Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
I often like to scrutinize rules by looking at extremes.
Pregame coaches/captains conference: "Hey BillyMac, I'm going to want a thirty second timeout at the first dead ball after the two minute mark of the first period". BillyMac, "Sure coach, let me write that down."
Also extreme: Team A has the ball in their frontcourt. Team A coach, "Hey BillyMac, I want a sixty second timeout after we score". Team A doesn't' score. Team B gets a rebound and moves upcourt where they shoot and miss. Team A gets a rebound, moves upcourt where they score. BillyMac: "Sixty second timeout granted to Team A". Team A coach, "No, I wanted it back then". BillyMac: "You said you wanted a sixty second timeout after you scored, and you just scored".
Or: Team A has the ball in their frontcourt. Team A coach, "Hey BillyMac, I want a sixty second timeout after we score". Team A doesn't score. Team B gets a rebound and moves upcourt where they shoot and miss. Team A gets a rebound, moves upcourt where they score. No time out is orally or visually requested, nor is one granted. Team B inbounds the ball, easily breaks the hastily set up full court press, and moves upcourt. Team A coach, "Hey BillyMac, I said I wanted a sixty second timeout after we scored, and we just scored. What's the story?".
I'm not a big fan of taking time out reservations in advance, just walk-in timeouts.
But If a coach preorders (sorry, mixed metaphors), I will pay close attention to get his timeout granted in a timely manner.
Again, when in Rome. |
Indeed, slippery slope applies however, that is because you are, essentially, using the entire game as the qualifying scenario.
If an official is going to honor the pre-requests, then the scenario needs to be narrowed, and it is strongly encouraged that you advise the coach to still verbally request it. If not, a coach could always argue that they did not request it earlier, making the official look very bad.
For me, the scenario is narrowed to be only during a certain period of the game. The pre-request is made during dead ball period immediately before live ball period when actual request takes place.
This eliminates your extreme cases and I cannot think of any other times when this protocol would not work as strategically designed by the coach.
IOW, use your judgement when applying this technique. Allow it as strategic points in the game where it would be logical on the coach's part.