Which referees screw us the most---please name names.

[white men can't jump]

I'll preface what I'm about to say with the admission that I've never reffed any sport on any level. Now that that's out of the way...I just don't see how regular training couldn't be massively beneficial. Basketball so fast and complex, and regularly practicing the snap-decisions you're faced with (using, i.e., some kind of in-game simulation) could only help IMO.



They do, they just don't make it public.

Because there's no way to properly simulate that. Think about what you said ..."practicing snap-decisions". You can't force a play to happen that causes such a decision to be made. Regular reffing is the only "training" you can have that properly gives you access to such moments.

The way quality is improved/assured is by having strong supervision and evaluation, so that you are constantly reminded and being made aware of the questionable decisions you make, so that when faced with the same situation, you have not just your own perspective, but others to rely on as well when making a similar choice. And there needs to be real consequences. In non-pro reffing you get downgraded, and thus likely get to ref lower levels (which generally also pay less) and/or less games.

When you want to become a ref, there's really no "training" they can put you through. You learn the rules (and take written tests on them), and then you're thrown right into the water and you either sink or swim. You hopefully have a knack for it, and you try to improve by a combination of being self-aware of the calls you make, and being very receptive to input from your supervisors/evaluators as to what you can improve upon (ie. what calls you regularly miss, whether you're being too meddlesome, whether you have any bad habits like ball-watching instead of watching the action, etc).

I regularly see calls made in the NBA that if I made them when I reffed, I would be stuck in the lower ranks for a looong time. There just doesn't seem to be any real accountability or consequences to poor officiating.

[Mr.Z]

They do, they just don't make it public.

Well unless they use that information to make changes whats the point? lol cause they obviously don't

[JimiCliff]

I don't know. "training" isn't that critical for reffing. What you need is high level of accountability, which seems pretty unlikely. *Edit: Refs getting sharper is usually dependent on high quality evaluation from a different, 3rd party (eg. ref supervisors) perspective. That means having real authority at the top, and having a wide enough pool that you can rotate guys in/out when they're failing/succeeding. I think this last part is the big problem with the NBA. If the pool were bigger it would force guys to perform at their best as they could lose work. Then you could also increase salaries (per game) so that a quality ref will have more assignments and make more money.

I'll preface what I'm about to say with the admission that I've never reffed any sport on any level. Now that that's out of the way...I just don't see how regular training couldn't be massively beneficial. Basketball so fast and complex, and regularly practicing the snap-decisions you're faced with (using, i.e., some kind of in-game simulation) could only help IMO.

Why not keep track of percentage of wrong/missed call?

They do, they just don't make it public.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Why not keep track of percentage of wrong/missed call?

Who would be the judge?

I've watched all sorts of games (NBA and many other sports) with friends and family who were equally passionate about the same team, and still had arguments over calls made/missed.

Talking about the NBA specifically (and the play that caused this thread), lots of charge/block fouls are tough to call in slow motion replay, seen from multiple angles, let alone in real-time. It would be hard to come to a consensus over certain calls, as to whether they are right or wrong.

[Nilanka]

Why not keep track of percentage of wrong/missed call?

That could work for the blatantly obvious wrong calls (like the ones where the league issues a public apology afterwards), but like CRF suggested, most "bad" calls are too subjective to determine....especially the dreaded block/charge calls.

Was the defender moving? Was he stationary? Was he leaning? Replays may not always reveal a correct answer.

[psrs1]

Why not keep track of percentage of wrong/missed call?

NBA could hire consultants to track

[psrs1]

How would that make any difference? Aren't missed calls just as telling as calls made? They wouldn't be captured in stats like that. Plus, most calls are subjective, where fans are likely far more biased than refs.

The biggest complaint I have about refs is consistency, which is often complained about by both teams (rightfully so) during the same game. That's poor quality reffing, but not biased.

Why not keep track of percentage of wrong/missed call?

[feet85]

The Referee From Space Jam

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Someone should start a site that keeps track of referee stats. See who calls the most fouls, techs, charges, jumpballs, fouls in last 2min, 3 point fouls, etc.

It'd be cool to see if perception and reality match up.

In agreement. I think as fans we just want transparency and consistency.

How would that make any difference? Aren't missed calls just as telling as calls made? They wouldn't be captured in stats like that. Plus, most calls are subjective, where fans are likely far more biased than refs.

The biggest complaint I have about refs is consistency, which is often complained about by both teams (rightfully so) during the same game. That's poor quality reffing, but not biased.

[psrs1]

Someone should start a site that keeps track of referee stats. See who calls the most fouls, techs, charges, jumpballs, fouls in last 2min, 3 point fouls, etc.

It'd be cool to see if perception and reality match up.

In agreement. I think as fans we just want transparency and consistency.

[Letter N]

Someone should start a site that keeps track of referee stats. See who calls the most fouls, techs, charges, jumpballs, fouls in last 2min, 3 point fouls, etc.

It'd be cool to see if perception and reality match up.

[KeonClark]

Oliver Clothesov and Amanda Hugginkiss.

The one that always seems to screw us is Ben Dover. But then, Mike Hunt has had some STINKER games too.

[Nilanka]

But different refs for different teams suggests a huge bias factor.

Or the bias could be from the fans since we don't watch all 30 teams with an equally critical eye

[CalgaryRapsFan]

[psrs1]

That's sort of what I was getting at. If we look hard enough, I'm sure every ref in the league would be in the fans' crosshairs.

But different refs for different teams suggests a huge bias factor.