[JugglingReferee]

I'm going to assume that the game was a close one... and as such, I think it is terrible of the officials to allow this to happen with 30 seconds left.

Mike

Originally posted by Pirate
IMO, just because it might be the coach's or official's mistake/oversight, does not mean that this situation should be overlooked. The rule book does not give us the leeway (sp?) to determine which rules we enforce and which ones we do not. I know, I know, sometimes we have to use our "judgement" in making certain calls (see Rut's response). But, as an ex-coach, let me suggest that we (as officials) are better off if we make the calls we see or are aware of and forget the temptation to avoid certain calls due to an official's error. Are we there to save our butts or make the correct call???

Let me give you an example that happened in a district tournament game in which I was coaching many years ago. Game is tied with 30 seconds remaining, team A's basketball. Team A takes a timeout to substitute. Both teams use the timeout to discuss strategy. After the timeout, Team A inbounds and makes several passes. At that time, the Team B coach (me) notices that Team A did not remove a player and there are 6 Team A players on the floor. The officials, now aware that there are 6 Team A players on the floor, have no choice other than to "T" Team A (and remove the egg from their face for allowing such an incident to happen in the first place). We (Team B) make the free throws, get possession and hold on to win. Team B's coach didn't blame the officials for their call. In fact, if anything, he admitted to a lack of communication which led to the T. The lack of a call in this situation would simply have compounded the ugliness of the situation, in my opinion.