Quote:
Originally Posted by Berkut
Why do we do this?
There is this incredibly loud horn, then we stand there and state the freaking obvious...that yes, that loud horn was in fact the first horn, so maybe pretty please could you break your huddle and come out and play basketball now?
Seriously - I feel like an idiot every time I do that. They know it was the first horn, so why do I have to tell them? They know that 15 seconds later there will be a second horn as well. If they cannot hear the very loud buzzing noise, then certainly they cannot hear me telling them there was just a very loud buzzing noise, right?
Of course, they aren't going to break their huddle until that second horn anyway, so why bother?
The answer: because someone thinks that we should get the game going faster, and rather than just having the balls to do what is necessary to accomplish that, we are going to *pretend* to do something about it, rather than *actually* do something about it.
If we really want the clock to start at that second horn, then we should be instructed to not tell them anything they already know, and simply place the ball in play after the second horn. Problem solved, if we did this every time.
Alternatively, if it isn't that important, then we should continue to tolerate the huddle breaking some number of seconds after the second horn, and the ball being put into play some number of seconds later.
In either case, I don't see the point in us standing there telling them something they already know.
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First of all, some officials are quick to get the clock started on a time out -- getting the clock started well before the players are even close to being in the bench area. Solution: Wait until the teams are near the bench area (determine the type of time out during this interval), report the time out and have the timer start the clock. This allows a 30 second time-out to be close to 30 seconds (actually, effectively about 22 - 24 seconds). I have never understood (other than greed and selfishness) why an official is in such a hurry to shorten an already-short event even further.
As JRut pointed out, the purpose of the communication is to get the "still-huddled" team ready for play by the 2nd horn. I will give the teams a quick instruction as well (whose ball, run of baseline, direction of throw-in, etc. along with number of time outs left if 2 or less). These instructions are much more useful for the sub-varsity games, but there are times when a sub has entered the game during the time out and knowing where the ball is to be put in play is helpful -- and gets the teams to the right spot quicker.
We really do not have a problem with delays after the second horn. I have virtually never had to place the ball on the ground -- I HATE that mechanic. We try to use the first horn as the indication that play will begin shortly. I expect to resume about 5 seconds or so after the second horn -- and usually, we do.
But, even if one of the teams takes an extra 10 seconds getting out of EVERY HUDDLE for EVERY TIME OUT we have added less than TWO MINUTES to the overall length of a game (assuming each team takes their full complement of 5 time outs). Not that it has ever happened, but if it had, Berkut, are you willing to get your underwear in a bunch over TWO MINUTES???
The mechanic is in place to keep the game moving at a reasonable pace AND to signify the end of legal subs before the ball is put in play. It is not to prove that you heard the horn.
Relax. Enjoy the game. Life is too short to be worrying about a couple seconds here and a couple seconds there. Heck, you probably wasted that much time just reading this post. Use Reading Resumption Procedures and get to the next post, quickly.