Quote:
Originally Posted by jezell
Referee administering the free signals 2 free throws. The true situation was 1 and 1. The referee just had a brain freeze and missed up. The first free throw is attempted and missed. All the players stood in place and pushed the ball to the referee. The referee "now" realizes his mistake. Which team should get the ball ?
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The reality here is that at least THREE people "missed up":
1. The Administering referee,
2. His/her partner(s),
3. The Official Scorer.
In addition, a FOURTH and, possibly, a FIFTH person were also asleep at the switch:
1. Coach of defensive team,
2. Scorekeeper for the defensive team (if not the home team).
On EACH AND EVERY free throw the administering official should signal verbally and visually to the players (and everyone else) how many free throws are being taken. This information should be received by his/her partner(s). In addition, in Central Ohio, the trail in 2-person or Center in 3-person MIRRORS the number of shots signal to the SCORER (the Trail in 3-person would also see this signal). In BOTH cases, the Trail would have been the calling official and should have communicated with the table how many shots should have been taken.
As soon as the administering official gave the signal for 2 shots, his/her partner(s) should have IMMEDIATELY sounded their whistle. If that did not happen, the SCORER should have requested the TIMER to sound the horn IMMEDIATELY.
If none of this happened, I assure you that as the defensive coach, I would have known the situation and would have clearly communicated with the administering official since I would have been telling my players to "box and get the ball". My scorer would also have been reminding me that it was a 1-and-1 as well immediately after the foul was reported. If I had a timeout left, I would have been communicating to the offficiating team that I would be requesting a timeout if either shot was missed (and then requesting said timeout at the appropriate time). I would not have called a timeout on the make, instead requesting one after the ball had been inbounded (hopefully near the division line).
BOTTOM LINE: A brain fart by ONE OFFICIAL should NEVER have gotten to the point of preventing the defensive team from having a chance to get the ball. While the ADMINISTERING OFFICIAL may have made the blunder, he/she was far from by himself/herself in the Ship of Stupidity.