I was observing a first-year official at a boys jv game tonight when the following occurred:
Team A took a shot. A1, B1, and B2 all tried to rebound the ball. Lead blew the whistle and displayed a closed fist, but gave no indication about who fouled. When he got to the table, he reported the foul on B1. A1 was the only player for team A in the vicinity of B1. The calling official beckoned four substitutes into the game, including A6 who replaced A1. The new lead moved to the endline to administer the frontcourt throw-in. At just about the time he handed the ball to the team A player for the throw-in, Rrnt! (At least that's what this horn sounded like.
) If I were splitting hairs, I would say the ball was at the disposal of the thrower before the horn sounded, but it was fairly close. The table informed the officials that team A should be shooting 1 and 1. The lead whistled and took the ball back from the thrower. Now both officials looked confused and were, of course, unable to find the player who should be shooting. One of the officials, a veteran of 41 seasons, picked a player on the court and had him shoot the free throws. I don't know if anybody on either bench realized what had happened, and the game was a blowout by this point so it had no meaningful impact on the outcome of the game.
I understand that many mistakes were made, however, once the official made the mistake of allowing the substitute for the shooter to enter the game, how does the official get out of the situation? It seems to me that if they knew the correct shooter they could have "un-substituted" him had him shoot the free throws. Is this allowable by rule? Would it matter if the ball was already at the disposal of the player throwing the ball in? Would it matter if throw-in had been completed? What if there had already been a change of possession? What if A6 was fouled during the throw-in?