I agree with the quality of officiating going way down with a 3 man crew. The pool of quality officials in our region was already shallow, now you throw 2 average jv refs into a game that is too fast for them. The one quality ref in the crew now looks terrible. This also has made Freshmen and JV games unbearable, because the tolerable JV officials have been poached to do varsity. It is a thankless job, one that I don't want. That being said, I have witnessed some really bad calls this year, some of which have cost teams games.

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.

 

Maybe one of the best responses I have ever seen on BGP when it comes to officials.

 

But be prepared to feel the wrath from

current and past officials as they believe they are the only ones that know the rules because they have taken an open book test

Edited March 1, 201610 yr by Tiger1

And the occasional converse of this. Whistle doesn't blow until well after the basket is missed.

 

But I'm with Mentschgobbledyblah. A couple of questionable calls a game is not nearly enough for me to rail on officiating in general.

 

I've seen this several times this year .... It's like they want to see what the effect is going to be before they call a foul: maybe it's if the shot goes in or whether contact with the ball handler is going to cause turnover.

Agree 100% Oldham, I think referees worked a lot harder at being in position to make the call when it was only 2 calling games. A lot of it now with 3 is waiting to let the other call and it gets bad at times.

 

100% agree with you. They should go back to the two officials. They will save a lot of money by just using two as well. All I hear about is we need to save money, we need to cut this, find a way to cut some finances. This is one easy step, and it will make the game better. I go back to the two officials in college basketball, and that was a better game as well.

I really can't lay a blanket statement over weather or not officiating is worse now than before, and it would be unfair to good officials to bunch them all with the not so good ones.

 

I've always been amazed at the job they do, and better them than me because I just know that I'd be an awful one.

 

It forever troubles me however that the nature of this great game and its fast pace does not allow for it to be officiated without error. Though some officials can do a great job, a perfect job is merely impossible.

 

There's just way too much going on for everything to be seen, and for every proper call to be made.

 

The last thing that anyone ever wants to see is when a game is decided by a bad or missed call, but unfortunately this can and does happen far too often, and becomes all the more obvious in close affairs.

 

As officials are human, stuff like emotions unfortunately can effect them as well, and if a coach for example is really getting under a refs skin, it's not at all impossible for this to effect how all, or some of a game is called.

 

I wish that I could suggest a solution to take the human error and emotional element out of officiating, but until we have robots calling games, we have to be content with what we have and just understand and accept it as a potentially inconsistent, error filled element of the game, and sometimes that's terribly hard to swallow especially if your team is on the wrong end of a bad call.

 

Basketball seems like such a perfect game, and it's hard to admit that unfortunately it's a bit too imperfect to be called perfectly. Thankfully it withstands this imperfection, and no matter what it still manages to shine with excitement, but until someone can figure out a more efficient way, it will forever suck that there's no real way for it to be called perfectly every time without error.

A few thoughts:

 

Every association in the state could use more quality officials. 3-man crews for girls and boys requires a lot of officials. That's a challenge everywhere and will never really change.

 

3-man: I'll disagree with those that say 2-man is better. You think fans complain about missed calls now? Wait until they have to go back to a 2-man crew for a varsity game. You talk about missed calls! 3-man is so much better because it allows another set of eyes. Ex: Big man catches the ball on the low block and is attempting to score. Lead official (under the basket) is watching up top for a potential foul. What about the feet? In 2-man that's hard to get from the official on the other side with players in between AND he's watching other area. 3-man allows an official to watch for the "WALK!" violation. It also allows for a set of eyes to catch the extracurriculars. There's no doubt it makes for a better game. Every one wants "less fouls" and "less whistles" UNTIL said whistle benefits them.

 

In the 9th the top of the food chain is really good and deep. After that you are hit and miss with some good, developing officials and some ...need some work.

A few thoughts:

 

Every association in the state could use more quality officials. 3-man crews for girls and boys requires a lot of officials. That's a challenge everywhere and will never really change.

 

3-man: I'll disagree with those that say 2-man is better. You think fans complain about missed calls now? Wait until they have to go back to a 2-man crew for a varsity game. You talk about missed calls! 3-man is so much better because it allows another set of eyes. Ex: Big man catches the ball on the low block and is attempting to score. Lead official (under the basket) is watching up top for a potential foul. What about the feet? In 2-man that's hard to get from the official on the other side with players in between AND he's watching other area. 3-man allows an official to watch for the "WALK!" violation. It also allows for a set of eyes to catch the extracurriculars. There's no doubt it makes for a better game. Every one wants "less fouls" and "less whistles" UNTIL said whistle benefits them.

 

In the 9th the top of the food chain is really good and deep. After that you are hit and miss with some good, developing officials and some ...need some work.

 

They are missing them left and right down here in the 8th Region, and I here the same up there in the 9th. The third ref in many cases, and I've watched numerous games, is simply not needed. My friends at Walton tell me the other night the blatantly wrong technical foul that was called at the end was the result of an official we all know in the 8th Region who should not be on the floor anytime. But because of the shortage of decent officials and the 3-man crews, there are tons of people officiating who should not be in a JV or freshman game. I played when there were two officials, and granted that was 43-44 years ago. Yes, there were some missed calls at times. But I never recall so many blatant calls being made that are unnecessary. I talk with coaches all the time and they, almost to a man, wish there were 2-man crews. Plus as I said before, our school system down here in Oldham County is looking at making budget cuts and ways to save. You cut out a third official for an entire season, that's a pretty good chunk of change for every school. Just an opinion.

There are, in my opinion, many reasons why it seems officiating is worse now than it was in years past.

 

1.) Social media and forums like this one polarizes everything instantly. Outside of games that you are witnessing or a part of, how often did you hear about officiating of other games throughout the state 15 years ago? Rarely, if ever, unless you were coaching or officiating. Now, EVERYONE sees stuff written about games and officiating, etc.

 

2) There are more games nowadays. There's more JV games, Freshman games, JV and Freshman tournaments, Middle school basketball is more widespread now and they play more games as well. This stretches the officiating crews very thin and thus causes a need for more officials with less qualifications.

 

3) The game has changed. Basic fundamentals are not taught as much as they should be and this junks up the game and makes it very hard for officials to call a great game. I've seen some games so handsy and physical that if the refs called everything, it would take 3 hours to play. Blockouts are very uncommon now, which leads to a lot of pushing, grabbing, and jumping on or over people for a rebound...More teams press now than they ever have, and defenses for some are more complex than in the past. This makes consistent officiating very difficult as well.

 

4) I think with the economy changing, yes, you get more guys that are simply doing it for the money and aren't trying to learn the game and get better. And one bad official in a crew sticks out way more than one good one.

 

These are my opinions on the subject. I think there are some very good officiated games as always, but I think everything being magnified with the internet puts a bigger spotlight on the bad officiated games. Those have always been around. And very rarely will you find a coach that blames a loss totally on officiating.

Good and bad officials in every region.............the key is to reward the good ones with tourney play..........forget seniority with this matter.........

They are missing them left and right down here in the 8th Region, and I here the same up there in the 9th. The third ref in many cases, and I've watched numerous games, is simply not needed. My friends at Walton tell me the other night the blatantly wrong technical foul that was called at the end was the result of an official we all know in the 8th Region who should not be on the floor anytime. But because of the shortage of decent officials and the 3-man crews, there are tons of people officiating who should not be in a JV or freshman game. I played when there were two officials, and granted that was 43-44 years ago. Yes, there were some missed calls at times. But I never recall so many blatant calls being made that are unnecessary. I talk with coaches all the time and they, almost to a man, wish there were 2-man crews. Plus as I said before, our school system down here in Oldham County is looking at making budget cuts and ways to save. You cut out a third official for an entire season, that's a pretty good chunk of change for every school. Just an opinion.

 

An official who wants to insert himself into the game is going to do so if it's a two-man, three-man, or five-man crew.

 

Coaches, like fans, think there are too many calls until .....

There are, in my opinion, many reasons why it seems officiating is worse now than it was in years past.

 

1.) Social media and forums like this one polarizes everything instantly. Outside of games that you are witnessing or a part of, how often did you hear about officiating of other games throughout the state 15 years ago? Rarely, if ever, unless you were coaching or officiating. Now, EVERYONE sees stuff written about games and officiating, etc.

 

2) There are more games nowadays. There's more JV games, Freshman games, JV and Freshman tournaments, Middle school basketball is more widespread now and they play more games as well. This stretches the officiating crews very thin and thus causes a need for more officials with less qualifications.

 

3) The game has changed. Basic fundamentals are not taught as much as they should be and this junks up the game and makes it very hard for officials to call a great game. I've seen some games so handsy and physical that if the refs called everything, it would take 3 hours to play. Blockouts are very uncommon now, which leads to a lot of pushing, grabbing, and jumping on or over people for a rebound...More teams press now than they ever have, and defenses for some are more complex than in the past. This makes consistent officiating very difficult as well.

 

4) I think with the economy changing, yes, you get more guys that are simply doing it for the money and aren't trying to learn the game and get better. And one bad official in a crew sticks out way more than one good one.

 

These are my opinions on the subject. I think there are some very good officiated games as always, but I think everything being magnified with the internet puts a bigger spotlight on the bad officiated games. Those have always been around. And very rarely will you find a coach that blames a loss totally on officiating.

 

#4 is a problem in all sports. No question.

In no way shape or form should a return to 2 man occur. For those that think that a 3 person crew is unnecessary and should be trimmed to cut costs...you have absolutely no idea the difference between angles and effort from 2 man to 3 man, it's night and day and would not make the game better, but worse.

 

The shortage of officials would be compounded by reduction to 2 man. Most regions have officials that are overworked, and by the end of the season the overuse injuries are so prevelant that it's difficult to find a handful that are still healthy, at any level.

 

One comment on this thread dealt with social media, that creates a forum that allows for more bashing of officials without any personal responsibility of the person doing the bashing. (The overall scourge of social media)

 

If the fans that have expressed their intentions on this thread with comments like : "be prepared to be yelled at" continue to feel that that behavior is somehow their God given right to attend a basketball game, no amount of quality officials will ever overcome that kind of myopic mindset.

 

It has become part of the game, but adds absolutely no value to the overall quality for the kids.

 

So Big V, to answer your question, it's not just about a single line view of "quality of officials", to be quite honest, the quality of the fan base for high school basketball continues to slip off the edge as well. The sport itself suffers because of a plethora of subject matter experts sitting in the stands who really have a limited understanding of the game and how the system works.

 

Many fans might be surprised at the internal "policing" that occurs amongst officials.

 

Own your own so no one else has to point it out....a good rule of thumb.

@BirdBrain **drops mic**

Officiating is really bad. VERY inconsistent. If a player makes ANY effort to draw a charge they get the call. Sometimes handchecks are called, sometimes they allow a mugging on the outside.

 

It's very poor imo

In no way shape or form should a return to 2 man occur. For those that think that a 3 person crew is unnecessary and should be trimmed to cut costs...you have absolutely no idea the difference between angles and effort from 2 man to 3 man, it's night and day and would not make the game better, but worse.

 

The shortage of officials would be compounded by reduction to 2 man. Most regions have officials that are overworked, and by the end of the season the overuse injuries are so prevelant that it's difficult to find a handful that are still healthy, at any level.

 

One comment on this thread dealt with social media, that creates a forum that allows for more bashing of officials without any personal responsibility of the person doing the bashing. (The overall scourge of social media)

 

If the fans that have expressed their intentions on this thread with comments like : "be prepared to be yelled at" continue to feel that that behavior is somehow their God given right to attend a basketball game, no amount of quality officials will ever overcome that kind of myopic mindset.

 

It has become part of the game, but adds absolutely no value to the overall quality for the kids.

 

So Big V, to answer your question, it's not just about a single line view of "quality of officials", to be quite honest, the quality of the fan base for high school basketball continues to slip off the edge as well. The sport itself suffers because of a plethora of subject matter experts sitting in the stands who really have a limited understanding of the game and how the system works.

 

Many fans might be surprised at the internal "policing" that occurs amongst officials.

 

Own your own so no one else has to point it out....a good rule of thumb.

 

Myopic mindset? How about someone that thinks you can continuously screw up on the job! I don't have a job that will allow that. There are several good referees out there, but several that are not also. If you screw up continuously on a job then you get demoted or reprimanded in some way. I guess you get promoted in refereeing! You are the perfect fan though" Birdbrain", and I'm sure your knowledge of the game far exceeds mine. We fans that yell at refs that make mistakes over and over will sit quietly for you to enjoy...