OT: Ref's discretion in HS game. | The Boneyard

OT: Ref's discretion in HS game.

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Kibitzer

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Yesterday in Trumbull, Norwalk HS beat St. Joseph's HS to qualify for the FCIAC tournament. The referee(s) exercised discretionary authority twice. (BTW, as NHS won, my care provider's daughter was high scorer.)

First, a St. Joseph's player went down with what appeared to be a serious injury. Play stopped. Well, almost. As the NHS players stopped in place, stunned, a St. Joseph's player took a shot and made a basket. The ref(s) counted it.

Soon after, traveling NHS fans were so vocal in expressing their displeasure that the ref(s) ordered them to move elsewhere in the gymnasium.

I am relying solely on press accounts. (My proud but biased eye witness is not yet here.) Any thoughts about referees' handling of either situation?
 

pinotbear

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Based on your account, I think the officials were correct in both situations. As I understand it, play does not stop unless a ball goes OB or a whistle is blown. While, sympathetically, you feel for the NHS player & fans, it's not a good precedence to have the play stoppage rule to become too subjective or flexible. If anything, blame an official for not blowing the play dead quickly enough - but, not the St. Joe's players for continuing. But, two-point calls/no calls are a part of every basketball game ever played.

I am very supportive of the officials curtailing fan behavior. I've been both an "over-the-top" fan and a coach (the over-the-top era was when I was a younger parent, before I got into more coaching). I won't exhume all the examples of excessive parent/fan behavior, but, the reasons for squelching it are good ones:

1. It rarely subsides on its' own - rather, it snowballs, and deteriorates. Infrequently, it escalates to violence of some sort.
2. It detracts from the spirit of the competition, distracts coaches, players, and officials from doing their best. The fans become too much a part of the competition.
3. It sends the wrong message about the whole purpose and value of youth sports.

In my experience in HS sports, the expected "code of conduct" for players, families and students is made very clear before each season begins. Often, there's a "reminder" announcement made before each game. The officials merely relocating the fans in the gym, rather than evicting them, I think was the proverbial "warning shot across the bows", letting the offending parties know that their behavior wasn't acceptable, and that the officiating crew had tools at their disposal to eliminate it.
 

UcMiami

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Interesting, and I agree with pinot - sounds like they made the right decisions in both cases. The blowing of the whistle for an injury is always a discretionary decision in any sport and one that causes a little bit of an issue in many contests. With the attention on head injuries and concussions - that has become a clear and immediate whistle across the board including for soccer (which otherwise depends mostly on the team in possession to exhibit good sportsmanship and kick the ball out of play.) In basketball, with so much scoring and so many 'out of bounds' plays and changes in possession, and injury is usually dealt with after an imminent score if it is on the defensive team.
 

Kibitzer

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Based on your account, I think the officials were correct in both situations. blame an official for not blowing the play dead quickly enough
I am very supportive of the officials curtailing fan behavior.

The officials were apparently remiss in not stopping play immediately. I don't know if they explained their (in)action to the NHS coach -- and the reasons for allowing the basket to be scored. (IMO they should have.)

Had I been the ref, I would not have dealt directly with unruly fans. In my ref days, I always dealt with the coach: "You have two minutes to shut those people up!" Somehow, despite their initial protests, they always seemed to figure out a way to persuade their fans to behave.;)
 
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My understanding of the rule is that play stops when the injured player's team has the ball. I have gone through this several times every year. And the official always waits to blow the whistle until injured team has the ball, or there is a dead ball situation.
 
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My understanding of the rule is that play stops when the injured player's team has the ball. I have gone through this several times every year. And the official always waits to blow the whistle until injured team has the ball, or there is a dead ball situation.
...OR if continuing play puts the injured player, or other players, in danger of injury.
 

UcMiami

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My understanding of the rule is that play stops when the injured player's team has the ball. I have gone through this several times every year. And the official always waits to blow the whistle until injured team has the ball, or there is a dead ball situation.
The exceptions being 'obvious' head injury situations, or situations where continued play could lead to greater injury or other players being injured. You cannot safely play offense if a defender is on the floor in the lane without fear of the player being trampled or another player landing on top of them and being injured in the ensuing tumble.
 
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...OR if continuing play puts the injured player, or other players, in danger of injury.

true, however most of the time the injured player is on the defensive end (back-court).
 

vtcwbuff

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My understanding of the rule is that play stops when the injured player's team has the ball. I have gone through this several times every year. And the official always waits to blow the whistle until injured team has the ball, or there is a dead ball situation.

That's my understanding as well. It's designed to prevent a player from faking an injury. Can you imagine if every time Jefferson has a breakaway an opponent cries ouch and falls down to stop play.
 
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The NFHS rule:
"When a player is injured as in Art. 2(a), the official may suspend play after the ball is dead or is in control of the injured player’s team or when the opponents complete a play. A play is completed when a team loses control (including throwing for goal) or withholds the ball from play by ceasing to attempt to score or advance the ball to a scoring position. When necessary to protect an injured player, the official may immediately suspend play."
 
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