Coaches, players adjust to tighter officiating

CEDAR RAPIDS - Hands off, guys. They mean it.If you've watched any boys' basketball so far in the early season, you've noticed officials are calling games closer than they have in years. A lot closer.It's a directive from the Iowa High School Athletic Association through the National Federation of High School Associations, a point of emphasis to decrease the amount of physical play in the game."I actually think it's good," said Cedar Rapids Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann. "Basketball is meant to be played with your hands off. It's kind of getting back to the way it was meant to be played. It is going to take some time. Maybe has there been too many calls? Probably so. But you've got the rest of the time here for the guys to work that out and find a happy medium."As you'd imagine, post play is being watched intently. But you're also seeing a lot more of the "nickel, dimer" calls on the perimeter.Essentially, if you put even one hand on the guy dribbling the ball, you're going to get banged for a foul."Definitely, I think they're trying to call more of the hand check," said Benton Community Coach Larry Carlson. "The next thing I think they're going to try and clean up is the bump at the hip. I know they're trying to open up the offenses. It's a tough job, putting on the stripes and wearing the whistle.""We were worried about what we were going to tell our kids out on the perimeter," said Burlington Coach Jeff Bloomer. "We've told them to keep their hands out. On the perimeter, it has been a little bit of an adjustment and it has been called closer."Cedar Rapids Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen returned to Iowa this season after a stint in Kansas. He was asked to compare the games in the two states."Very similar," he said. "The difference is that the colleges are calling it differently now. You see that on TV. The fear I have is some officials are going to call it the way the colleges call it, with the hand on and impeding progress, and others are going to say 'Well, I've been doing this for 15 years, and I'm going to call the game my way. I've officiated in the state tournament, so this is the way I'm going to do it.'"McKowen said he works with his team in practice on being able to adjust to multiple ways a game could be called."For instance, we need to be able to take advantage of both things they are going to do," he said. "If they're not going to let them touch us, we've got guys who can really put it on the floor, so we need to get to the hole and need to get to the free-throw line.""Just be aggressive," Luehrsmann agreed. "If we've got a chance to drive, absolutely, attack the basket."It'll be interesting to see if games continue to be called tight as the season progresses. Sometimes that doesn't always happen.The one thing everyone agrees on here is the intentions are good."I appreciate it because I understand what they're trying to do," Carlson said. "I think it has kind of cleaned things up a little bit. Like anything, change takes time."