WEEKLY REPORT - 6
28.11.2022
Dear Referees.
Thank you for your performances last week in the BCL games. Six of the eight games finished with a ten or fewer points difference. The winning score, home vs. guest was 5:3. One positive point is that we had no significant negative situations that was decisive in any game, however we have had several comments regarding comfort zone officiating. I must stress to you that from my side, our BCL competition deserves above standard and very good officiating week in week out, and if my letter is read every week, you will have the information required to be successful in this journey. We must all strive to be continually better.
Thank you for your performances last week in the BCL games. Six of the eight games finished with a ten or fewer points difference. The winning score, home vs. guest was 5:3. One positive point is that we had no significant negative situations that was decisive in any game, however we have had several comments regarding comfort zone officiating. I must stress to you that from my side, our BCL competition deserves above standard and very good officiating week in week out, and if my letter is read every week, you will have the information required to be successful in this journey. We must all strive to be continually better.
Feedback from the BCL Video Observers:
1. Proper L2M decisions
2. Cooperation and respect inside the officiating team. In the last few rounds, I have deliberately used a mixture of experienced Referees and young/younger Referees.
3. Game control through the proper criteria and proper decisions (call/no call)
1. Rebound control (who is responsible for the first illegal contact)
2. Fake being fouled recognition and standards
3. Marginal calls - minimize or avoid. This is a very visible area, and what is holding us back from our above standard and very good officiating
4. Emotional discipline (in some games)
We had 6x IRS usage from the Referees. One situation for game clock correction, another for out of bounds correction. The other four decisions were without correction. All final decisions were correct.
HEAD COACH'S CHALLENGE
More and more we are seeing the visible benefits of the Head Coach's Challenge rule. During last week's games we had 6x HCC usage. We had only one correction for the player's last touch, OOB violation. The other 5 situation the original decisions were not corrected. In the past, before HCC rule, we would have had 5x protests and higher tension situations from the Coach towards the Referees, this is no longer the case and because most of the original decisions were correct it has helped the coaches accept other tough situations.
From eight games we have three UF decisions. Per game - 0.37 UF decisions. Below standard average (0.8 per game in last 10 years).
OFFICIATING QR EBW 2022 GAMES
I wish to share with you some very positive feedback regarding the officiating of 25 referees (young or younger) from the BCL in last week's QR EBW 2023 games. The feedback we have received talks about a very positive approach, good criteria and overall, above-standard officiating in the biggest number of games.
Finally, I would like to share some wider thoughts of sports players' actions. You know how long we have focused on the fake being fouled actions, and you know how strongly I feel about these types of plays/actions. Last week I had a meeting with the European handball Referee Manager. He spoke about how the same problem is increasing in handball and currently we are witnessing this behavior in the football World Cup games, with several players FBF or overreacting after the foul. It is a global virus in modern sports.
We, the BCL Referees' Team, should continue to clean up FBF from our Competition. In my opinion, we are on the correct path, players have recognized our focus, and FBF situations are reducing. So, keep your focus on FBF situations and lets rid basketball of this type of action. Another element for better management is players' protesting after a Referee's good/proper call. We are starting to see too many situations without any Referee's reaction. In my opinion, we must manage this kind of behavior better to reduce it, and to stop it.
Dear Referees, I wish you a successful officiating week, with a very realistic motto 'Each, and every, point counts''.
Davorin