Just in the past days I have come again across a very good article written by Mr. Todd Warnick. The latter retired from refereeing a couple of seasons ago after 31 years of refereeing, 20 of which on the international level, including 25 years in Israel’s Premier League and also some years in the USA.

Today Mr. Warnick works within the Israel Basketball Referees’ Professional Committee as well as being an observer for ULEB and FIBA.

In his article (the first part of today’s column is adapted from this same article) entitled ‘Critical Time for Referees’, Mr. Warnick discusses the referees’ role in today’s world where the gap between the US and the other countries has diminished considerably and the continental style of play (including European) has become much stronger and athletic.

Everyone seems to have forgotten the criticism that was directed towards FIBA following the Barcelona Olympic Games back in 1992 when, in those Summer Games, the US Dream Team cruised quite easily to a gold medal, crushing and almost humiliating teams by 30, 40 and 50 points.

“Unfair”, was one of the main terms the critics used following these games where the NBA superstars showed their true mettle and were vastly superior to their opponents. The then Secretary General of FIBA, Borislav Stankovic, replied: “If we want the Rest of the World to catch up, we have to play the best”.

This “Catch up” time (implied in Mr. Stankovic’s message), as most basketball enthusiats know, has already arrived. The “Rest of the World”, no longer runs scared when they see the US on their schedule and lined up against them on the other side of the court – as the recent World Championships held in Japan and the third place in the 2004 Athens Olympics can demonstrate.

Mr. Warnick stated that from an officiating point of view, we have reached a critical point and we also have to “catch up”.

The game has progressed very rapidly over the past 10 years, not only due to its growing popularity, but also as a result of various rule changes, such as the adoption of a 24-second shot clock (instead of 30 seconds), which helped increase the speed of the game.

Most notably, referees are more than ever challenged by players’ increased strength and athleticism, which has caused the game to become more aggressive, leading to additional contact and more situations in which the official must decide as to whether or not to call a foul.

Many referees, in Mr. Warnick’s point of view, react to the increased contact by whistling fouls that in too many cases are unnecessary, thus stopping the flow of the game, not to mention penalizing unfairly players, teams and also spectators, who are interested in the game for its fast pace and not to see a lot of undeserved free throws.

In his interesting article, Mr. Warnick states that one of our main challenges as referees today is dealing with situations of verticality.

Players on defence are nowadays much more athletic and better coached to remain in their cylinder even when jumping in the air – while offensive players often make contact in order to try and draw a foul or gain some other advantage. In these situations the referees are sometimes penalizing the defence too often when they should be making either a “no-call”, or if required, whistling an offensive foul.

Too often referees are also making “Phantom”calls. In this regard Mr. Warnick asks how many times do we watch replays only to discover there was no contact whatsoever? As the saying goes, “Call what you see – not what you think you see”. The overcalling of contact situations has led in many cases to a lowering of the quality of the game.

On the other hand, we also need to make more of the right calls: FIBA has laid down very clear guidelines with regards to contact between players. For example, with regards to charge-block situations: when the dribbler crashes into a defensive player who has maintained a legal position and the contact is in the torso, this is nothing but an offensive foul.

Of course, referees have to continue to make those calls that are necessary, controlling the game and keeping it in its proper sporting framework. At the same time, we want to avoid unnecessarily penalizing those players who make good, legal plays.

The referee and the spectator

Another article I read this week was that written by Mr. Manny Reynoso an ex-international referee from America.

Throughout the history of officiating, referees have been warned against interaction with fans while officiating. This, in Mr. Reynoso’s opinion, is wise advice indeed and it gets to be that way (i.e. wise) by being borne of the cruel lessons of experience.

Still, for whatever reason, there are far too many reports of referees at all levels engaging spectators in conversation, answering spectator barbs and becoming involved in verbal jousting and physical quarrels with fans under circumstances that can only lead to undesirable outcomes. Legal complications from speaking with spectators can cause costly and embarrassing consequences.

Here are some reasons Mr Reynoso lists in order not to address spectators:

When you answer to the insults of a spectator, or if you start interaction, you raise the onlooker to a peer status. Not only is that demeaning to you and your crew, it is what the heckler (supporter) wants. Do not pay attention to fans who loosen their vocal chords.

Dialogue with spectators violates all known referees’ codes of mechanics and ethics. Ignore all comments from fans and focus in your duties.

Should the discussion escalate into anger, you will place yourself and those around you in danger.

So, the best you can do is to referee the game in the best possible way and get out of there!!!