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1.3 PROCESSING THE PLAY – QUALITY DECISION

In the modern basketball game the referees are making approximately 700 decisions each game. Only
10% of those decisions are ‘visible’ i.e. when the whistle is blown. Basketball is an extremely fast paced
game nowadays and the speed of the game adds a great challenge to decision making.

Decision making in basketball refereeing
It is a perceptual and cognitive process.
1. See - Gather all relevant information.

2. Process - Organise the relevant information.
3. Decide - Define the needed action.

FIBA referees are expected to make decisions based on the observations and facts they have collected
of the play situation. Before blowing their whistle, referees should process the entire play from the
start - through the development - until the end of the play, before making a decision to call or not to
call. This will produce more analytical decision making instead of only seeing the end of the play and
then reacting to it (this is called an emotional decision).

START DEVELOPMENT FINISH DECISION

Diagram 1: See the whole play before making a decision.

FIBA REFEREES MANUAL
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