I agree with Rich's point that a "do over" in this situation makes logical sense, but the problem is the myriad of what ifs that come in to play. The rule was written the way it was to provide a consistent way to deal with this situation and avoiding the various things that might happen after the throw-in is completed. Obviously it makes sense in the situation presented because only 4 seconds elapsed, but what if it had been 30 seconds? Do we still have a do over? What if the defense had committed a foul and it was discovered at that point? Do we still have a do over including erasing the foul? What if the offense had called a timeout and it was discovered then? Do we still have a do over and give the timeout back? I'm sure we could come up with logical ways to handle all of these, but the door is wide open for random decisions by officials if it isn't supported by the rules.
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My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush
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