[PG_Ref]

Originally Posted by BoomerSooner

If you're leading us to the "can't punish what you don't see" answer, I'm concerned about how to penalize verbal unsporting acts (taunting, threats, etc) unless we see the offending person's lips moving. I've never seen language such as, "It is a violation when...and the official sees it". If seeing something is the standard for enforcing a penalty, the criminal justice system (specifically the value of forensic sciences) is about to take a number of steps back.

That said, I feel there are certain things that occur that we don't see but have enough evidence to know what occurred and should be penalized as described by rule as long as we are able to do so within a reasonable time period. This is one of those circumstances where if you know the player didn't leave the visual confines of the court but his/her uniform is in compliance with the rules after the team breaks the huddle, you know what happened. Conversely if a team member changes on the bench during play and you didn't see it, unless there is some unique circumstance that gives you absolute knowledge that he/she didn't leave the visual confines of the court, you shouldn't penalize it.

The same principle is used when there are six players participating in the game at the same time. If the officials did not observe (see) six on the court, a technical foul cannot be assessed. That's what he's getting at.