issue a technical to the home team. Obviously with youth games, there's more division and fans tend to sit with their respective teams, so you can issue the technicals accordingly, but again, do your job and manage the game. Instead, what do I see? The referee playing with them and missing just as bad! You are there to referee, so do that. The games usually only last an hour. So for one hour, resist the urge and leave the courts be. Let the coaches talk to their players without having to contend with your lame excuse for entertainment as you miss layup after layup trying to impress a 4 year old.
Okay, so yeah that was a little longer than I thought it would be, and I'm sure I could go on and on, but I have practice to get to. Like I said, in general, refs are okay. Their human, and make mistakes, which I can live with. But let's try to be a bit more official, Mr. Official.
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