I thought I was done with refereeing two weeks ago, but circumstances at work allowed me to catch the final week of the season. Two games were particularly challenging.
The first game was a half-court 3rd-4th grade boys’ game, which went pretty well.
Game two was the two sloppier 8th grade boys’ teams. I worked it with two other referees, and the three of us kept it tight. Got some nice comments from the parents.
Game three, a full court 5th-6th grade boys’ game, had less whistles but was no less eventful. After the other team turned the ball over, a kid dribbled between two of his teammates, brushed up against them, tripped and fell. Since a player can’t be fouled by a teammate, I called him for traveling.
His assistant coach protested. Loudly. Which is not the atmosphere we want in our league. So I calmly asked him to settle down. He got even louder, and I asked him to settle down again. At this point the issue is not my call but his behavior. I looked him square in the eye, Sit. Down. I was relieved he did. At halftime I briefly conferred with the team’s head coach to make sure the assistant was all right and the situation wouldn’t happen again.
We don’t have technical fouls in Upward basketball, but he was a protest away from being escorted out. This was the closest I’d ever been to that situation, and I’ve been doing this for eight years.
In complete contrast, game four was an exercise in total class.
Two weeks ago these same two teams played each other. One team has a kid with developmental disabilities. At the end of the game, the other team gave this kid the ball to let him shoot. The poor guy was so confused, time ran out before he could make the shot.
At the beginning of this game, the other team, who got the ball first, gave the ball to this kid, who was more than happy to be allowed the chance to shoot. Thankfully, he made it.
Thankfully, also, the game was quite clean. Two good teams with two good coaches is always a good way to end the season.
So how do you feel about calculated fouls? Such as fouling a player in the act of shooting and forcing them to go to the free throw line, hoping they will miss one or both shots and therefore keeping their points lower. Of course, 3rd and 4th grade is too young to be doing that kind of thing, but older kids or even adults?
That’s a good question.
Upward basketball has special rules against that. During the last two minutes, if a foul is committed, points are automatically tacked on to the score. Shooters who are fouled get two points if they miss and three points if they made the basket, as in the case of an “and 1″ situation. So the incentive is actually to play cleaner ball towards the end of the game.
As far as professional and college leagues go, free throws are a part of the game. Hack-a-Shaq is legitimate in my book unless people are deliberately trying to hurt the player. Pros and college students especially have the time and financial incentive to put into their sport to make sure they can shoot free throws.