Was talking to a buddy on the golf course yesterday, former long time basketball official but has been out of it for a few years now. His grandson plays for me on our 5/6 middle school team. Made the comment that basketball officiating today is the worst he has seen it...actually said it's pretty bad at every level, but terrible at the high school/middle school level. What say you?

 

I coach basketball and I see some good refs and some well officiated games here and there, but for the most part I think it could be a whole lot better. With that said I don't know if it's any worse than when I was playing my high school ball 30+ years ago, but the game has changed that's for sure.

 

So, is it worse today than ever before? About the same? If you think it is worse, what makes it so?

:popcorn:

 

Officiating Information | Kentucky High School Athletic Association

Honestly, I think the overall talent and play of the players has gotten better and the officials have not adjusted to this at the same rate with their level.

Big V, I'll give your friend as pass as a former official but I don't put a lot of trust in the observation of the casual fan. I can't tell you how many people I sit around at games who just don't know the rules of basketball but still think they do. And these are the people who are constantly complaining about the officiating.

 

Was at a game this weekend where a player was inbounding the ball, the ref was counting and the person in back of me is screaming "3 seconds...3 seconds". Tells me all I need to know about their ability to judge the officials.

 

And as always, if you think you can do better, sign up, take the test and show us.

Hard to say. My biggest thing is we start the season with all these "points of emphasis" but by the end of February those are thrown out the window. It's gets more and more physical the longer the season goes on.

5th region is terrible they allow some coaches to intimidate them .. No hand checking calls or holding calls...some teams will shoot 30 fts compared the other shoots half

 

It's terrible and cheats the players

I see my fair share of really bad levels all around Kentucky and all around college basketball. But there are some really good refs, as well. The bad thing is that one really bad ref can reshape the game.

Big V, I'll give your friend as pass as a former official but I don't put a lot of trust in the observation of the casual fan. I can't tell you how many people I sit around at games who just don't know the rules of basketball but still think they do. And these are the people who are constantly complaining about the officiating.

 

Was at a game this weekend where a player was inbounding the ball, the ref was counting and the person in back of me is screaming "3 seconds...3 seconds". Tells me all I need to know about their ability to judge the officials.

 

And as always, if you think you can do better, sign up, take the test and show us.

 

I will give you that a 1000 times over. However things I see that bother me are lack of care while officiating (basically out there collecting a check and it shows) and bad positioning. I can deal with lack of rule book knowledge and even bad application at times. I think a large part of it is the really good officials pool is getting smaller and smaller and so some officials who should not be doing certain level games are having to do them and it shows.

Here's what I think and it's just my opinion...And I do know the rules of the game.

 

There aren't enough competent officials. In a 3 man crew you are lucky if 2 of them do a good job. And the 3rd official can easily make a crew look bad.

 

And I think there is way too much inconsistency. You can kill one another on rebounds but some officials call touches on the perimeter. And there is way too much anticipation of a foul. We've all seen officials blow the whistle almost before the actual play takes place. I think athletes are so much better these days that it is harder for older officials to keep up.

 

When I see a young lady that called her first ever game 2.5 years ago in a freshman game (I know because she had our game and she struggled a lot) already calling at the varsity level that tells me there isn't enough qualified officials.

Officials should be evaluated for their understanding of the rules and game management by other, senior, officials. Coaches should be involved to provide input on how they communicate with the coaches, players and other game officials.

 

I agree with most that the majority couldn't tell the difference between a walk and a waltz.

Officials should be evaluated for their understanding of the rules and game management by other, senior, officials. Coaches should be involved to provide input on how they communicate with the coaches, players and other game officials.

 

I agree with most that the majority couldn't tell the difference between a walk and a waltz.

 

Thats part of it too, there are not enough officials out there for there to be evaluators and grade the up and coming officials.

Officials should be evaluated for their understanding of the rules and game management by other, senior, officials. Coaches should be involved to provide input on how they communicate with the coaches, players and other game officials.

 

I agree with most that the majority couldn't tell the difference between a walk and a waltz.

Fairly certain this happens.

edit

Officials should be evaluated for their understanding of the rules and game management by other, senior, officials. Coaches should be involved to provide input on how they communicate with the coaches, players and other game officials.

 

I agree with most that the majority couldn't tell the difference between a walk and a waltz.

 

Thats part of it too, there are not enough officials out there for there to be evaluators and grade the up and coming officials.

Fairly certain this happens.

 

Not as much as it needs to to make them better.