why is the officiating so bad in basketball?

[bbigcnote]

simple question. why has the state athletic association let the officiating in junoir high and high school get so bad that its almost like watching a rugby game instead of a good basketball game? Also its not just the roughness that is out of hand but the other calls like travelling, carrying the ball, reaching in. it just doesn't seem to me that the fundementals are taught anymore and the officials let players get by with this common basics without calling them for it.

[PhotoGuy]

Hi, and welcome to the forums.

First, I want to say that I have sent your question to the official TriStateFans.com Anonymous Zebra, who from henceforth will be our "deep throat" in dark and dangerous world of "officiating".... you can read more about the Zebra here:

Lucky 7: Confessions Of A Zebra (clicky) (http://www.tristatefans.com/content.php?52-Lucky-Seven-Confessions-Of-A-Zebra)

I can't give you any kind of authoritative answer, I will just throw my opinion out there and see if it sticks like splattered mud against the side of the barn...

I think the people responsible for bad officiating are not really the associations... although they could do a better job of training and oversight, no doubt... the people REALLY responsible are the administrators at the schools who keep hiring the same bad crews over and over.

In my area, there are several crews for basketball... with each of these crews, you know before hand exactly what you are getting... some will "let the kids play", some will call every ticky-tacky touch... you basically know ahead of time the type of game you are going to see. One official I know (and everybody in Northeast Missouri will know immediately who I am talking about) had better not hear one single word out of ANY player or coaches mouth that even sounds like it could possibly be a complaint or trash talk... he warns the teams before the game, and he means it. Fair enough, don't push him on it.

If you hire some guys who you don't know, you take your chances... hopefully they will be good, but you just have to play and observe to find out. As an administrator, ff you hire people you know are terrible... well, then you are hiring people you know are terrible so it is on you.

One thing you see, at least around here, is that for the younger kids (Middle school, younger than that) the officials tend to be from our local community... we have about 8 people here who ref, and it is generally one of those. Honestly, a few of these people are TERRIBLE officials. No blood, no fowl (SIC). For varsity, we tend to get people from outside the county. All of our football crews come from out of the county, even for middle school, since we don't have a local football crew.

Hopefully I can get the Zebra to give you his answer... he's a guy that has been doing this since 1976 and has forgotten more about sports than I will ever know.

[PhotoGuy]

OK, The Zebra has spoken. Here is what he said:

The answer to your dilemma is not a simple one. It takes a bit of "looking at the history" to answer it properly. In the 1990's the game of basketball changed with Arkansas winning the National Championship by pressuring the ball for 40 minutes. This continued to be the trend with Kentucky teams, and now really shows out in Mizzou ball.

This type of pressure basketball is appealing to the fans, and because of this, the game is officiated differently than in years past. Though most won't admit to it, officials really don't know where to draw the line. Some "old school" refs will be a bit tighter than the newer refs. Fouls are not a big deal, because the teams will usually play 8-12 players regularly. No longer are there just 5 guys that play the whole game. There is no more "pacing yourself" for the entire game. It is now 100% effort every second on the floor.

With the faster pace of the game, traveling is now called a bit differently, though most refs won't admit it. Many times, great plays are left alone, even though there was a travel involved. The fans didn't come out to see the Zebra make calls, they came out to see Jimmy dunk!

Officials adapt with the evolution of the game. The game is now more physical than in years past, so if you are wanting Naismith basketball, pull out your old 8mm video tapes and watch black and white, short pants basketball. Today's game is competing in the Sports marketplace with a dozen other sports, video games, studying, and girl-boy relationships, even at the youth level, and the way today's game is played is a direct result of that.

Hope that answers your questions.

[bbigcnote]

First off i want to clearly say that i do not blame this problem soley on the officiating crews. Many other factors are contributing to this problem, coaches that do not teach the correct ways to play, parents that believe that their child is a pro player and needs to play like they are and School adminastraters that do not see the problem that is evolving are also to blame. But with that being said i believe that the zebra's statement although true is also a cop out to the problem. yes i understand that basketball compared to when my dad played (1950's) and when i played(late 1980's)is different from now, the rules have not changed and basic fundementals are supposed to be taught at these levels. mind you i played in the 1984-1988 era we played the same fast paced game that is played now. i especially in the 1985 season i played with and against some of the best players in missouri of that time. we played just as fast paced game with the fast breaks and full court pressure but games were held in check by the referees calling the fouls that kept the kids from playing street ball style games. there where good and bad calls made but a player talking smack back to other players, coaches and ref's was not allowed. technical fouls on coaches, crowds and players also held the whole game in check. Now with the argument that the game is evolving to more of a pro style is not a improvement to players, the way i view it is a degradation of the talents of younger athletes as they are not learning the disipline that must be used to play this game. so by allowing these kids to learn to play this way now by the time they reach the college level, if they do reach that level, the game will resemble more of a full contact sport then a sport of control, disipline and finesse of handling a basketball without dropping yoour shoulder and slamming through players or a full out wrestling match on the floor for rebound. As i said before this is not the fault of the referee's but they are the ones that control the way players or teams behave on the court, referees have to control the game they are the cops that enforce the rules of the game. if these rules are not going be enforced then why have them? Am i saying return the game to the 1950's style no i understand that this game is evolving but why allow the players to not play by the rules

[bbigcnote]

oh, and one a side note crowds where standing room only to watch the high flying slam dunks of the mid 80's teams and came from all around to see it. i do not see the same finesse style of play of now. Now i sound like my dad

[allstarwannabe]

Being from Illinois, I think the officiating is more closely called in Missouri. I have seen about 5 or 6 games in Missouri this year, and believe it is not nearly as rough as it is in Illinois. I noticed that there was not as much hand checking in these games, but the play under the basket was comparably rough. I know I haven't been to a lot of games, but every game I've been to is only officiated by 2 officials. Is this a common theme, or was it just a rare thing that I saw several times. I do agree that carrying the ball is never called in Missouri.