Reward the defense with the rules

The 2012-2013 high school basketball season begins soon. With each new season the officials are provided points of emphasis by the National Federation of State High School Associations. This season there are four points of emphasis:

1. Closely guarded situations
2. Contact above the shoulders
3. Intentional fouls
4. Guidelines to enforce illegal contact

For this post I'll focus on closely guarded situations.

During a boys game, a closely guarded situation occurs when a defender's foot is within six feet of the offensive player with the ball in the frountcourt. To avoid a violation by the offensive player, the offensive player may not dribble the ball for five consecutive seconds, or hold the ball for five consecutive seconds, while being actively guarded. The defense is considered to be actively guarding a player if the defender is within six feet of the ball handler and the offensive player does not have head and shoulders past the defender when making an offensive move toward the basket.

In the girls game, closely guarded situations only matter when the ball is held. There is no five second violations for dribbling in the girls game.

It should also be pointed out that the five second count does not stop and start again if defenders switch on an offensive player. For example, suppose player A1 is going to run a pick-and-roll play with player A2, and players B1 and B2 are on defense. Player A1 dribbles the ball for three seconds while actively guarded by A1, and player A2 comes to set a screen. Player B1 is unable to get around the screen, but player B2 engages the play and keeps within six feet of distance to continue actively guarding A1. If A1 dribbles for two more seconds, then A1 commits a violation.

If you are a coach or a player, you should expect officials to keep a more keen eye on this violation as the rules committee felt officials were not properly applying the rule and not rewarding good defense.

For all parties, officials, coaches, and players, using the free throw semi-circle is a good point of reference on the floor to gauge six feet of distance since the free throw semi-circle has a six-foot radius from the center of the free throw line to the top of the key.

I am looking forward to another great season, and I wish all involved the best of luck in improving and enjoying the game of basketball.

A Conversation With Coaches and Captains

Before each game begins, officials will meet with captains for each team. The meeting with captains will generally take place between 4-8 minutes prior to the game beginning. At this time officials will explain if there are any issues with the court or location and offer insight regarding the officials' expectations of captains as leaders of their teams. After I make my expectations known I will close with, "Do you have any questions for me?" This season I have only heard one question from a captain. Otherwise, the most common answer is simply, "No."

With roughly two minutes remaining before game time I will approach the coaches for each team and offer my expectations of each coach. Generally I will say, "Coach, please let me know if you want a full or thirty second timeout when you make the request. And, please control the bench so we can remain focused on calling the game." Then, I follow with, "Do you have any questions of us?" Again, the most common answer is, "No."

Before the game, each coach and captain is given the opportunity to address any behaviors or concerns, and more often than not, neither coaches or captains take advantage of my undivided attention. This is significant since this may be the only time of the game where the attention is undivided. Once the game begins, everyone will have a job to perform, so questions and responses will need to be direct and quick. The time for general conversation is over.

In working with officials (or at least this official) I offer coaches and captains the following advice:

1. Learn and use the officials' names. At each meeting I will introduce myself as Adam to both the captains and the coaches. Speaking with me by name rather than "Ref" lets me know the question or comment is coming from someone who is involved in the game, and has met me for a reason. It's a gesture that demonstrates a desire to work together. For instance, with coworkers we tend to address each other by name rather than title, and the game doesn't have to be any different. A name means we want to work together, and it's a courtesy I like to extend to coaches and captains as well.
2. Use the meetings before the game. Pregame meetings are great for asking an official about philosophy regarding calling a game. For example, ask for clarification about common complaints such as three-seconds, hand checking, etc. Personally, I like to try and communicate with players to "get out of the key" or "get the hands off" before I start blowing my whistle. As a coach or player, if you hear me say "get out" or "hands off," then it's a cue to tell players to "move" or "play with your feet." Knowing how an officials calls a game could help a coach understand the best to play a team based on a crew's philosophy.
   
   The pregame meeting is also a good time to ask when is the best time to bring something to the officials' attention, and ask how much time can be expected per conversation. This can provide coaches and captains an opportunity to reflect on how to frame a question or conversation to maximize the feedback that can be offered by an official. One official may prefer timeouts as a time to address a question. Another may prefer to speak during free throws. Knowing you have an official's attention should help in receiving the desired information.
3. Not even the best officials get 100% of the calls right. I have heard and read that the best NBA officials will have a call accuracy of 90 percent. That means one out of ten calls will be incorrect. That also means that a 90 percent call accuracy is coming from someone depends on accuracy for their livelihood.
   
   Keeping that in mind, if an official is an accountant by day, and an official by night, if he blows his whistle 50 times a game for fouls and violations, then missing five of the calls would be fantastic. I would go on to say that a high school basketball official that makes 80 percent of the right calls is a good official. An official may miss a slap on the wrist, but will get the travel, hold, push, and block.

Overall, I enjoyed the game of basketball as a player, and I appreciate the level of commitment made my coaches and players to go out and play a game. As an official, I now appreciate the amount of time needed to study rules, watch film, and attend meetings in order to improve play calling ability. The goal of a good official is to enforce the rules so no team gains an unfair advantage, and maintain proper levels of courtesy throughout the game. Hopefully the advice here helps coaches and captains understand how to better use the officials for that purpose.

Even the Rules of the Game Have Fundamentals

The NFHS high school rule book provides 20 basketball rules fundamentals. I've decided to highlight a few rules fundamentals that should help in understanding why some calls do, and do not occur.

1. "While the ball remains live, a loose ball always remains in control of the team whose player last had control, unless it is a try or tap for goal." I highlighted unless it is a try or tap for goal because most players, coaches, and fans scream about three-second violation calls. A three-second violation can only occur when the offensive team is in control of the ball in their front court. Once a player releases a shot for a goal, no player cannot be in violation of the three-second rule because no team is in control of the ball.
2. "'Continuous motion' applies both to tries and taps for field goals and free throws, but it has no significance unless there is a foul by the defense during the interval which begins when the habitual trying or tapping movement starts and ends when the ball is clearly in flight." Rule 4-10-2 defines how the rule of continuous motion as, "If an opponent fouls after a player has started a try for goal, he is permitted to complete the customary arm movement, and if pivoting or stepping when fouled, may complete the usual foot or body movement in any activity while holding the ball. These privileges are granted only when the usual throwing motion has started before the foul occurs and before the ball is in flight." This is often called "continuation" in basketball jargon, and is often thought to be a NBA rule. As you can see, even in high school, players are allowed to complete their shot attempts if they began a shot attempt before being fouled.
3. "A ball which touches the front face or edges of the backboard is treated the same as touching the floor inbounds, except that when the ball touches the thrower's backboard, it does not constitute a part of a dribble." So long as a ball does not go over the top of the backboard, or touch an apparatus that supports the backboard, the ball remains in play. Many younger players will hesitate when a ball hits the top of the backboard because they believe the ball is out of bounds.

Theses are only three of the 20 fundamentals found in the rules of high school basketball. Yet, I find that I hear many misunderstandings about these rules.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments about the rules of the game.