How NBA officiating has changed because of fast pace

A screen grab captured the essence of a new NBA. Ten players – Golden State on offense, Cleveland on defense in Game 1 of the NBA Finals – were between the foul line and the top of the three-point line with 19 seconds on the shot clock. Not one player was in the paint or in the corner.

For the NBA’s referee operations staff, the image crystalized where the game is and helped alter where referees should be positioned on the court for 2015-16.

“It blew us all away. There it is,” NBA director of referee development and performance and former referee Mark Wunderlich told USA TODAY Sports.

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The proliferation of three-pointers, early offense and different ways to create shots at the rim – a style of offense perfected by the Warriors but used by several teams – has led to subtle but important changes to the way referees position themselves so they have better angles and can be make more accurate calls.

The changes:

• The trail official near halfcourt has moved closer to the sideline for better angles, especially on three-point shots from the wings.

• The lead official (on the baseline), slot official (on the sideline) and trail official are required to get into their spots on the floor – called dependable positions – quickly so they are prepared to see as much of the play as possible.

• There is also a concentrated focus on plays in the paint because there are often multiple defenders trying to prevent made shots in that area. With better positions on the court, referees are more equipped to see something another ref can’t see.

“Our hope is that they get the best vision angle in order to see the beginning, middle and end of a play,” NBA vice president of referee development and training Bob Delaney said. “In order to make a good judgment, they have to see all three parts of the play.”

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Executive vice president of referee operations Mike Bantom hired Delaney at the start of the 2014-15 season and put him charge of the referee’s on-court presence.

Delaney implemented a Performance Enhancement Program designed to enhance a referees’ skills on and off the court through several areas: mental conditioning, mechanics, communication and leadership.

“Referees live in a negative world. Coaches, players, fans, sometimes even us, are telling them what they’ve done wrong,” Delaney said. “Our approach is that we want to tell them what they’re doing right first. It’s positive reinforcement. We ask them to see what they did right versus what they did wrong and creative a positive energy.”

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Delaney is qualified in this area. Before becoming a referee, he was a New Jersey State Police trooper who infiltrated organized crime as president of a trucking company. He has written two books – Covert about his undercover work and Surviving the Shadows about coping with post-traumatic stress.

He brings a holistic approach to officiating and recruited former NBA refs to assist: Wunderlich, Bernie Fryer, Joe Forte, Eddie F. Rush and Bennett Salvatore. That’s 163 years of refereeing experience, more than 9,000 games, more than 1,000 playoff games and 62 Finals games.

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Referees have a singular objective: make correct calls, and one of Wunderlich’s strengths is mechanics. This summer, he was tasked with improving mechanics, and he began digging into video in July. He spent two days a week with Bantom, Delaney and Steve Angel, senior vice president of referee operations and analytics.

“It hit me how much the game has changed when I came in and refereed Karl Malone and Buck Williams or Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning and it was dump-in post play, dump-in post play,” Wunderlich said.

“If we don’t adapt shame on us because we have to look and say, ‘What can we do better?’ We work hard at this to get every play right every night.”

Data helped shape changes.

• In 2004-05, teams averaged 32.6 three-point attempts. Last season, it was 46.3 threes per game and this season, it’s 47.4.

• Pace, possessions per 48 minutes per team, has increased to 97.92 this season, up from 93.76 in 2011-12, according to NBA data.

• In 2013-14, teams took 34.6% of their shots in early offense, and it’s up to 36.9% this season.

“We had a lot of analytical data and we took a lot of that information combined with the eye test because I believe there are two ways to get better in officiating. That’s to watch basketball but you also to read it,” Wunderlich said. “We combine the two to find the best way to cover these plays and increase our accuracy.”

With action taken place at a quicker rate, Wunderlich wants referees stationary in their dependable positions. The more movement officials make to see the play, the more their eyes move and the less of the play they see.

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“You have to watch screener, defender, line and point of contact. If you’re moving, you can’t process all that,” Wunderlich said. “I see a lot less movement. I see better positioning in early offense.

“We want every crew to do the same thing so that no matter who you work with, everybody knows where you’re standing and where you’re looking and that’s what’s important when you officiate.”

Bantom likes the results

“I’m very pleased. Any time you try to implement something new it’s a challenge for guys who are so used to doing things by habit,” he said. “Starting at the beginning of the season, you could see where officials were thinking about it a little bit as they would get into position.

“Over time, we’ve seen it become a lot more second nature to them. They’re accustomed now to where they should be and where their focus should be while in those positions.”