Had a game this last weekend with similar explosive events. An out of district team just got moved up from 3A into the 4A division. They're getting their clocks cleaned all around the state - 0-7 for the season.
Early in the 4th quarter, they're losing this one by about 20 when suddenly a home team player comes flying in, soundly checks his opponent, lands on him, slams the ball to the floor, and does an instantaneous war hoop in his face.
I've already tweeted the shooting foul and I'm immediately thinking T-bone. But the player quickly turns and walks away. Get in there quick Tony! Thankfully the home player was walking away from the potential fight.
A T was probably still warranted. But everything now seemed quiet. With my hand on his back, I said "walk with me out here." And he did without any hesitation. "You clobbered him on that. You slammed the ball down. You yelled in his face. Those are technical fouls. You've got to calm down." Well, he's pushing me all over. "I've seen a little of it. I'll watch a little closer. But you calm down alright?"
I report the shooting foul. The coach substituted for him. Shortly thereafter I was able to talk with the other player "You're doing a lot of pushing on rebounds and on defense in general. That rebound and put back you just got was because you pushed the defender out of the way. You've gotta knock off the pushing. Hold your spot but don't push other people out of the way."
T was the right call. But what I did seemed to work. Another 5 minutes of well contested play. Neither coach seemed upset and no more pushing and hollering. Guess I got lucky.
