# Gaze Behavior and Positioning of Referee Teams during Three-Point Shots in Basketball
## 4 Discussion  
A frame-by-frame analysis of expert basketball referees' gaze behavior during three-point shots in pre-season games of the men's highest German basketball league was carried out. This was completed to determine the extent to which referees perform the tasks assigned to them and to generally describe their gaze behavior during a three-point shot (as an avenue for performance improvement). The results showed that while being positioned near the shot attempt, most of the time, the referees fulfilled their primary responsibilities, as defined by the federation (FIBA). When the referees were positioned away from the attempt and their primary areas of responsibility, their gaze deviated, and this deviation increased significantly the farther they were from the shot attempt (especially before the ball had left the hand of the three-point shooter). Moreover, in general, the gaze of the referees varied between phases of the shot as a function of distance to the ball as well as to the referee's incumbent role (Lead, Center, Trail). That is, the general gaze of the referees seems to be the most affected factor due to physical distance from the shot attempt during a three-point shot with the areas of their responsibility (according to FIBA guidelines). The Lead referees were found to look less often at the basket (especially at the end of the shot), but more often at the players inside the shot zone, who may be trying to \"outrebound\" their opponent. Additionally, the movement of gaze from areas predominantly close to the shooter to areas closer to the basket and battles for a good rebound positioning, is in line with FIBA requirements. The fact that the referee (Center or Trail) closest to the shooter spent more time looking at the basket, means they were highly likely to observe shot outcome, goalending, etc., and this exactly meets the FIBA guidelines for the referees closest to the shooter (watch the shooter/defender first, after which gaze should be directed at the basket area). According to our findings, the only pattern of gaze that did not correspond well with FIBA requirements was that of the referees who were farther away from the ball (Center or Trail), looking at the shooter most often, even though the focus of attention should have been on activities in the zone and on players getting in position for a potential rebound (active matchups). This increases the risk of missing out critical information on the game action happening away from the ball. One wouldn't perceive what one does not focus on/attend to [23] when not using peripheral vision [24]. Therefore, this does not seem to be a pattern of gaze behavior that seems beneficial for decision-making quality. Future research would need to analyze if this pattern of gaze leads to referee teams missing critical information. If so, it would support the claim that not only the knowledge and application (of the laws of the game), the judgements in the context of game action, the fitness and positioning of the referees, and the personality and management skills of the referees are important for good officiating [15] but also the gaze (individually and as a team) predicts the quality of decision making of referee teams to a certain extent [14]. However, besides that, there were no clear indications that referees (Center or Trail), who were not directly responsible for observing the zone and players, spent more time looking at the actual shot and its outcome, i.e., ball watching (looking at the shooter in phase 1 and the ball/basket in phase 2 and 3). Although at first sight it appeared that the referees (Center or Trail) who were farther away from the ball spent more time looking at the actual shot rather than their primary areas of responsibility, it was only so at the beginning of the shot.