The language isn’t exactly poetry, but there is a certain art to working a referee.

It’s a skill basketball coaches learn over years, not weeks, and knowing what to say is as important as knowing when to say it – or when not to say anything at all. The wrong word might result in a technical foul. The right one might turn an official’s eye the right way, or cause them to just drown out another voice from the sideline.

It’s a game within a game. Part psychology, part experience, and part gamesmanship. And it’s as much a part of basketball as dribbling and shooting.

&#8220The proximity of the officials to the coaches has something to do with it. In football, you’re so far away from them. There’s usually one guy who takes the brunt of the abuse,” laughed Art Spencer, who has refereed Mississippi High School Activities Association basketball and football games for 25 years. &#8220It’s a little more friendly in basketball than it is in football.”

Or at least it’s friendly with most coaches.

When it comes to talking to officials and trying to get them on your side, there are two schools of thought among Mississippi’s high school coaches. The first is the Bob Knight school – or, as it might be called in Mississippi, the Thomas Billups school.

Billups, the longtime Lanier coach, is famous for berating referees to get his point across. Like Knight, who uses similar tactics on the college level, it’s an act few coaches can pull off without drawing a warning or technical.

&#8220Can’t nobody else do that. Not and get away with it,” laughed Vicksburg High boys coach Dellie C. Robinson of the former Gator coach Billups. &#8220It’s a strange thing. But I guess if you’ve been doing it so long they know what to expect out of you.”

The other school of thought is the friendly approach. Many coaches, figuring officials will either ignore them or take comments the wrong way, simply prefer to keep their mouths shut for most of the game.

That tactic, Warren Central girls coach Donny Fuller said, helps you be heard when there actually is a problem.

&#8220I try not to show them up, and I’m not going to complain about everything. If you’re selective, they’ll listen to you,” said Fuller, who has coached basketball for 27 years. &#8220If you want officials to respect you, you have to respect them too. The older officials know who they’ll listen to and won’t listen to.”

Veteran coaches and officials readily admit they have an edge in the verbal tug-of-war that goes on during a game. Older coaches know what to say and who to say it to – usually, younger referees.

Likewise, older refs know when coaches have a point and when they’re just letting off steam or trying to work them over.

&#8220When you see a young coach, you try to pull some things you might not do normally. And when you see a young referee you jump on him early and get his attention,” said Robinson, a coaching veteran of 28 years. &#8220Younger refs are more receptive than others. The guys that have been at it for 15 or 20 years, they’re not paying attention to you.”

Or, at least, trying not to. Learning not to be swayed by a coach is tough for a referee, Spencer said.

There are tools available to help officials develop their skills. An online course is offered through the Mississippi High School Activities Association that teaches them how to handle comments from players, coaches and fans. Film study also helps, as do the postgame critiques coaches are required to submit.

Doing it right every time, however, only comes through plenty of practice and experience.

&#8220Really and truly, experience is the best teacher,” said Dennis Butler, a basketball referee from Vicksburg who has officiated games for 13 years. &#8220You can read and study all you want, but until you’re in it, have the crowd yelling at you, a hot gym, a real popular coach, you don’t know how to handle it.”

And when anyone – coach or referee – doesn’t handle it the right way, the result is immediate and obvious. Technical fouls can swing a game in a hurry, and even lighten the wallets of coaches. If a coach is given two technical fouls and ejected, they are fined $250 by the MHSAA.

Spencer said knowing that doesn’t make officials reluctant to call technicals, but it does make them be sure they’re warranted. Coaches are usually warned when their behavior is getting out of hand, and restricted to the bench. One technical can also be assessed during a game without an ejection.

Unlike their peers in the college and pro ranks, high school coaches rarely push things far enough to get a technical. Robinson said he’s only been ejected once in 28 years on the bench, and Fuller said he hasn’t had a technical in &#8220six or seven years.” Butler said he’s only assessed a few in his 13 years as a referee.

&#8220It’s not a reluctance. We give them a little slack. They’re doing their job when they’re trying to work you,” Butler said.

There are certain things that will ensure a technical, though. Questioning an official’s integrity or using profanity – it can range from &#8220mild” to &#8220strong” depending on the official calling the game – are a couple of sure-fire ways.

&#8220I think the line is profanity, but all of them have their pet peeves,” Warren Central boys coach Jesse Johnson said.

As long as that line isn’t crossed, though, the game between the coaches and referees will go on. One side looking for an edge and always believing they have it, the other doing its best not to allow the slightest crack in their stone-faced armor.

&#8220You try to get an advantage any way you can. Sometimes you’ll talk to them and sometimes you won’t,” Robinson said. &#8220They see one thing, and as a coach you see something else. And if you don’t get the call you’ve got to work them a little bit.”