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I know this being my first post, my introduction of myself might come off as a little brash. I understand about first impressions and I am really not here just to cause a ruckus, however it may have appeared initially.
Here is a situation where I actually pulled out a rulebook. Tell me how out of line I am.
My team is down 15 - 20 points throughout the game, we are playing horribly and are lucky to only be down this much. We start to make some shots and play a little defense, so we make a 4th quarter run and with about 1:48 or so left, we cut the lead to 5. By the way, the officials have done a pretty decent job and I am definitely not the type to be screaming at officials throughout the game. Anyways, down 5 with 1:48 left, opposing team is on the line for a 1 and 1. As we have been doing all game (and all season long), we have our 4 players along the lane and our 5th player is lined up above the freethrow line extended outside the 3pt arc, opposite his teammate who is supposed to boxout the freethrower. Before the baseline ref gives the shooter the ball, the ref along the sideline tells my player he must line up "above the top of the key". I tell my player we really need this looseball, line up where youre supposed to be. The ref then puts his arm out to move my player back and tells him to line up above the top of the key. Again, i tell my guy to line up where he is supposed to be, we need this rebound. As the baseline ref tosses the ball to the shooter, the sideline ref moves my player about 5 feet behind the top of the key and walks over to me to tell me "listen coach, you really need to know the rules before you cost your team a point if he misses". Up until this point, i have not said anything to the ref at all.
The shooter shoots the FT and as luck would have it, the rebound lands exactly where my player is supposed to be. The ball actually bounces on the floor before the opposing player picks up the ball and they score a layup.
We take the ball and drive to the hoop and get fouled. While the players are setting up to shoot the FTs, the ref again comes towards my bench and tells me "yeah, you really need to know the rules". I tell the ref "I read the rulebook cover to cover once a week". One of my players comes to the bench area to ask what defense we should go into and when we should foul. He is in front of the bench area, above the freethrow line extended but below the top of the key extended. The reft tells him he needs to move or he will cost his teammate a point, and that "your coach really needs to know the rules."
He has now told me I need to know the rule 3 times. A rule that he is wrong about, that cost my team a valuable possession at a strategic part of the game. A rule that will come into play again since we are losing and time is winding down so we will need to foul to stop the clock and hope they miss freethrows. So we foul again and the opposition is at the line for its last 1 and 1 before double bonus. Again, the same ref tells my player to move back and while doing so looks in my direction and starts laughing and shaking his head.... what would you do?
Now strategically, down by 5 with 1:40something on the clock and the ball, if we score, we do not have to foul purposely if we can score on our possession, maybe down 3 with 1:20 or so left. Instead we were down 6 with 1:03 left and have to foul. If they make 2 FTs or get another long rebound that my player should have been permitted position to retrieve, its highly improbable we can come back without any major luck.
So while the opposition is bouncing the ball, preparing to shoot his FT, I pull out my rulebook. Rule 8 Art 5 was pretty easy to find since its pretty close to the exact middle of the booklet. I read the rule to the ref: ANY PLAYER, OTHER THAN THE FREE THROWER, WHO DOES NOT OCCUPY A MARKED LANE SPACE MUST BE BEHIND THE FREE-THROW LINE EXTENDED AND BEHIND THE THREE-POINT LINE.
By the way, we end up losing that game by 8 or 9 but we did not play well enough to deserve to win the game even though the guys showed a little heart by fighting its way back.
to the officials out there: What would you recommend I do in this situation?
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