[M&M Guy]

How late is too late?

Next week.

Seriously, having a patient whistle is a good thing. It allows you to see the whole play and its' consequences. If you see a bump, and the player plays through it and gets past the defender, there may not be a need to blow the whistle. I saw that play happen at camp this past weekend - A1 got bumped on a drive about the free throw line, made it past the defender, and went in for an easy layup. The coach asked the official why they didn't call the foul, and the official replied, "Do you want me to wipe off the basket and give you the ball out-of-bounds instead?" You could see the light bulb go on in the coach's head.

Granted, maybe there is a time that would be too late, such as the next quarter. "Gee, coach, I didn't realize you were going to be this far behind, so I decided to give you that foul back at the 3 minute mark of the first quarter"... In your play however, if you blew the whistle after the steal, I would perhaps sell it a little more, but it's still an easier explanation that the call was a little late, rather than trying to explain not making the call at all.