Basketball: Put money 'where mouth' is with refs

Jeff Green.

Jeff Green last night jousted and sparred with the officials in Napier but the National Basketball League coach has been around long enough to know it's no laughing matter.

Yes, the ribbing and repartee add to the atmosphere but underneath it all is a cry for quality officiating, according to the James Blond Supercity Rangers coach.

"I just think a lot of franchises pay a lot of their players good money and for coaching and venues and those sorts of things but what we haven't done as a league is put money into referee development," Green said after the Rangers' emphatic 125-98 victory over the hapless Indigo Hawks.

Only weeks ago, the former Maori Tall Blacks coach said, Wellington Saints coach Kevin Braswell was venting his spleen on referees.

"I think we need to look at ourselves to say, 'Okay, we need to put some money into the referees rather than sit here and moan and groan'.

"I agree with Kevin that the standard of refereeing is terrible but there's no point in bitching about it," Green said.

Instead, he encouraged the NBL's key exponents to start searching for answers to put some quality back into the code.

"Some of that answer is, clearly, that we as franchises need to put some money back into the development of referees."

No doubt, he was delighted to have the officials doing their job as efficiently as possible week in, week out.

"You can't play the game without them, that's for sure."

A jovial Green felt at times coaches and players were guilty of "riding" the officials too much and giving them a hard time.

Last night was no exception as he humoured referee Yalla Edwards as early as the first quarter before putting the umpires, Shane Nikora, of Hawke's Bay, and Jason McCabe, under cross examination on some of their decisions.

To be fair to officials, several calls were frivolous 50-50 objections from the Rangers.

Green relished coming to the Bay, especially because his wife, Natasha, hailed from Te Hauke, near Te Aute College.

"She's here tonight and so all the whanau are here, too."