60 Seconds on Officiating

Season Three of REF 60 Goes BEYOND THE RULES

 
We at "60 Seconds on Officiating" hope this message finds you rested and ready for another rewarding basketball season.
 
Just as the game has become a nearly year-round endeavor for players and coaches, so too is it for officials who spend the spring and summer months working on their craft and putting their skills on display at camps and tryouts in an effort to move up another rung on the competitive officiating ladder.
 
We at "REF 60" traveled that same image of difference path this past summer and published, BEYOND THE RULES, a book that has received high marks from all levels and segments of the basketball community.
 
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT REF 60 FOR THE 2010-11 SEASON  
 
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                                                            60 SECONDS PUSHES BEYOND THE RULES
 
As we get set to toss the ball to tip off our third season of "60 Seconds on Officiating" we are excited to again bring fresh and relevant educational content to our ever-growing list of REF 60 viewers, and to reach our audience faster thanks to the marvels of social network vehicles like Twitter and Facebook.
 
Our greatest commitment to you the viewer, is also our greatest challenge -- to keep the content flowing to you free of charge.
 
It is why we will again ask for your financial support with special items (t-shirts, apparel, etc..) that we will make available to purchase. ALL of the proceeds are used to cover the expenses associated with "keeping the lights on" at REF 60.
 
In the premium spotlight is our new publication, BEYOND THE RULES.
 
This book offers unique techniques, tips and thoughts to consider for implementing into your officiating game, no matter what level you find yourself working.
 
The title our tome is not meant to imply the secret to success is to ignore, break or violate the rules of the game in anyway. But rather to go deeper into the rules to gain a greater understanding of the them and the spirit behind them in order to implement them in a way that enhances the game experience for the players, coaches, spectators and you.
 
The feedback from supervisors and officials at the scholastic, collegiate and professional ranks on BEYOND THE RULES has been at extremely positive, and we are confident you will be a better official after reading it and making the conscious decision to work the information into your officiating repertoire.  
 
BEYOND THE RULES, with the help of officiating thought leader, Al Battista, takes an in-depth look at many topics that are sure to maximize and improve your current skill set as an official.

Topics such as:
 
* Pre-Game pointers for you and your partners to review.
* Understanding Freedom of Movement and Setting The Tone For Each Game.
* Breaking down your stance and positioning in the Lead, Center and trail.
* Observing the Rhythm, Speed, Balance and Quickness (RSBQ) of a ballhandler.
* Identifying Intentional Fouls more consistently with "W.I.F."
* Evaluating your officiating personality.
 
And many other interesting topics are explored in great detail.
 
BEYOND THE RULES is available for $9.95, plus shipping at:  www.beyondtherules.net
 
For special bulk order pricing, contact us at:  info@ref60.com

Our goal from day one at REF 60 has been to TEACH, SERVE and INSPIRE one minute at a time all who pass onto officiating radar screen. 
 
So welcome back, travel safe and enjoy the journey of season three at "60 Seconds on Officiating"....

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Stan Rote on Extrinsic Aspects of Officiating

REGISTRATIONS STILL BEING ACCEPTED
Click here for more information on the Seashore Basketball Officials Clinic.

J.D. Collins Talks about Getting Inside a Coaches Head

A preview of the upcoming Gerry Pollard Officiating Camp:

Camp Survival Tips

The championship nets have all been cut down, and for the last several weeks you've been getting reacquainted with your family after another hectic basketball season.
 
Enjoy this well-earned break in the action, but if you haven't done so already, now is the time to look at what officiating camps best meet your needs for skill development and career advancement.
 
Today in Part 1 of our camp series, "60 Seconds on Officiating" will offer some food for thought to pack in your bag that will help you survive - and thrive - in your camp experience.    
  
Evaluation AND Education
Challenge yourself to not fall into the trap of attending a camp just to be evaluated for a move up the officiating ladder...

You can do both.

Showcase your talent and come away with something that will improve your game for the coming season...Successful veteran coaches attend clinics looking to pick up one new teaching drill, or a variation to a familiar offensive or defensive play that will help make their team better.

We should hold up our end of the game by taking the same dedicated approach...

It's the lessons we learn after we think we know it all, that prove to be the most valuable.    
 
First Impressions

It's been said that, 'you are only as wise as others perceive you to be,' so make sure your best is always on display while at camp.

Dress For Success: Now it's not written anywhere that showing up at a camp wearing flip-flops, a tank top, and a baseball cap on backwards will keep you from a Final Four assignment, but if you're an unknown trying to make your mark, you may want to present a more professional and more mature look.
 
Timing Is Everything: Arriving late for registration; scrambling to find your game assignment; and strolling into a classroom session after the discussion has begun, will not inspire confidence from the watchful eyes you are trying to impress.

Auto-matic Judgment:   Is your car stylish, or just a sty? This may seem to be a nit-picking point, but if a conference supervisor you're trying to impress, asked you for a ride back to the dorm or to the restaurant up the road, would you be embarrassed?

During the season, your vehicle is a mobile home and traveling office that speaks volumes about how you live.

What you do and how you conduct yourself, speaks louder than anything you could say on the matter.   
 
Two Ears, One Mouth: While at camp, listen twice as much as you speak...

Camps are great venues to catch up with old friends and a chance to make some new officiating relationships, but be very mindful of conversations that turn into gossip sessions...Don't add any fuel to the fire, and separate yourself from the back-stabbing pack as quickly as possible.

Also, don't challenge feedback you receive from a camp evaluator....You won't be the first person to get what seems like conflicting advice from two respected officials about a certain aspect of your game....

"Yeah, but John just told me to get deeper, and now you're telling me to move up..." is not the appropriate response...Process the well-intended suggestion and try to find a balance in the two critiques that will improve your game...

In closing, if you treat camp as a business trip with specific goals in mind, and are conscious of the fact that everything you say and do is being evaluated, you will no doubt have a more satisfying camp experience...

Let Us "T" You Up

As we put the finishing touches on our first season of "60 Seconds on Officiating" and shift into our off-season schedule, we at REF 60 would like to take this opportunity to say we hope you enjoyed receiving "60 Seconds" as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you...

Our ever-growing email database is a clear indication you find the concept of small but steady doses of relevant officiating content to be informative and something that fits into your busy schedule...

The "60 Second" cyber-community of basketball referees is nearing the 25,000 mark and currently is going into 45 countries around the world....

Very powerful and very humbling statistics....

We have many great ideas for the off-season issues and are already gearing up for our sophomore season, so we hope you will stay with us and continue to tell your referees friends about www.ref60.com

Our goal is to keep the "60 Second" concept as a FREE subscription to every official who wants to receive it, while looking at ways to cover our operational expenses...

So, to borrow a fundraising page out of the public television playbook, we would like to offer everyone in our REF 60 family, the opportunity to buy a "60 Seconds on Officiating" t-shirt in either WHITE or BLACK.

For a donation of $15.00 or more, we would be proud to send you the stylish and high-quality t-shirt pictured above.

Please make your check payable to: Pat Malloy

And mail it to:

Pat Malloy
c/o REF 60
1 Roberts Lane
Somerdale, NJ 08083

Please include: your t-shirt COLOR, SIZE, and your MAILING ADDRESS.

Thanks in advance for your support and we look forward to continuing to provide you with informative and topical officiating content to improve your overall on-court performance as well as to assist your career path development.

Regards,

REF 60 Staff

And the Rulings to Remember Contest Winner is ...

Everyone and all of us!
 
Everyone who generously took the time to share their special plays with your "60 Second" cyber-crew, and all of us who took the time to read and learn from the pain and wisdom offered by our fellow officials....

(READ "Rulings to Remember" ENTRIES)
 
We had basketball brain teasers that started right from the opening tap, as well as buzzer-beating head scratchers, and everything in between...
 
There were plays pertaining to excessive timeouts; players removing their jerseys for reasons of blood stains, and for just plain old frustration, etc, etc....
 
All of the submissions were great, so instead of subjectively splitting hairs and selecting our winners, the REF 60 panel of judges (and by "panel" we mean Billy and Tim! :)) decided to put every submitters name in a hat and randomly pull out our "60 Second" t-shirt winners!
 
so.....drum roll, please.......

• our first winner, or the ALTERNATE AT THE TABLE is -- Ed  (3/12 at 1:14)
• our second winner, or our U-2 is -- Mike Bannar
• our 3rd winner, or our U-1 is -- Brett  (3/13 at 10:41)
• and our 4th winner, or our REFEREE is -- Bob S.  (3/12 at 11:45)
• and a special acknowledgment to our Rules To Remember SUPERVISOR -- Colin   
• Congratulations to Ed, Mike, Brett, Bob and Colin

Check your email for details on receiving your prize -- the coveted "60 Seconds on Officiating" T-Shirt! 
                                               
Again, thanks to everyone for taking the time to post their plays....
 

Making the Jump to NCAA Officiating

John Adams, National Coordinator of NCAA Men's Basketball Officials discusses his thoughts on making the jump to collegiate officiating.

Listen to previous John Adam's interviews ...

Making Adjustments to Collegiate Officiating (Dec 2008)

The Word on Talking with Coaches (Nov 2008)

Rulings to Remember Contest ...

CLICK PICTURE to ENTER

Have you shared YOUR most memorable play or ruling for 2008-09?  Take a look at dozens of unique situations from "60 Seconds on Officiating" subscribers as they share real-world experiences ... and how their crew ruled on the play ... right or wrong!

Tell us YOURS for a chance to win a "60 Second" T-Shirt!

An Eye on a Game Delay

There is a sign in the employee break room of the nationally known Nordstrom's Department Store that reads ...

Nordstrom's Rules for Employees:

Rule #1 Use Good Judgment
In All Situations.

There are No Additional Rules.

Now while there are ten rules in the NFHS book that officials need to be proficient in, we are also challenged, just like the workers at the respected department store chain, to exercise good judgment in all situations from the moment we step onto the floor.

In this issue of "60 Seconds" we are going to help clarify your judgment to properly rule on a game delay involving a player and his/her displaced contact lens or glasses.

Indeed, NFHS rule 5.11.3a provides an exception when NO TIME OUT shall be charged while specifically addressing displaced eyeglasses or lens (i.e. the lens popping out of a pair of glasses, and presumably, contact lenses).  This exception allows the official to stop play while a player immediately takes care of this specific problem with no time out being assessed.

However, officials must use good judgment to determine what type of "eye" delay falls under this exception, and what should be handled as any other delay for injury.

Per the exception, officials should honor the player's (A-1) request for a stoppage of play to allow A-1 adequate time to find his/her displaced contact lens (on the court or in their eye) and resume play without charging Team A with a timeout.

While the interpretation implies an "unlimited" amount of time to perform this task; good judgment must be a part of this scenario and offer "within reason" as a balance.

Once the player finds the contact lens, if he/she requires the attention of the trainer (or requests cleaning solution to wash the lens themselves, etc...) the official should inform the coach that A-1 needs to be removed from the game or Team A should be charged with a timeout.

There is no "eye injury" exception.

The exception relates to the safe recovery of a player's contact lens from the court, from his/her own eye, displaced eyeglasses, or the lens in a pair of glasses, and not to permit medical treatment for a special type of injury.

An injury involving the eye is treated like any other body part injury a player may have during the game.

Beyond the "immediate" allowed period of time to correct the contact lens, or pop the lens back in his/her eyeglasses, A-1 would have to be replaced, or Team A could request a timeout to attend to A-1 optical needs to avoid removing A-1 from the game.

So in closing, keep a watchful eye out for this kind of optical incident in your game, and be sure to use good judgment to properly handle the scenario.

This good judgment will please your partner, your assignor, and no doubt the good folks at Nordstrom's Department Store.

NFHS Reference: 3.3.6; 5.8.3 and 5.11.3

Special thanks to Peter Webb, IAABO National Coordinator of Interpreters,
and Vince Iandoli, IAABO Board 34 (Camden, NJ) Interpreter, for their assistance.       

Clearly Out of Bounds

As officials we all realize that a player shall not cause the ball to go out of bounds or be out of bounds when he/she touches the ball or this will be ruled a violation.

Here are a couple of uncommon Out of Bounds plays that we should keep our eyes open for in order to rule properly on when they occur.

The obvious stuff outside the boundary lines ...

• Ball touches / touched by any person (including non-players)  = Out of Bounds
• Ball strikes an object (i.e. ceiling,light fixtures,side baskets) = Out of Bounds
• Ball touches an official standing on (or outside boundary line)= Out of Bounds
• Player last to touch the ball caused the violation.

How about the rectangular backboard ...

• If the ball passes OVER the backboard = Violation. 
• Ball touches any support structure or guide wires = Violation
• Ball touches the back of the backboard = Violation
• Ball touches the top, the bottom, or side edges of backboard = OK

Player jumping back onto the court ...

• Location of an airborne player is the same as when the player was in last contact with the floor.
• The key to remember here is ... "you only need one foot inbounds before he/she TOUCHES the ball to be legal." 
• Look for the foot and determine which happened first ... foot touching floor or hands touching ball.  Foot touches first (inbounds), then it's a good play.

Player jumping to save the ball from going out of bounds...

• Watch the feet of the player jumping prior to touching the ball. 
• Did the player jump from completely inbounds? 
• Or, did they leap from out of bounds (or foot touching the boundary line)?
• Blow the whistle immediately when the player touches the ball to save it if they were not completely inbounds prior to the jumping.

Dribbler stepping on the boundary line (or out of bounds) ...  

• The key here is a player that steps on the boundary line while dribbling is considered out of bounds even if their hand is not in contact with the ball.

When in doubt, use the AP Arrow ...

Play shall be resumed by the team entitled to the next Alternating Possession throw-in at the closest spot to the violation if:

• the touching by two opponents (simultaneously) causes the ball to go out of bounds ...
• Or,if the official is in doubt as to who last touched the ball ...
• Or if two officials disagree who caused the violation ...

Note ... if the simultaneous violation occurs on a jump ball (to start the game / overtime period) BEFORE the AP Procedure is established, make sure to resume play with another jump ball between the two opponents that caused the violation.  It might not be the original two jumpers!

In closing, when a player leaves the court for an unauthorized reason -like avoiding a screen to gain an advantage. This is not an "out of bounds" violation.  Just blow your whistle to cause the ball to become dead and point to the spot of the violation while communicating this is a "leaving the court" violation. Though it may be subtle, these are two different violations which carry the same penalty ... the other team is awarded the ball at the nearest spot. 

NFHS Reference  9-3-1 and 2, 7-1-1 and 2,4-35-1 and 2, 9-3-3