[Berkut]

Team A is up by 1 late in the game.

A is inbounding the ball, and B is looking to foul.

A34 is fouled after getting the ball, and A is in the bonus, so we will shoot 1 and 1.

We are all lined up, with A34 ready to shoot the front end. He looks perfectly fine.

B calls timeout.

DUring the timeout, A's coach comes over and says "My player got poked in the eye, and will need a sub - can I send in a sub to shoot his free throw(s)?"

I know A34 is a bench player, he isn't very good, and he looked perfectly fine to me - certainly did not see him get poked in the eye or anywhere else on the play. I tell the coach that no, A34 would have to shoot his own free throws. Coach kind of grins and says ok.

A34 hits them both, A wins the game after some small amount of additional drama not relevant to the situation.

So - should I have let him sub? Is it my place to make any kind of judgement call on a reported injury? He didn't make an issue out of it, but what if he had insisted that A34 could not come back in the game?

I honestly and truly think that A34 was not at all injured, and they were seeing if they could sneak in a better free throw shooter. I thought it at the time, I still think it right now.