Referees Need Preseason Games Too

There's a reason that preseason games are played in every major professional sport. Players need the time to work themselves back into game shape after a few months off, and usually need to learn how to play with new players or in a new system. The players aren't the only ones that benefit though. Referees use these games to shake out the cobwebs too, and there were a couple examples of this in last night's preseason opener between the Hawks and the Suns.

Late in the first quarter, the Hawks' Solomon Jones came barreling into the Suns' Louis Amundson (I know. It's pre-season people, work with me here.). It was your typical block/charge situation; it could have gone either way. The initial call was an offensive foul on Jones, but then the lead official called one of those NFL-style conferences, and they all discussed the play for a good minute and a half -- an eternity for the fans in the arena.

Apparently no consensus could be reached, so the official came to the scorer's table and announced the following: "We have a difference of opinion, we're going to jump it up. Personal fouls for both 44 blue and 17 white, no team fouls." I thought this was a pretty odd decision, and one that you would almost never see in a game that counted.

There was one other quirky play of note in the second half, and on this one, I think the officials got it right.

While diving for a loose ball late in the third quarter, the Hawks' Maurice Evans took an elbow above the eye, gashing his head open which required him to immediately head to the locker room for stitches. (Don't worry, he'll be fine.) On the play where he was injured, he was tied up by the Suns' Boris Diaw (who still has the hair, but gave up on the goatee), causing a jump ball situation. Problem was, Evans was in the locker room, so what happens now? The official came over and explained.

"If the jumper is injured, the opposing coach picks from the injured player's team's bench the replacement." So of course, Suns' coach Terry Porter chose the 6'2" Mike Bibby to come into the game and jump against the 6'8" Boris Diaw. Bibby and Hawks' coach Mike Woodson both got a chuckle out of it.

The fans weren't as patient with the refs as the coaches were, and one particularly loud heckler-type behind me voiced his disapproval about the change of the offensive foul call in the first quarter. In atypical fashion, the referee looked up and yelled back at the fan with a smile: "Hey! It's the pre-season!" The fan, of course, couldn't argue with that.