[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

GJV. Time out called, passes, ends. As P (T) is administering the throw-in to red, I'm trying to count players. Ball is inbounded, clock starts, players are passing the ball around, I realize there are only four red players. About that time, a red player who had been in the game before the TO jumps up and runs onto the floor. Easy T.

Okay, I know it shouldn't have happened, and if I'd been administering, it wouldn't have. Partner had been explaining a rule or something to the player who was inbounding and hadn't counted. I wasn't sure whether I was seeing everyone or not, so I didn't stop the action early enough.

Now, is this an individual T? We gave it to her, made sure they added it to the team total, and played on. At half-time, I was talking to the Varsity guys about it. We got all confused about team vs bench vs individual vs any other kind of technical and which kind gets the indirect onto the coach.

Came home and looked it up. We goofed. It's a team technical (10-1-9), no indirect on the coach, no individual gets a T.

Then, I had some questions. Is there such a thing as a bench technical that isn't also an individual technical? I can't tell if you can just give a T to the bench in general without specifying a certain person.

During a time-out, all team members are bench personnel. So when only four players enter the court, isn't that fifth player who's sitting on the bench by mistake still a bench personnel? So why isn't this a bench technical?

And why can't a JV coach even count to 5??

You have discovered the proper rule in 10-1-9 and are now correct that this is a TEAM technical.

Why that is true is because you are incorrect about what I put in red. The five players remain players during a time-out. It is during an intermission that all players become bench personnel. That is an important distinction.

SECTION 34 PLAYERS/BENCH PERSONNEL/SUBSTITUTES/TEAM MEMBERS
ART. 1 . . . A player is one of five team members who are legally on the court at any given time, except intermission.
ART. 2 . . . Bench personnel are all individuals who are part of or affiliated with a team, including, but not limited to: substitutes, coaches, manager(s) and statistician(s). During an intermission, all team members are bench personnel.

Lastly, your question about charging the bench with a Team T is often asked. The answer is that generally you should NOT do this. You should be able to identify a specific offender and assess the direct T to that individual. However, there are certain instances in which it would be appropriate to issue a Team T to the bench and that would also carry an indirect to the Head Coach. If a number of team members on the bench engage in unsporting conduct or remove their jerseys, it is not the intent of the rules to penalize each individual with a technical foul. You just go with a Team T.
There was an interp on this last year:

2005-06 NFHS Basketball Rules Interpretations
SITUATION 4: During the pregame warm-up, the 12 members of Team A are wearing warm-up tops, but not their team jerseys. Approximately one minute prior to the opening jump ball, the 12 Team A members go to the team bench, remove the warm-up tops and put on the team jerseys. RULING: One technical foul is charged to Team A, and it is also charged indirectly to the head coach. COMMENT: In a situation where similar multiple infractions occur at the same time, it is not the intent of the rules to penalize each individual infraction as a separate technical foul. (3-4-15; 10-4-1h)


Also, if you positively know that someone on the bench said or did something unsporting, but you aren't sure who the guilty party is you can go with just a Team T to the bench. I strongly attempt to avoid this last example.