College game last night.
Visiting team is making a comeback from 22 down and have cut the lead to 5 with 4 minutes to go and the teams are trading baskets.
With 1:13 to go Home team gets trapped on the sideline and has to call their last TO. My partners are taking care of the TO administration and having a discussion on the opposite side of the floor. The table crew has told them that the home team still has 1 time out left.
I am observing the home team and the coach tells his team they are out of TO's - as both teams are tracking them. One of my partners is telling the home team that they still have 1 TO left. I go over and tell them that the coach thinks he has no TO's left. The book does a quick recheck, 1 TO left for the home team. Can you smell the home cooking?
Coach has asked R, so if I call TO, you are not going to T me? "no, the book says you have one left"
R explains this to visiting team as well and we get ready to inbound the ball. I bounce the ball to the inbounder, who has trouble getting ball in, but does so on 4 count. Visitors trap the ball near midcourt, clock does not start for 4 or 5 seconds, the home team is able to split the trap and make a pass, AND the shot clock had been reset when the ball was caught by the home team. I remember looking at the clock 1:13 left and :13 left. The T and the C kill the play.
Now that we have fixed everything, the table sounds the horn. "I found the last TO, home team is out of TO's"
Both coaches are difficult in the best of situations. If home team had called a TO, the visiting coach likely goes crazy saying that the extra time out should be TF. If we TF the excessive TO, the home coach goes bananas which might get another TF.
Maybe we should start carrying pad and pen like football/soccer to track TO's ourselves?
