[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by just another ref

The other night in a girls varsity game as time was winding down, team A scored a basket and signaled a time-out. I did not see the signal, but my partner did and granted it, AFTER team B had already inbounded the ball. When he saw where the ball was, he quickly "corrected" himself, said "No time out!" and pointed to award the ball back to team B on the endline. I thought that was what had happened, but did not think it was in the best interest of the game to shoot him down, no matter how subtly. I also thought at the time that perhaps he really had misunderstood and that there was no time-out signaled at all. When I got a chance later I asked and he confirmed my original suspicion that he had granted the timeout without realizing where the ball was. I told him that the rule was that the time-out, once granted, was allowed, even if granted improperly. He replied, "Oh, is that what it says in the book?" I think he believed me, but was totally unconcerned about the whole thing.

Would anyone else have stepped up to question this call as it happened?

If it were a close game - yes, I would have allowed the time-out and made him grant it . . . if it's a game where everyone is ready to leave and the coach really wasn't thinking - then get the ball back in bounds as quickly as you can!