Two Four Or Twenty Four ...

[Scrapper1]

This was settled for me a decade ago when Bktballref (Tony) just asked me, "is the number on the jersey 24 or 2-4? Report the number". Boom. Just made 100% sense to me.

[crosscountry55]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

This was settled for me a decade ago when Bktballref (Tony) just asked me, "is the number on the jersey 24 or 2-4? Report the number". Boom. Just made 100% sense to me.

Well there's another side of this, and that's diction. In maritime navigation, when you're on the radio with another ship telling him what course you're coming to, you don't say, "three hundred fifty-nine." You say "tree fife niner." Obviously when talking on a radio you exaggerate pronunciations in order to make sure you're heard. But the point is diction, i.e. making sure the recipient understands you clearly. I'm sure that was the basketball logic once upon a time.

With one hand it maybe made sense: verbal diction that matches the individual numerals. But with two hands when the speaker is in relatively close proximity to the scorer, I agree that speaking the whole number at once makes more sense and sounds a lot more professional.

[Jay R]

I'm going to the beer store

[JRutledge]

When I started officiating in the mid-90s, we were told to give each number. Part of is was to slow you down and I cannot think of anyone that did not know what you were saying. So if you had 24, you said "Two, four."

Another part of the reasoning is that people would say numbers like 13, 14, 15 and often not enunciate the numbers well and all would be heard was "teen" part and if you were not deliberate as well, you would be misunderstood. And your accent or loudness of your voice would also be an issue.

I have no problem with the new standard, but it was also silly to act like people did not know what two numbers meant. It usually helped the scorer know what you were saying. The only issue I have with the newer mechanic with two-hands is that officials would be so quick to report they would forget to do basics to report the foul.

Peace