As the others have already said, your 30-year vets were dead wrong. Why do "vets" insist on doing things the same way year after year when the rules change? Why do these people refuse to change with the game?
Now a couple of points:
1. Whether or not the kid legally substituted prior to the beginning of the quarter, his entry became legal and he became a legal player when the ball became live. The people at the scorer's table were incorrect to say anything to the kid, if that is what happened. Furthermore, if there was a problem with this player (wrong number, not in the scorebook, etc.), the scorer must wait until his team has the ball or the ball is dead to notify the officials.
2. The simple solution here is to make the correct call. When you notice the kid leave the floor and sit down by the table, unless the opponent is in the act of scoring, whistle the play dead. You now have a great opportunity to straighten out the poor, confused kid. He comes back onto the floor and the opponent gets a throw-in near the table. No problems, everyone is happy and the game continues.
Two 30-year vets couldn't figure that out?
[Edited by Nevadaref on Nov 8th, 2005 at 11:41 PM]