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3PO BASIC
Part 1

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3PO MECHANICS

There is one game,

three referees,
but still only one
officiating team.
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modules

R3.0 Introduction
R3.1 Court Positions
R3.2 Jump Ball & Start of Period

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TERMINOLOGY 1

IOT Individual Officiating Techniques

Obvious play (OP) Play that has to be covered correct in all cases (no excuses)

Primary coverage Area of responsibility and actions that referee has to be able to
(PC) cover always
Area of responsibility and actions that two referees have
Dual Coverage (DC)
overlapping primaries on same area or play.
Secondary coverage Area of responsibility and actions that referee is able to cover after
(SC) ensuring that primary coverage is covered
Extended coverage At the highest level of officiating, an official has to be able to extend
(EC) coverage on two different play situations at the same time

HSB  /  page  187-­‐188

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 TERMINOLOGY 2

Giving help Referee who offers assistance outside his/her primary and makes
(GH) correct call after allowing partner to make the call in his/her primary
Regular call
Considered to be normal call by designated referee (no assistance)
(RC)
The priority when refereeing on ball is to focus the attention on the
Referee the
legality of the defensive player while keeping the offensive player with
defence (RD) the ball in your field of vision
Open angle Clear view of the action in a referee’s primary / secondary coverage
(OA) area. Never leave an open look.
Closed angle A stacked or straight-lined view of the action area in a referee’s
(CA) primary / secondary coverage area.
When play starts to progress in one direction and designated referee
Cross Step (CS)
takes steps to opposite direction.

HSB  /  page  187-­‐188

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 TERMINOLOGY 3

RSBQ Definition for Rhythm, Speed, Balance & Quickness.

Working area
Area where referee normally operates most of his time in that position.
(WA)
Action area may involve players with or without ball. Knowledge on
Action area
various play situations (pick & roll, post-ups, rebounding) will help
(AA) referees identify action areas in their primary.

EOP End of the Period

EOG End of the Game

This refers to the position of the ball. When the playing court is divided
Ball-side by an imaginary line extending from basket to basket, the side of the
playing court on which the ball is located is called the "ball-side".

HSB  /  page  187-­‐188

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TERMINOLOGY 4

This refers to the side of the playing court which is furthest away
Opposite side from the scorer's table

Strong side (SS) Side of the court where are Lead & Trail

Weak side (WS) Side of the court where is Center

The position of the Lead where he should move before actual
Close down (CD) rotation starts.
This refers to a dead ball situation when the calling of a foul
necessitates a switch in position by the officials.
The official who calls the foul always moves to the opposite side
Switch (SW) after reporting the foul to the scorer’s table.
Whenever there is a throw-in situation, two officials are always on
the ball-side.

1-2-3 Play Play situation where L-T-C covers part of the play.

HSB  /  page  187-­‐188 8

Strong & weak side / ball & opposite side
HSB / page
188

Opposite side
Ball side

Strong side

Weak side

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Strong & weak side / ball & opposite side
HSB / page
188

1. Two referees on the ball-side as much as possible.

2. You will have secondary coverage when necessary.
3. Best angle for L&T to referee the play
4. Primary action area (bus station) will be on ball-side

Action area

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Court positioning / pre-game & halftime
HSB  /  
page189

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Court positioning / pre-game & halftime
HSB  /  page  
189

Optional: two referees are warming-up and one is observing teams

See: “Improve Your Game Warm-Up”
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Court positions / time-outs 1
HSB  /  page  
189

The three standard time-out positions – always in the opposite side.

Leave the ball where the game will be resumed.
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Court positions / time-outs 2
HSB  /  page  
189

20 seconds before end of the time-outs – two referees move close to

team bench areas in order to be ready to activate teams returning to
the court at 50 seconds warning signal.
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Court positioning / Opening Jumpball
HSB  /  page  
190

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Jumpball – play goes to the right
HSB  /  page  
191

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Jumpball – play goes to the left
HSB  /  page  
191

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 Start of the pEriod
HSB  /  page  
191

The Referee (Crew Chief) will always be the administering official for the throw-in
opposite-side to start the periods. U1 and U2 will place themselves either in L or C
position.
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