Is there a big difference in working 2 man crews to 3 man crews? Is it enough that it might throw you off come postseason time if you haven't been doing 3-man crews all year? Would you prefer 3 man crews instead of alternating through them all year?

 

A coach asked me to post this for discussion and I am doing the favor for them.

 

He felt there was a call missed in his game and all of the officials indicating it wasn't their area to be watching and thus it was missed. He wondered if what I question above led to the missed call.

Good question, LBBC. I'm not a coach, but I heard one coach say a few seasons ago that it didn't matter if there was a 2 man crew or a 3 man crew. I said I felt a 3 man crew covered the game better. The coach said it sometimes just gives the crew as a whole some breathing room, and thus they miss some calls the 2 man crew would have caught because they had to be "more on their toes."

Good question, LBBC. I'm not a coach, but I heard one coach say a few seasons ago that it didn't matter if there was a 2 man crew or a 3 man crew. I said I felt a 3 man crew covered the game better. The coach said it sometimes just gives the crew as a whole some breathing room, and thus they miss some calls the 2 man crew would have caught because they had to be "more on their toes."

 

That makes sense.

Is there a big difference in working 2 man crews to 3 man crews? Is it enough that it might throw you off come postseason time if you haven't been doing 3-man crews all year? Would you prefer 3 man crews instead of alternating through them all year?

 

A coach asked me to post this for discussion and I am doing the favor for them.

 

He felt there was a call missed in his game and all of the officials indicating it wasn't their area to be watching and thus it was missed. He wondered if what I question above led to the missed call.

 

I think there is a big difference between 2 and 3 man crews. I don't think though it is enough to throw an official off his/her game come postseason time because if you are working in the postseason then you have had plenty of experience at the 3 man mechanics. Most every school uses 3 man crews for district games and some prefer them for the entire year. It is completely up to the school to determine whether they want a 2 or 3 man crew. Some school cannot or refuse not to afford a 3 man crew for many games. You have to have a certain number of varsity games to work postseason and only the best of those are chosen for districts and regionals. I think most schools will soon be using 3 man crews for all of their games in the near future, at least in the 16th region. I have spoken to some coaches who prefer a 2 man crew to officiate their games because they feel as though 3 men crews are too focused on watching "their area" instead of just calling the game. I myself disagree, I think alot more gets missed on 2 man crews. That is just the nature of the beast, it's impossible to have every angle and every player covered using a 2 man crew. As an official, I would definately prefer a 3 man crew because I believe that the game is covered better if worked properly. There is always going to be calls missed in basketball but I think that the more officials on the court than the less likely for missed calls. I don't think it's a good idea for an official to tell a coach that "..it wasn't my area". There are better and more appropriate things that you can say to a coach other than that. But overall, I think the 3 man system has more coverage and better positioning than the 2 man system and that is the most important thing in making the call and getting it right.

A reply from an official who told me I could post it.....

 

I think certain games need 3 refs and certain can survive with 2. To me, there is no reason that we should have 3 person crews on games like Montgomery Co. vs. Menifee Co. But Montgomery Co. has decided that it is going to use 3 on all games, which is their prerogative.

Now, when we go to Lexington, it is very rare to have 3 person crews in any game. In fact, I only had 5 games in LEX with 3 on them and two of those were at Catholic and one was at LCA!

I like what Bourbon Co. does. They get 3 for district and "featured" games and use two for "other" games.

If I had my way, I would love to work 3 every night though. It's SO much easier on the body and the "primaries" are easy to cover.