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Old Wed Mar 12, 2008, 12:55pm
Jurassic Referee Jurassic Referee is offline
In Memoriam
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Hell
Posts: 20,211
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrapper1
Being aware is great, but the ballhandler was triple-teamed in the backcourt. That probably means that we have 10 players and so (hopefully) 3 officials in the backcourt. So which official exactly should turn his/her attention away from this high-intensity situation because they think the coach might want a timeout? Should it be the new Trail, who is responsible for the endline out of bounds call? Should it be the Center, who is helping with the contact (or, if the ball is on the C's side, has primary responsibility for the play)? Or should it be the new Lead who is responsible for 6 players who are scrambling to either get open or play deny defense?

The coach can request a timeout all he/she wants. The officials' first priority is to the play on the court. IF the play is such that the official can look away to verify the request, then he/she can grant it. But in a case like this, screw the timeout request. Officiate the freakin' play. If the coach has really been coaching, then the kids should know that they can request the timeout themselves.
Very well stated. Stoopid rule.

From POE 3A in last year's FED rulebook...."Coaches attempting to call a timeout during playing action is a continuing problem. When player control is lost, officials must concentrate on playing action while attempting to determine if a timeout should be granted." The same rationale applies to this situation.
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