[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

In 3-man the official near the table is not responsible for the shooter. He is at half-court for the first of 2 free throws, which is halfway between both coaches, 16-20 ft. Additionally he can position himself to speak to the coach(es) if need be. In 2-man, the new trail has no leeway to do anything because he needs to be in position to monitor the free throw shooter.

Oh dear! I certainly hope that you aren't allowing the Trail to wander around out near the division line. According the the NFHS manual that isn't even close to where he belongs. Page 58 states that he should be at approximately the 28' mark in the frontcourt and that he should be assisting with FT violations and fouls. The only reason to be elsewhere is if there are players in the backcourt who require observation.
Having the Trail simply leave and go talk to a coach in near the division line or in the backcourt is to admit that he isn't needed and is having no involvement whatsoever with the observation of the FT activity.

Now that may be possible in 3-man because there are two other officials to handle those responsibilities, but I seriously doubt that was the intent of the system. It is just a liberty that some people take when working 3-man, and frankly it annoys me because I perceive it as that individual not doing his job or pulling his fair share of the load. As the C I don't want to be watching the players outside of the 3-pt line. That's the Trail's job. I want to be able to concentrate on the FT shooter and the players in my lane-spaces. I'm not interested in having to do my task as well as cover the Trail's responsibilities because he is off chatting with a coach.

You do rightly point out that the Trail has some important things to do in the 2-man system and can't be distracted from these duties by the desire of either of the coaches for a conversation. I agree that there is much less leeway with only two officials on the court than three. Your focus has to be maintained where it should be or you will certainly miss things.
But if the responsibilities of the Trail in 2-man during FT administration are so important, wouldn't it be better to have two people sharing that load? That would mean that the Trail in 3-man should remain in the frontcourt and make a meaningful contribution rather than abandoning the C to fulfill the task of the 2-man Trail. If the extra official isn't going to give this person any help, then why the heck is he out there?

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

In 3-man the lead and center can glance over at the table/benches to pick up any subs or T-O requests that the Trail might have missed.

And in 2-man the Lead can glance over at the table/benches to pick up any subs or T-O requests that the Trail might have missed.
It's just that there is only one person to do this rather than two, so it's a little more difficult.
It seems to me that your argument is merely saying that everything can be seen better by more officials, which is basically stating the obvious, and so why don't we go to 4-man or 5-man like HS football?

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Comparing the trail in 3-man and 2-man is apple/oranges.

Actually that can be said of comparing ANY aspect of 3-man and 2-man. With one fewer person, there is much less flexibility and far less leeway for people to be glancing around at things outside of their primary coverage areas.