Through The Lens of a P. LEAGUE+ Referee

Submitted by: Kuan Lee, P. LEAGUE+ Basketball Operations

What comes to mind when you think of a basketball game? Is it the players? The teams? The cheerleaders??

Truth be told, not many people will have referees as an answer when asked that question, but the reality is there will be no game without the referees.?

The refereeing part of the game is a thankless job. As a ref, you’re expected to uphold the integrity of the game, while not interjecting so much that you become part of the game. You can do a job 99% correct, but players, coaches, and thousands of fans will criticize you relentlessly for the 1%. Fans demand perfection from the referees when players and teams are allowed to have bad shooting games and off nights. Yet, all hell breaks loose when a referee misses a call.?

This isn’t to say referees are perfect, because they’re not. But as P. LEAGUE+ Referee Advisor JB Caldwell keeps on reminding us, “perfect is the enemy of excellence”.?

Here’s an inside look of the officiating machine in the P. LEAGUE+.??

Perfecting Your Craft

In a lot of ways, P. LEAGUE+ referees are just like players. They are hoopers, hoop junkies, and basketball fanatics that love the game, and like players, they are zeroed in on perfecting their craft.

Every Tuesday, the league Operations Department gathers for a weekly meeting to discuss plays that warrant reviews and feedback. On an educational standpoint, this is to polish referee fundamentals such as coverage areas and team officiating concepts, but on a macro view, these meetings help shape and mold what the P. LEAGUE+ expect from our referees.?

Besides the weekly meetings, the league also conducts routine symposiums that all referees and supervisors are required to take part in. In these meetings, referees can nail down procedural affairs and big picture officiating elements that they need work on. These topics can range from IRS usage, emphasis on protecting shooters, or FIBA rule discussions. The point is to get on the same page so rulings across the league remain consistent and firm.

Basketball is a sport of emotion. As fans, our competitive fervor drives our responses whenever the referees make an unfavorable call against our team. It’s only human nature. However, we are so programmed to be reactionary, at times we make referees the scapegoat for everything disadvantageous regardless of objectivity.?

Let’s look at the stats. On average, P. LEAGUE+ referees have an error rate of about 6%, committing one error out of every 20 calls. Ideally, we would love to have that number lowered to around 4%, but it’s a number we can live with at the moment judging by the league’s relative naivety and the part-time nature of the referees. Moving forward, the league is committed to integrate the referees completely into the league domain; there’s a lot of room to improve, but this is a multi-year process and we’re only at the genesis of it.?

You’re Part of The Process

The betterment of the officiating quality is a three-way street for the P. LEAGUE+: the referees, the league, and the fans. In fruition, the officiating report was introduced. Every week, the league remains in constant communications with the referees for opinions on specific plays because nothing beats an insider look when it’s all said and done.?

“What were you thinking when you made this call?” Is a question that comes up regularly in our conversations.?

Upon repeated meticulous replays and with the help of the referee box, the Operations Department alongside JB and the Head of Officiating make the final decision on the officiating report and release the ruling to all six teams and the public. This is where the fans come in. Traditionally, fans and referees don’t have the platform to communicate when it comes to play-calling, but the officiating report presents itself as an unique medium where the audience and partaker intersect. Fans now can have a glimpse of what goes into a call, while referees have a voice to explain their rationale.?

From the league’s perspective, the accumulation and transparency of meetings and reports are aimed to enhance the quality of officiating, but perhaps more importantly, it’s the first step in forging an open dialogue between the fans and the league.?

While the league’s novel-ness can at times be detrimental to the officiating quality, it does open up a rare opportunity for us to construct and solidify a linkage between the league and the fans. Another medium the league has explored is through 「裁判好好說」, an official video series that features the Head of Officiating to explain calls of controversy for the general public. Besides it being a source of educational material, fans are also welcomed to interact with the league directly through messages and comments.?

While imperfect at the moment, never forget that we’re growing together in this arduous process.

Conclusion

The referees’ job is to maintain fairness of the game.?

Looking at our Home-Away win splits this season, the home team has won 21 games while the away team won 20. The 21-20 split sends a powerful message, signaling that the games have been exceptionally competitive. That speaks to the quality of the game, but, like it or not, it also speaks to the referee’s ability to uphold the integrity of the game while keeping the games impartial.?

The process is a long one, but P. LEAGUE+ officials are in a good spot with all the support from the league to refine our game quality, and the fans are a huge component in it as well.

Related:?The Unsung Imports of P. LEAGUE+