[Dave Brost]

If the ball is readily available to the inbounder, whether that player is OOB or not, it should then be considered at the disposal of the player, thus the 5-second count should start. This keeps a team from killing time off the clock at the end of a game, or from giving the inbounding team an advantage by being able to "read" the defense on a press, before actually beginning the inbounds.