Officials Suspended

[lighthouse]

3 officials from the South Atlantic Conference, (a D2 conference) were suspended for allowing a missed shot to count. After their suspension, they will resume regular season play but banned from postseason games.

They erroneously counted a missed basket on a foul call. None of the crew knew if the shot went in and the referee went to the scorers table, which is the correct thing to do, and the official scorer nor the clock operator could verify the shot going in.

This should never happen, especially with a 3 man crew. I think the penalty is fair.

[DCWildcat]

Interesting.

[gerntz]

What I don't get is how you could allow a score you didn't see. I mean if it went in & you didn't see it, the right call would be to not allow it IMO. But they do just the opposite. Might as well make up a score with that approach.

[boomdaddy]

What about a foul being called, where the the accused never touches the other player and the action negates a 5 second call on an inbounds pass?

That play sure was huge going down the stretch.

[lighthouse]

What I don't get is how you could allow a score you didn't see. I mean if it went in & you didn't see it, the right call would be to not allow it IMO. But they do just the opposite. Might as well make up a score with that approach.

I've been there gerntz. They had to have reason to think the ball went in. It should never happen, but I missed one that went in and I didn't count it because right after the ball hit the basket and bounced off, 2 players were fighting under the basket. They took my attention away from the ball and it bounced up and came down through. I had no idea until an official friend in the stands came into the locker room after the game and told me what happened. I made sure something like that never happened again.

[lighthouse]

What about a foul being called, where the the accused never touches the other player and the action negates a 5 second call on an inbounds pass?

That play sure was huge going down the stretch.

??? I would have to see what you're talking about, to comment on it.

[tauzreborn]

??? I would have to see what you're talking about, to comment on it.

I think he is referring to the phantom fifth foul on Jodie Meeks at the Florida game.

[dhens7]

I think he is referring to the phantom fifth foul on Jodie Meeks at the Florida game.

he is

[gerntz]

I've been there gerntz. They had to have reason to think the ball went in. It should never happen, but I missed one that went in and I didn't count it because right after the ball hit the basket and bounced off, 2 players were fighting under the basket. They took my attention away from the ball and it bounced up and came down through. I had no idea until an official friend in the stands came into the locker room after the game and told me what happened. I made sure something like that never happened again.


As I said, that's the more excusable offense. I'd say stopping the fight is more important than a score plus one of the guys fighting wound up hurting his team, not you.

[lighthouse]

As I said, that's the more excusable offense. I'd say stopping the fight is more important than a score plus one of the guys fighting wound up hurting his team, not you.

That's the way I felt at the time, but I never let it happen again.

[Ukosumu]

In any situation described above the blame should be spread around.

In the D2 game 4 to 5 people could not confirm that the basket was scored. This why there is more than one official on the floor. With that said, this is why instant replay has become so valuable.

[wildcatdon]

What I dont understand is why these guys keep calling fouls when a player is on a breakaway layup and the defender runs in front of him in an attempt to strip the ball and never touches him...This is called a foul 95% of the time whether the man is fouled or not..There was one in the uk/SC game that was not even close..Most of the time the ref is not in front of the play to see it. Sometime a side view is better but many times the defender's body is blocking the view..I think they are told to call the foul unless they are positive there was no contact..To me,another load of crap..The college rules suck..I am glad I never went to that level..I am a purist and call the game the way it is meant to be called...oh well.

[lighthouse]

What I dont understand is why these guys keep calling fouls when a player is on a breakaway layup and the defender runs in front of him in an attempt to strip the ball and never touches him...This is called a foul 95% of the time whether the man is fouled or not..There was one in the uk/SC game that was not even close..Most of the time the ref is not in front of the play to see it. Sometime a side view is better but many times the defender's body is blocking the view..I think they are told to call the foul unless they are positive there was no contact..To me,another load of crap..The college rules suck..I am glad I never went to that level..I am a purist and call the game the way it is meant to be called...oh well.

If you've officiated much at any level, you know that comment has no merit.

[wildcatdon]

Lighthouse,that statement does have merit..Sorry you dont agree..But there is no way in the world these guys are getting these particular calls correct..The hand is quicker than the eye and when a breakaway occurs,many times its after a steal and the ref is not in great position and cant catch up with the play or have the best angle..If you have watched enough games you can see they have missed many,many of these calls..Sorry,i am just not buying it...Just because you take a swipe at the ball,doesnt mean you fouled the shooter..

[lighthouse]

I think they are told to call the foul unless they are positive there was no contact...

This is the comment I'm talking about, and it makes no difference whether you or I agree or disagree, I can tell you positively it's false!

[wildcatdon]

ok lighthouse,if that is the case then the officiating is even worse than some might think....we will just let it go at that...

[Bluerunner]

I think they are told to call the foul unless they are positive there was no contact...

I don't agree with this statement but I am, like Wildcatdon totally puzzeled by "calling fouls when a player is on a breakaway layup and the defender runs in front of him in an attempt to strip the ball and never touches him...This is called a foul 95% of the time whether the man is fouled or not.."
And this is not sour grapes but I've seen this numerous times over the last years and as recently as WVU v Duke where the WVU player clearly hit all ball. It seems there is some kind of "unwritten policy" for this. How can they call that and then let something like the last play of the Tex A&M UCLA game go uncalled.
Do some refs keep a "mental scorcard" and say to themselves.."Well, I missed that one but I'll make it up on the other end"?
Lighthouse, I value your opinions and your posts are excellent.
Can you please "enlighten" us?....groan sorry about that.

[lighthouse]

I think they are told to call the foul unless they are positive there was no contact...

I don't agree with this statement but I am, like Wildcatdon totally puzzeled by "calling fouls when a player is on a breakaway layup and the defender runs in front of him in an attempt to strip the ball and never touches him...This is called a foul 95% of the time whether the man is fouled or not.."
And this is not sour grapes but I've seen this numerous times over the last years and as recently as WVU v Duke where the WVU player clearly hit all ball. It seems there is some kind of "unwritten policy" for this. How can they call that and then let something like the last play of the Tex A&M UCLA game go uncalled.
Do some refs keep a "mental scorcard" and say to themselves.."Well, I missed that one but I'll make it up on the other end"?
Lighthouse, I value your opinions and your posts are excellent.
Can you please "enlighten" us?....groan sorry about that.

No official would ever make another mistake to make up for one. That kind of thinking would only lead to disaster. Make up calls are in the minds of coach's, fan's, and announcers.

I've attended many rules clinic's and never have I heard any supervisor tell officials they have to call anything other than what they see. Never has anyone told me to call contact unless I was sure there wasn't any, or vice versa. The problem as I see it, officials have heard advantage/disavantage so much, it is beginning to effect the game too much.

[Bluerunner]

Okay, fair enough
Thanks

[Tmllres]

What I dont understand is why these guys keep calling fouls when a player is on a breakaway layup and the defender runs in front of him in an attempt to strip the ball and never touches him...This is called a foul 95% of the time whether the man is fouled or not..There was one in the uk/SC game that was not even close..Most of the time the ref is not in front of the play to see it. Sometime a side view is better but many times the defender's body is blocking the view..I think they are told to call the foul unless they are positive there was no contact..To me,another load of crap..The college rules suck..I am glad I never went to that level..I am a purist and call the game the way it is meant to be called...oh well.

I have had this situation in many games I do. Players are so fast these days you sometimes cannot beat them down the court. My general rule (Don't know if it is right or wrong) is to watch the body of the shooter, specfically the shoulders. If one of the shoulders makes a significant dip, I deem contact and will call it. If I see no body movement from the shooter, I will generally let it go. Your thoughts Lighthouse???

[lighthouse]

I have had this situation in many games I do. Players are so fast these days you sometimes cannot beat them down the court. My general rule (Don't know if it is right or wrong) is to watch the body of the shooter, specfically the shoulders. If one of the shoulders makes a significant dip, I deem contact and will call it. If I see no body movement from the shooter, I will generally let it go. Your thoughts Lighthouse???

Beating the fast break should always be the goal of the trail-turned-lead official. The "flex" makes it more difficult. When I saw I was beat, I tried to float in and trail the play. That way I wasn't "straight lined" from the side, and got basically the same look as I would from the baseline. If an official positions himself correctly, he can get a good look. The only way to be sure, is to look for actual contact. Anything else is guessing. IMO.