Last Saturday I had the opportunity to officiate the NBA's Developmental League tryouts for the Maine Red Claws. With their inaugural season set to begin in November, the Red Claws held open tryouts @ UMASS-Boston. Guys showed up from Maine down to Virginia. The process was mostly scrimmaging, although each group did begin with various ball handling drills just to get the guys loose. The athleticism was pretty incredible I'll admit, as it was the most fast-paced basketball I've ever officiated. I'm used to "below the rim" play, but this was some serious stuff. While I'm not impressed by 6'8" guys throwing it down, I do catch myself "in aww" as guys who aren't that big follow up a missed shot attempt with a windmill dunk. I thought one guy was gonna tear the rim down after he caught it left-handed, proceeded to bring it all the way back, and hammer it down- cool stuff!
I had the opportunity to meet guys like Randy Linvingston (former NBA guard), Jon Jennings (former Celtics assistant and current Red Claws Team President), and Austin Ainge (Red Claws head Coach and son of Danny Ainge). Overall, it was a very productive day, particularly since I was the least experienced official there. The other 2 officials I worked with have been refereeing for over 55 years combined, so needless to say, I learned a lot. It'll be interesting to see which guys end up making the team and hopefully show up in the NBA some day.
1 comment:
Congrats PC. Keep up the good work.
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