

The Crown Refs Podcast
Paul Diasparra
The Crown Refs Podcast is the ultimate audio experience for basketball officials looking to elevate their craft, build confidence, and achieve long-term success on and off the court. Hosted by Paul Diasparra, this podcast helps referees master their skills, refine their judgment, and develop a strong officiating mindset. It features top names in officiating like Joey Crawford, Roger Ayers, Dee Kantner, Maia Chaka, Lisa Mattingly, Tyler Ford, Penny Davis, Reggie Greenwood, Scott Foster, Al Battista, Crystal Hogan, Bo Boroski, Gary Vee, Clarence Armstrong, and more. #Servethegame
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 27, 2020 โข 1h 41min
#100 Roger Ayers MasterClass | 22-year Divsion 1 Official | 3 Final Four Selections
In ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ถ๐ถ, it makes perfect sense to bring you over ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐, insights and best practices from Final Four Official ๐๐ค๐๐๐ง ๐ผ๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ. This podcast focuses on improving our communication skills with coaches, players and fellow officials. โฃ
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We covered numerous situations where you can insert a specific ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ to better manage the game at that ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐. Special thanks to ๐๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด for all of the wisdom and experience that he shared with us throughout this episode. โฃ
And Thank you for 100 episodes of The Crown Refs Podcast. This would not have been possible without your interest and continued support. Let's keep growing together.โฃ
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๐บ To watch on YouTube click belowโฃ
https://youtu.be/xo9jqKozeaI

Jul 14, 2020 โข 38min
#99 Game Notes 006 with Dillon Berner | Denver, CO | 4-year Official
In this edition of ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐๐จ we had the pleasure to work with ๐ฟ๐๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฝ๐๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ง who just finished his 4th season officiating and is currently a Division 2 Womenโs Basketball in Colorado. โฃDillon has a certified professional appearance to him and showed a lot of command and composure throughout the game. We feel that he is well on his way to one day becoming a Division 1 official. โฃ
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In this episode, we broke down over 13 plays and here are some of the key takeaways and themes from our session:โฃ
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๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ญ. Rotating in the Leadโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ฎ. Illegal Screen or Push through?โฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ฏ. Go away Stay awayโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ฐ. Rotate without Runningโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ฑ. Composure is our normโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ฒ. PC Foul or No-Call?โฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ณ. One hand at a timeโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ด. Lock in Secondary Defendersโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ต. Cadence Whistle from Secondaryโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ญ๐ฌ. Layered plays need more patienceโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ญ๐ญ. Donโt be in a rush to rotateโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ญ๐ฎ. The Awkward and the Uglyโฃ
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ #๐ญ๐ฏ. Always handle business first โฃ
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Episode 99 is available in to watch on YouTube here https://youtu.be/Kb7OhbMsfTA #servethegame

Jul 6, 2020 โข 20min
#98 CROWN REFS: All-Access
Crown Refs All: Access is a 3-part referee mini-series on YouTube, and an in depth look at the passion that we have at Crown Refs for giving back to the game and developing others. We hope you find value you in this episode which is designed to help you add new pieces to your tool belt.
Thank you to all of the officials, players and coaches that were featured in this content.
To watch click here https://youtu.be/FBtGfplo5Yc

Jun 26, 2020 โข 46min
#97 Dan Hughes | Seattle Storm Head Coach | 2018 WNBA Champion | 2-time WNBA Coach of Year
๐ฟ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐๐๐๐จ, is the 3rd winningest coach in WNBA history and currently in his 3rd season coaching the ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ. Coach Hughes is a 2018 WNBA champion, 2-time WNBA coach of the year and a 2019 cancer survivor. โฃ
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In this episode, our goal was to bridge some of the communication gaps between ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ and ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ and work towards finding a positive common ground as dual participants of the game. โฃ
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๐๐๐ข๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐จ. โฃ
๐ญ:๐ฏ๐ณ How to achieve success and longevity in your profession. โฃ
๐ฏ:๐ฐ๐ฎ How do you identify and great official? โฃ
๐ด:๐ฌ๐ฑ What do coaches like least about officials? โฃ
๐ต:๐ฐ๐ฑ How to tell when an official is nervous, weak or easily intimidated. โฃ
๐ญ๐ฒ:๐ฌ๐ฑ How can officials be better communicators? ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ฑ๐ฐ Complaining is counterproductive to winning. ๐ฎ๐ณ:๐ฑ๐ฎ A coachโs perspective on Technical Fouls. ๐ฏ๐ฌ:๐ญ๐ด How teams coach legal defense. โฃ
๐ฏ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ฒ How can coaches become better communicators? โฃ
๐ฏ๐ฒ:๐ฌ๐ฌ 2-way respect. โฃ
๐ฐ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฑ Bridging the Gap. โฃ
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๐บTo watch on YouTube โฌ๏ธโฃ
https://youtu.be/1f_qIzqhUSo

Jun 19, 2020 โข 20min
#96 Basketball is Back | The first games since the quarantine | with Raphael Benetiz
๐๐๐ basketball is back in the state of Florida which means there are officials working again. In this episode, we hear from one of the front-liners who has already worked multiple tournaments in facilities packed with fans. โฃ
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We welcome in ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ป to give us some insights on what it was like getting back on the court post-quarantine. We talked about some new safety measures, his upcoming camp schedule, and the difficulties in transitioning from the ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ค ๐ง๐ฐ๐น ๐บ๐ถ to the electronic whistle. โฃ
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We wish you all a safe return back to the court, whenever your area or state allows. โฃ
#๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ

Jun 17, 2020 โข 32min
#95 Game Notes 005 with Al Battista | 44 years of officiating experience| Washington, DC
In this edition of ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐๐จ, we welcome back special guest ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข as we analyze 5 plays from an ๐๐๐๐ and ๐๐๐๐ game. We hope you find value in the discussions and can add a few ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ to your belt from this episode.โฃ
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Here are the play types we that we broke down:โฃ
1) ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ/๐.๐. โฃ
2) ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ/๐๐ข๐ด๐ด โฃ
3) ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ด โฃ
4) ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ/๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ/๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ โฃ
5) ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ. โฃ
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Special Thanks to ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข for his numerous contributions to the ๐พ๐ง๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐จ๐ฉ and program. To watch those episode on YouTube clicks below. https://youtu.be/yCftV4vMMcU

Jun 4, 2020 โข 43min
#94 21 Questions to help you effectively break down film | with Al Battista
โHere are 21 questions that you can ask yourself as you are breaking down your next game.
๐ฉUse these markers as a template to help you better self-evaluate your performance.
๐จHopefully, this can inspire you to add more questions to your own list but more importantly increase your content knowledge and awareness as a true observer into the art of officiating.
1๏ธโฃDo you wear out the pause and rewind buttons?
2๏ธโฃAre you always finding your clocks?
3๏ธโฃHow do you referee plays to the basket and at the rim?
4๏ธโฃAre you patient enough in Lead or are you REACTING to incidental contact?
5๏ธโฃAre you in a dependable position or are you disconnected from the play?
6๏ธโฃAre you sideline oriented in Trial and Center or are you too far out onto the court?
7๏ธโฃDo you overrun plays in the Trail or do you stay centered on the ball line?
8๏ธโฃDo you referee to the top of your eyes or does your vision lack a vertical jump?
9๏ธโฃAre your rotations effective or is your timing and awareness off?
1๏ธโฃ0๏ธโฃAre you sequencing plays or do you struggle to recognize our order and timeline of rulings?
1๏ธโฃ1๏ธโฃDo you fight to get open angles or are you too stagnant?
1๏ธโฃ2๏ธโฃDo you walk into stacks or are you able to adjust to avoid them?
1๏ธโฃ3๏ธโฃDo you throw strikes in your secondary?
1๏ธโฃ4๏ธโฃDo you have good whistle timing?
1๏ธโฃ5๏ธโฃDo you show effort and urgency?
1๏ธโฃ6๏ธโฃDo you recognize which defenders can hurt you the most?
1๏ธโฃ7๏ธโฃDo you crack and cave under pressure?
1๏ธโฃ8๏ธโฃDo you work every possession hard?
1๏ธโฃ9๏ธโฃDo you have a feel for every game you work?
2๏ธโฃ0๏ธโฃWhen you miss a call do you go in a box?
2๏ธโฃ1๏ธโฃAre you improving with each performance on film?
To download THE GUIDE click here https://youtu.be/4_uI841xHd8

Jun 3, 2020 โข 20min
#93 Game Notes 004 with Marc Davis | 12 NBA Finals games | Chicago, IL
In this edition of Game Notes, we welcome in special guest and NBA referee Marc Davis. We broke down some plays from an NCAA game between Kansas vs Arizona State. We talked about a couple red flags for illegal screens and how slot side drives are the achilles heel of the 3 person system. He also touched on being in control of your angles and listed some criteria for block/charge plays in the lane. To watch this episode on YouTube click here https://youtu.be/VB4YYZjL9h4

Jun 1, 2020 โข 51min
#92 Marc Davis | Instruction through tension | 22-year NBA Official
In this episode, we bring you 22-year NBA vet Marc Davis. Marc has officiated 132 playoff games including 12 Finals games in his exceptional career. We speak about instruction through tension and identifying your emotions under pressure. We also learn about Marcโs journey through officiating and the importance of establishing a solid foundation of mentors to guide you along the way. He mentions a couple of items from red flag list and some play-calling guidelines to implement when we return from this basketball blackout. to watch this episode on YouTube click below https://youtu.be/EwTpG1t84l4

Apr 30, 2020 โข 9min
#91 Communication with Coaches | When is too much enough? | with Delvekio Rudd
Is it possible that sometimes we over-communicate with coaches and it gets us in trouble? When does the constant conversations become too much? How often do you engage in small-talk? All of these questions answered. To watch this episode click below. https://youtu.be/MLg3Lg03Cvo


