[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

If the clock doesn't do 10ths of a second, 1 second resolution is the best you've got. So it's 1 second, or 0 seconds. Take your pick. Welcome back to the 1980's.

Well, then I'm taking off my purple leisure suit, putting on my striped shirt with a collar, and declaring the game over because back in the 1980's there was the rule on lag time, where the official was required to allow 1 second to run off because of a timer's reaction time.

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

Can you honestly tell me your arm swing is exactly 5 seconds and not 4.8 or 5.5 seconds? How close to three seconds is your mental "one-thousand-one"? The rules allow for some pretty inaccurate "definite information," giving tacit acknowledgement that "the best we can do" is the best that we've got.

I agree, but there is still a difference between "accurate" and "definite", and the rules allow for an official's count, even if it is inaccurate.

Look at case play 5.10.1 Sit. B - The ball is inbounded by A in the backcourt with 12 seconds left, A2 continues to dribble in the backcourt the official loses track of his count, and the clock expires. The ruling is the game is over. How come? If I was to do what's "fair", I would say there should've been a 10-second violation, put 2 seconds on the clock, and give the ball to B for a throw-in. But that is not what happens.

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

I am equally screwed if the replay shows there is .8 seconds and my crew ended the game because we didn't know how much time to put on the clock. Sure, we'd be right by rule. But we're still screwed.

Screwed? Yes in both cases. But I would rather screw up a mechanic than a rule. And putting up time without definite information as provided by the rules would be screwing up a rule.

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

I submit that all of that information contributes to "definite knowledge". You know there was a discernible gap between the whistle and the horn. You know that the time on the clock when the whistle was blown was the amount of time it takes to blow then look. You know the timer reacted immediately, but was unable to stop the clock in time. Put all that together, and you should be able to come to an estimate that is accurate to 1 or 2 10ths, and a heck of a lot more accurate than are allowed when timing something with an arm swing.

I understand your thinking. However, how do you explain 5-6-2, Art. 2 & 3?

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

Funny how inexact "definite knowledge" can be.

Not according to the rules.