Most Feared Match Up- QCNS Men's Basketball Report 8/23/11

Brethren,

A couple of teams were really lighting it up Tuesday nite! One game finished 61-60. Don't know who, as Scorekeepers only identified the teams as W (Winner) & L (Loser).

Another unidentified team scored 64 points!

And then there was Nauvoo Station's rampage with 28 points......but since only 4 players showed up, what can you expect?

At half time in one game I hear someone say "...Scored 14 points." I asked who the player was and the answer was "That was the the TEAM total"...... The other ream had amassed 11 points. AT HALF TIME......

Crismon Ward's Yancey Littler has apparently mastered the exceptionally tricky "Assist" play of bouncing a pass off an opponent's kneecap to his teammate for an easy lay up under the basket. At least he claimed he was aiming for the opponent's knee cap......It wasn't the only play he mastered last nite......dropping in a couple of close range one hand "Push" shots. (He tried for jump shots but there weren't no jump there!)

And Rittenhouse's "Super Shupe" has the longest step & a half stride to the basket I've ever seen for a fellow just shy of 6' tall......he went from the top of the key to the hoop for a lay up without a dribble and did not get called for traveling! HE even made the shot (that time, at least) An AMAZING, if questionably legal play.

Dribbling- It would be appreciated if more players would dribble before they start running on their drive to the basket. I know Lebron & Kobe aren't expected to dribble until they've taken two steps but ain't none of you making them big bucks to entertain the fans......and you know no on calls traveling violations in the NBA!! Oh, yeah, that's true!! We have a retired NBA Ref from Phoenix, Tommy Nunes Sr (His son, Tommy Jr is currently a NBA Ref). When Tommy was first hired by the NBA he went straight from Refereeing Arizona High School Basketball. After one of his first games he got a call from the NBA Commissioner of Referees, "Tommy, The NBA is ENTERTAINMENT. No one is paying to see you call Traveling Violation, so lay off the Traveling Calls if you want to stay in the league." CLICK! Went the phone. And they STILL don't call Traveling in the NBA...

Creating Space- "What do you mean I can't create space!!??" I was cautioning a player about pushing off. Did you know you can't "Create Space" while playing? What is that, you ask? It's when an Offensive Player with the ball used his shoulder, ample gluteous maximus or forearm to try & push the defender away so the Offensive Player has "space" to maneuver free of the Defender. ''Creating Space" is basically a Player Control Foul, so don't try to "create space"!!

The Ball IS Deaf- The ball ain't listening......so when you miss a shot, and yell, "Oh come on!" at the ball, it won't help.

Listen Up- Have you noticed...... I try to "talk you out of" fouls or violation? "Clear the key, white!" to avoid a 3 Seconds Violation. "Hands Off" to the Defense. "Watch your screen," "Don't Push,'' etc. So, if you listen, I'll try and keep you out of violations & fouls, if possible. But if'n you don't listen......



Screens- I hollered "Watch that Blind Screen" to a Nauvoo Station Player the other nite to which he yelled back at me, "This is basketball. Screens are allowed!!" He didn't say "idiot" but the tone of voice did......Hmmmmm. How does a fellow handle insolent conduct from an apparent "Know it all" that don't know what he's talking about? I was just trying to help him out and did not call what could have been a Blind Screen Foul. Something which, despite his vast rules knowledge & extensive experience at the highest levels of B-Ball competition, he apparently does not comprehend......

Here's the Screening Principle-  A Player can set a screen as close to a stationary opponent player as possible-just so long as the screener does not contact the person being screened, does not infringe on the other players "Verticiality" AND the person being screen can readily see the screener. When you set a "Blind Screen," meaning the player being screened can NOT see the screener, the screener needs to allow the person being screened enough time to see the screen and react to go around the screen. UP TO 2 STRIDES if the player being screened is moving!! So if you set a screen on a player who is on the run and not looking at you, make sure you are allowing that player time to see & react to your screen.

The screener also can NOT stick his knee, hip, backside, elbow, or shoulder out to restrict the movement of the person being screened.

3 Seconds Violation- This is perhaps the complaint most commonly yelled at Referees from Players & fans. All the yelling show is that person can at least count to 3, which may surprise some of the their former math teachers......

First point- 3 Seconds ONLY applies to an Offensive Player. A Defensive Player can stand in the key as long as he wants, so please don't yell, "3 Seconds when the Defense is standing in the Key!"

3 Seconds only applies when the Offensive Team has possession of the ball, called Player Control or Team Control. When a shot goes up and the scrum forms under the basket and the ball is being slapped around there is NO team Control and the Offense can be in the key more then 3 Seconds.

There is NO Team Control when a Team is in-bounding the ball, so an Offensive Player CAN stand in the lane for more than 3 seconds during an inbound play. (Yes, I know the Offensive Team Player is holding on to the ball as he stands out of bounds to throw it in and you could say he has "control" of the ball. But by Rule, THAT is not considered Team or Player Control for a 3 Seconds Violation.)

If an Offensive Player is in the Key, the Ref is silently  & Patiently counting, "One Thousand One, One Thousand Two, One Thousand Three," NOT speed counting, to himself / herself, like the fans do. When the Ref sees a player lingering too long he'll holler "Clear the Key, White!" (Or whatever is the team color). Then if the player beings to move out of the key (away from the basket) OR if a shot is attempted while the player is moving out of the key there is no 3 Seconds Violation.

Referee Whistle- When you're Refereeing, BLOW THE WHISTLE LOUD so people can hear you and stop! I also suggest avoiding eating a steak Chimichanga @ El Rico's before Refereeing. It adds a bit too much "toot" to the whistle toot, if you know what I mean......as I found out the hard way! Just go to El Rico's on other than game nites.

When the Referee Whistle Blows- STOP!!! If you are grasping the ball with an opponent, and the Referee blows his whistle- STOP STOP, STOP, DANG IT, STOP wrestling for the ball. You're not a bunch of Cub Scouts wrestling over the last cookie!! It's a jump ball and the last person holding the ball is NOT the winner!

Referee Calls- While in-bounding a ball near the "Over Flow" area I asked some folks sitting there if they'd "come to see some good basketball?" When they enthusiastically said, "YES!!" I quipped, "Then you've come to the wrong place! Won't see much good basketball here!" A player, over hearing my comment, muttered, "You can say the same thing about the refereeing!."

That may be true...... you'll recall I've asked EACH team to provide ONE Referee and ONE Score Keeper per game? Occasionally I get 2 Refs on the court. Too many times only ONE team provides a Ref.

However, I've deduced that the apparently poor quality of Referee obviously is because the best Referees in the Stake aren't volunteering to take their fair share of time wearing the Black & White shirts & blowing the whistles!! Oh, they'll PLAY in the games, alright, and they will yell at the Referees who are volunteering as they play but the guys that seem to think they are better Referees than the ones on the court don't have the gumption to actually BE the Referee. Bro Whitener's succinct  comment sums it up, "If I'm not willing to be a Referee I shouldn't complain about the Refereeing."

Folks, it's EASY to play or spectate and make the game calls. It's HARD to actually be the Referee. I joke with Bro Mott, who is the Globe High School Boy's Varsity Basketball Coach after he Refereed Tuesday nite, "Did you even blow the whistle?" He said, "Yes, 3 times, but you also blew the whistle on the same calls." Then he said, "I wanted to blow the whistle a couple of other time but by the time I tried to blow the whistle the play was gone and it was too late!" Trust me, Bro Mott does not have trouble yelling, "That's a FOUL" from the bench when he's coaching a Globe game. But even after all of his years of experience "refereeing from the bench" it's still tough to be the Referee on the floor and make the call.

And I know even if those brethren that prefer to Ref as they play actually do put on the Black and White shirts we'll still have complaints about calls......

Billy Kennedy is a former Arizona High School & Junior College Ref currently in the NBA. he got his "Big Break" into the NBA during a NBA Referee Strike a few years ago. In a game with the New York Knicks, Dough Collins, I think was the Knicks Head Coach, Billy made a call that Collins did not like. "I've been in this league for 20 years as a player and a coach and I've NEVER seen a Ref call like that before!!" Yelled the Coach. Billy's reply? "Coach, I've been in the league 2 weeks. Get used to it!!"

We've got guys refereeing who've never refereed before- get use to it!!

Ranch and Ironwood Crossing have a system worked out- Brent Slade, from Ranch ward, refereed when Ironwood Crossing played. Then Jon Mott, from Ironwood Crossing, refereed while Ranch played.

I don't care how you get a referee on the court, I just care that you do!!

Kids Run Amok- Since Artie Whitening, Cortina 2nd Ward, evidently does not play basketball, I thought I was off the hook being the Stake Baby Sitter & had no more fears of hear that Whitening Woman holler at her kids (as she kicked them out of the care on her way to Bunko)- "Bro Pear will watch you!!"

I've had complaints each of the last 2 nites from Wards occupying the Stake Center about Kids running thru halls & making a disturbance with yelling, pounding feet, ect. I thought the only folks I was called to baby Sit were the Big Kids on the court, but apparently not. The respective Ward leaders find me and ask me to  keep the kids under control. Hey, I'm having enough of a challenge keeping the guys on the court under control, how can they expect me to also patrol the halls?!?!

So, dads, when you tell your wife, as you head out the door to play B-Ball with your kids in tow, "Don't worry, I'll keep and eye on them!" Please do.

Most Feared Match up- And that reminds me of what may be the most interesting & feared Match Up of the our Stake- Ranch vs Cortina 2nd. No, not because Brent Slade of Ranch Ward & Brad Martineau of Cortina 2nd can really fill it up from 3 point range. It's the ancillary game these brethren bring to the game that interests (and worries me).

A few years ago I was doing a Mesa Parks & Rec game with Brent Slade putting on his usual spectacular shooting display. One of Brent's female fans became so enthralled with the exhibition that she ripped off her shirt and ran onto the court topless to give Brent a hug- right in the middle of the game and in the middle of the court! Of course that stopped the game. No, I did not have to blow the whistle to stop the game. The gawking players stopped of their own accord....ASTONISHED at what they were seeing.

The female fan was his 3 year old daughter!! Seems Brent had convinced his wife that he could "babysit" his kids AND play while his wife went to Book Club, Bunko or Relief Society, ect.

You are all familiar with the penchant of the Martineau boys to be stripped half naked & covered in water & mud within minutes of arriving at the softball field. Heaven only know what could happen when the Slade & Martineau kids match up!! At least there's no dirt in the Stake Center......unless the boys get outside & bring it in!

4 to Play- Yes, I said a Team could start with only 4 players. 3 teams Tuesday nite took me at my word. Vineyard, however did not even manage 4. In fact they were a complete NO SHOW!!!! I know 6:00 PM is a tough start time, but Jon Mott, who coaches/teaches in GLOBE made it to 6:00 PM game on time to play! And Vineyard was a 7:20 PM Game.

After poking fun at Dallas Nevill & his breathtaking Fast Break away speed, he also was a no show! I was worried he was offended. Not so. Seems he was teaching scuba to a group of Boy Scouts at his pool, so that's certainly a valid excuse to miss the game! His & Dane Chaffe's company, Rescue AC 911 was also speedy fixing a broken AC unit for me a couple of weeks ago on a 110 degrees day, so what speed Dallas lacks on the court he makes up for in service off the court!

Shirts- Again I request everyone bring one WHITE SHIRT & one DARK SHIRT to the game so no one has to be the 2nd player wearing the white pull over jerseys I bring. A high school coach, encouraging students to take a shower after PE told us that sweat has the same chemical composition as urine and he did not want to be walking around with "urinated on" people. (He was a bit more graphic than "Urinated on" as you might imagine.) So, just keep in mind if someone on your team forgets to bring a white & dark shirt and YOU have to be the 2nd or 3rd player wearing one of those pullover jerseys- you're playing in someone else's urine!!! With that image in mid, maybe some of you will take the initiative & bring some EXTRA shirts with you for those forgetful teammates......

When NOT to complain about a foul not being called- If you are chasing a loose ball, perhaps even knocked the ball out of the dribbler's hand, and while chasing down the ball the other player dives for it, sliding along the floor and then YOU dive on top of the other player......don't give that "I'm shocked" look and ask the Ref why he did not call a foul on the guy on the bottom of the pile. Just be glad he did not call the foul on you!!

It's also NOT traveling to dive for a ball and slide for a distance along the floor due to momentum from the dive. However, if you then roll from side to side to avoid a defender, that IS traveling.

Brethren, You'r Out Preforming the NBA- QCNS Men's Basketball 8/18/11

Brethren,

We clearly will not have any "Goal Tending" Violations in this league!

It's all a matter of perspective......good or bad Referee calls, I'm talking about......

If the foul or Violation is called on your opponent you think it's a good call! And your opponent thought it was a bad call! Perspective.

Often times I'll hear a Coach in a High School Game, after I make a call on the opponent, shout, "Good Call!!" To which I reply, "Aren't they ALL 'Good Calls,' Coach?" Most Coaches will nod yes, or even chuckle & say, "Yes they are." One Coach said, "Yes, but some calls are more good than others!" Another said, "I wish you'd make more "Good Calls" on them and fewer on us!"

I think we've seen some different perspectives among our Brethren with some calls we've seen made in just the first 2 nites of play. It happens.

After he was called for a foul he clearly did not agree with, one of our Brethren Thursday nite looked at me and asked incredulously, "Are you serious??!!" "Brother if I blew the whistle, then YES, I am serious!!" I told my wife, Kim, about it when I dragged myself home about 10:30 after 4 hours of Refereeing. She laughed and said, "Oh they'll figure out you're serious about your calls soon enough, won't they??!!"

OK, I know you folks are reading my E-mails, but I'm starting to wonder if you are paying attention!!  (Except for Bishop Strebeck, who apparently DID read last week's message about Elder's Quorum President Ladd Smith getting us off to a late start with his lengthy opening prayer and who I understand has now banned Ladd from saying Opening Prayers in Priesthood Executive Committee meeting for his lengthy prayer habit.)

TWO ISSUES:

1. I have REPEATEDLY STATED our games are being played on a ROTATION NITE BASIS. Tuesday one week, Wednesday the next, followed by Thursday and back to Tuesday. Some have thought all games were Wednesday's. Other's thought they were all being played on Thursdays. Please notice on the schedule I send out at the top of each game nite in BOLD RED LETTERS it shows the DAY and Date of the game each week. (I did goof showing the first game start time on a couple nites as 6:20 PM. The first game of the nite is ALWAYS at 6:00 PM start.
2. Last week I asked everyone to bring a DARK colored shirt AND a WHITE shirt to the games. That way we can have one White shirted & one Dark shirted team on the floor which makes the Refereeing a lot easier. As if  Refereeing is ever easy.

If you'll remember to do that then one team does not have to be the 2nd or 3rd team to wear the white pullover jersey's I brought just in case both teams showed up in dark colors. Those jerseys do become a bit odiferous the 2nd wearing. I also won't have to listen to you complain about how bad the fellows stunk who wore the jersey before you!!

So it's up to you to decide if you want to bring 2 shirts or risk being the 2nd guy into a pullover jersey!!

I saw a number of "No Look Passes" Thursday nite! Unfortunately, most of the "No Looking" was by the fellows the pass was intended for, so the ball just flew out of bounds. The most awesome near "No Look Pass" was Jared Wright who drove toward the lane and wrapped the ball completely around his back from right to left THEN FORWARD to a teammate standing under the basket in perfect easy lay up position. Unfortunately, that team mate was looking up at the rim waiting for one of Jared's usual "Bricks" to come bouncing off to rebound and did not see the oh so pretty pass coming. (For the uninitiated B-Ball Fan, a "No Look Pass" is where the ball handler fires off a pass to a team mate that he is NOT looking at. It decoys the direction of the pass from the Defensive players.)

Brad Martineau DID manage a superb "No LOOK/ Behind the Back Pass" to a teammate for a layup. Well done Brad.

Have you ever seen Dallas Neville on the Front end of a Fast Break? No one else had either **......but  he almost pulled it off Thursday nite. Arriving at half court on the Defensive end about the time a teammate pulled down a rebound, the teammate turned, saw Dallas and fired off a long pass. Dallas caught the ball, turned and near sprinted 2 steps until he realized what he was trying to do. Then pulled up and waited for the rest of his teammates to catch up. Wise play! **(I'm sorry, but I laugh every time I re-read this section!!

Speaking of Dallas, if you are on the Defense and in the Key when Dallas makes his "Shaq Power Drive" move to the basket,  just get out of the way! There's a 30% chance he'll make it and a 100% YOU won't - remain standing, that is. The odds are NOT in your favor to try and "Take the Charge." Take the odds and get out of his way.

And THAT reminds me. I know you see the boys in the NBA "Flop" all the time in an attempt to "Draw the Foul." Most referees can see when you flopped. When you're lying down on the floor it's making you AND the referee look bad, It can get worse, too......I had a fellow in a Mesa Parks & Rec League "flopping" all nite, I warned him to stop but he couldn't resist and flopped one more time, so I called a Foul on him for Blocking. He jumped off the floor, raced to me and yelled, "How can that be blocking when I never touched him!!" I asked, "If you never touched him, why did you grunt so loud and how did you end up on your backside on the floor? Did you deliberately fall back trying to draw the foul?" The fool said, "YES I DID. You can't call Blocking on that!!" "You're right," I Said. That information changes everything. Intentionally Flopping is a Technical Foul, so your opponent gets to shoot Free Throws AND get the Ball at Mid Court AND you're gonna have to sit the bench for 2 minutes!" He did not like that at all. So Brethren, please don't flop in our league......

It's also not a good idea when you're not happy with the Referee to say, "Are you in their Ward? It sure looks like it, the way you're calling fouls." That gets you a "T" and a 2 minute trip to the bench and conversion from being a player to being a spectator. It also might mean you're not in the game to make the winning shot.

NO ONE LIKES THE REFEREE CALLS. GET USE TO IT! Sometimes the Referee isn't real happy with the call he just made, either, just like you're not happy when you fire up an "Air Ball." Mistakes happen.

Have you ever watched a B-ball game and hear the announcer's say that was a perfectly called game? Nope. Not gonna happen. Too much happens too fast for 2 or even 3 Referees to see it all. Sometimes a big fellow, and we have a few of those in our Stakes, steps between the play action and the Referee and the Referee's vision is completely blocked out just the instant a likely foul occurs and he misses the call. Too bad. Even the best Referees in the world- NBA, NFL, MLB, and NCAA often blow a call. Critical calls, too! So what are you expecting from one of our Stake Brethren who's never Refereed before? Just keep playing.

Sometimes a Referee can get caught up watching a well played game, so well played he gets distracted by the quality of the game itself and he sees something happen and thinks to himself, "Some one should have called that! Oh no, I'm THAT SOMEONE!!" The call is missed and it's too late to make it. I will confess to having been distracted a number of times in the first two nites of play and may have missed some calls. No, not by the quality of play. Don't flatter yourselves that easily. I've been trying to help the Scoreboard running. Answering multiple questions, keeping kids off the court & dealt with a myriad of other distractions while trying to referee and missed some plays. I turned my back to the game from answering Scorekeeper questions in time to see Chris Jones go head first to the floor. He looked up & asked, "What was that?" the answer- "I missed that call. My bad. Sorry!"

Now, if we could just get each Ward to provide TWO Referees for each games, as I've asked of you, it would help out a whole lot!!

We had a bit of a tiff at the end of one close game and may have had 6 players on the floor at the same time for one team. I was Refereeing with a young'in, I think from Desert Mountain Ward, who bless his heart had never Refereed a game in his life before Thursday nite. The players on the bench of the team with 5 players on floor called a Time Out just before his team mate attempted AND THEN MADE what would have been a game winning 3 point shot- had the Time Out not been called first. The Time Out canceled out the otherwise Game Winning Shot! The team with 5 players was naturally a bit miffed and expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of the officiating.

I asked them how many Referees were they suppose to provide for the game. An astute fellow correctly answered "One."  I asked how many Referees they had provided. Since it's not hard to count to ZERO and the Black & White Referee shirts are easily identified, we had another correct answer of "NONE." "The don't make a fuss about the Refereeing," I said.

I meant it then & I mean it every nite! Each team is to provide ONE Referee and ONE Scorekeeper. If you're lucky enough to have someone not from your team graciously agree to referee in your place, be glad for it and don't make a fuss!

I've noticed the fellows that complain the most about Referee calls never seem to put on the Black & White shirt and blow the whistle themselves. It's considerably easier to "Ref" from the sidelines than it is to BE the Ref......

And since I'm hoping many of you WILL agree to do more Refereeing, let's review some common play situations and Referee philosophy-

Over the Back- It is NOT a foul for the fellow in back to be taller or jump higher then the guy in front. If the guy in back jumps higher and gets the rebound without pushing the player in front, that's OK.

Kicking the Ball- Must be INTENTIONAL with contact occurring on ANY part of the leg. If a pass accidentally hits another player's foot it is not a violation. Keep playing.

Drive to the Basket- Many Offensive players like to jump into the Defender or twist their hips into the defender to push them away OR try to draw an undeserved foul from a Referee that's not paying proper attention when they drive to the basket.  You are not allowed to do that.  I don't care if Kobe does get that call every nite. No one is paying a gazillion dollars to watch you play!! YOU can be called for a Player Control Foul if the Referee thinks your action created a disadvantage for the Defense. If, after you initiate the contact, the Defender bumps you- there's a good chance his "bump" is a natural physical reaction to your bumping him first. Unless the return bump is rather hard, I'm gonna ignore it. I figure if you pick the fight in the first place don't expect me to bail you out if you get stuck & miss the shot. Spend some more time practicing your fade away shot! And if you decide to ram a guy a lot bigger then you and you end up on the floor, get up real quick 'cause the Fast Break is going the other way and the guy you're suppose to be guarding is probably gonna make his layup at the other end of the court and I'm not waiting around to hear you complain.

Driving BETWEEN Player, End & Sidelines- I know no one is gonna believe this, so I may as well try to remember to bring my rule book Tuesday nite so you can read it for your own selves......

You see a lot of fellows try to drive the middle of the lane BETWEEN Defensive Players. They'll bounce off a couple Defenders like a pinball between flappers before heaving some half-baked shot off at the basket, falling down and crying, "Where's the Foul!?!?" The only thing "foul" was your shot attempt!!

If there is 3' or less between 2 Defenders or a Defender and an End or Sideline AND a Offensive players tries to drive between the Defenders or End / Sideline, THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONTACT IS ON THE OFFENSIVE PLAYER.  Now, of course that does not mean the Defenders can knock the Offender around but if you think you want to drive into that tight space and you get bumped, it's your own fault. Take the bump or go around.

 "I was pushed!!"- Yes you were. It was your own overly aggressive teammate pushing you from behind, he just won't admit it. He thought it was an Off Tackle Tailback Drive & he was just trying to push the whole pile over the goal line. He's not sorry about it either......

OR, maybe you were pushed. Ask yourself where you were AND where did the ball go? Did it rebound AWAY from you such that you did not have a likely chance of getting the rebound? Then unless the push was rather hard, or a cheap jab in the back, the Referee will ignore it. BUT he'll also be watching to see if the same player does the same push on another rebound you can get to. If you miss that rebound because of the push you'll probably get a foul call. If you get the rebound and the push did not effect the play, the push will be ignored. It's a matter of perspective, again......

What was That, Ref?- (Usually uttered after some players comes blasting thru the lane, shovels up an off balance shot & absurd shot, loses his balance & crashes to the floor). I'm not sure what that was. Clumsy, maybe? I'm just trying not to laugh......

I know the Rules, you idiot!- My, at the time soon to be Son in Law- Jay Rosenhan, (along with my daughter, Emily & my wife, Kim) attended a High School Game that I was Refereeing. A female fan sitting near them complained rather loudly (Most complainers ARE loud......) "That Ref doesn't know the rules!!" When I called a Charging/ Player Control Foul on a player from the fan's team when the player crashed into a defender standing under the basket. Jay asked, "What do you mean?" The fan replied,"The Defensive player was standing under the basket. I watch the NBA every Sunday and I know the rules!! It's not charging when that happens!!" Jay informed the fan that the rules for High School and the NBA are different. "No they're not! You're an idiot!!" She shouted. Jay wisely decided it was not worth the aggravation of arguing with a fool. The rules for the NBA and High School ARE DIFFERENT. If your personal rules knowledge is based on the NBA, we are playing High School Rules, don't hesitate to ask me about it if you have a question about a rule. I'm always happy to explain.

I'm attaching my Quiz Answers to this missive. You might want to take a look for fun and test your rules expertise!!

An Experiment- We only play about 36 minutes, so waiting for a whistle to blow for substitutions can be a drag. I was experimenting Thursday nite & will again TUESDAY nite with "International Rules" or Soccer/ Hockey type substitutions. A Sub can enter at any time WITH OUT waiting for the Referee to bring them into the court with these provisions.

1.  Yell "SUB" REAL LOUD so everyone knows someone new is coming into the game.
2. You cannot go run to your basket, park underneither it and have a teammate heave a long pass for a "Cherry Picking" easy basket.

Yes, I know this may create some confusion about what person a player may be guarding, but since I haven't seen much "guarding" going on so far, I hope it's not a big problem & helps get more people into the games for more playing time.

This is NOT the NBA. YOU are not in the NBA- Is a note I tape to the Scorer's Table each nite (Click here to see the whole note). Actually in some ways you are BETTER than the NBA. The NBA plays 48 minutes of "Regulation Clock" where the clock stops every time the Referee blows a whistle. a 48 minute game takes 1 1/2 hours of Game Action Time to play and the NBA averages around 100 points per game. That works out on my trusty HP12 real Estate calculator to be 1.11 points per minute scored.

We played approximately 36 minutes of running clock IF prior games end on time, and IF the players for the next game manage to wander to the Scorer's Table end of the court in a reasonable amount of time to participate in the Opening Prayer and IF there's no long winded High Priests or Elder's Quorum Presidency members offer the Opening Prayers......

We've had SEVERAL teams score OVER  50 points. One game was 58-57!!

That's an incredible 1.61 points per minutes and FAR more fast paced than the NBA manages!!

Yes, the NBA plays a longer court, but they're younger, bigger, faster and get up & down their court in about the same time it takes your Brethren to get up & down our smaller Stake center Courts and they have a higher shooting percentage.

As crazy as it sounds. As awful as some of the shot you are attempting are. As many shots as you throw up (with a lower shooting average than the NBA you have to take MORE shots per minute to score). As unbelievable as are some things you are trying to do......you are out performing the NBA!!! Good Job!!