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Originally Posted by Old School
I tend to agree with you too, but refereeing is not an exact science. I gave you one example where I may not have started my count exactly at the time the player receives the ball, backcourt to frontcourt. Players dribbling up the court, no pressure and you're not even counting with your arms b/c he's almost over the half court line. All of a sudden he loses control of the ball, stops his dribble, or the defense pops up and traps the ball. Now, if I haven't shown a count, I would say we are at about 3 or 4 seconds and start my count from there, instead of starting my backcourt count over at zero b/c I didn't start a backcourt count with my arms. I don't think that's right either.
Another example: Shot clock reads 23 and my hand count is 9, or shot clock reads 27 and my hand count is 10. Am I not going to call a violation because my count doesn't match the shot clock? In as much as possible I agree that the arm count should match the invisible count, but it is not an absolute. Hopefully, this type of thing won't determine the outcome of a game, if called, but continued mismatch of arm and invisible count, could show some inconsistency in officiating mechanics.
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That is why an official should ALWAYS show their count, even if they "start" their count "a little late," or they don't think the count is going to have an impact. No way to fudge the outcome. It doesn't matter if the ball handler is walking up the floor uncontested, I show my BC count. OOB throw-in, same thing. I ALWAYS show my count, and when I am evaluating other officials, I tell them the same thing. The VISIBLE count is there for a reason, and we need to use effectively and efficiently, every time.
As for the shot clock (or game clock), if your count is FAST, adjust the speed of your count from that point forward to accomodate the discrepancy. EVERY evaluator and assignor I have ever had has told me, it is always a good idea to be "a little" slow on your counts. It you start a count "a little" late, then you are already slow, and continue from there. JMO