Could I have done anything?
 

Here's my situation from last night's college game.

With about 6 minutes remaining in the 2nd half, Team A attempts a try, which is unsuccessful. Before either team gains control, A5 intentionally bats the ball into Team A's backcourt, where A1 is the first to touch the ball.

My partner at T (R on the game) blows the whistle for a backcourt violation.

As I start to walk to T to discuss it, my other partner (U1) gets there first and they discuss the play. Players are all still on the court, so I do not join the conversation. I am watching the players.

Whistle blows and U1 points toward Team A and moves back toward his position in the frontcourt. Ok, good.

R then says to me, "Team B ball!" and directs everyone to the other end of the court. U1 (never having gotten back to his original position) hustles to the other end and does not re-engage the R.

So what do I do here? We've already stopped the game once. We've had a long (too long) conversation. We've had confusion. And we've stayed with the original incorrect call.

Do I stop the game again? Do I take a crack at changing the R's mind? If I do this, don't I make the crew look worse? "Come on, make up your mind!"

What I actually did was nothing. In the confusion, I felt like I would just be extending the bad situation.

So at the next TO, I'm next to the U1 and ask what happened. He said the R was 100% that there was control. (In the locker room after the game, he said it was a controlled tap.) He wanted to stay with the call and he would take the responsibility for the call.

So here's my honest question. Should I have taken my turn at trying to change the R's mind?

The team that was called for the violation lost by 2.

My thoughts...
 

First, let me say this is a tough play - and judgment rules the day with respect to 'controlled tap.'

In my pregames, we always talk about bringing information when you're on the floor, not back in the locker room. That said, if you were going to bring your information, it should've been during the crew conference, not a 2nd conference.

I think what you did was right - because your partners assumed (correctly) you didn't have an opinion on the play since you didn't join the conversation. If you had something, no harm in sending players to their benches while the three of you discuss.

Does a player have to "control" the ball to make it "intentionally" go somewhere?

No. (except where defined by rule, as in a tap for a basket)

So is this a judgment call as to whether the tap was sufficiently controlled to warrant determining team control in the front court? What do you rely on for that judgment?

Could a pass or rebound be "tapped" by a player to teammate who scores and get credit for an assist?

I absolutely did have an opinion. But it was so obviously an incorrect call that I (stupidly) assumed that my U1 was going to bring the information and the call would be corrected.

I should have sent the teams to the benches and been part of the original conversation, but I honestly didn't think my input would be necessary. Again, stupidly.

The question for me is what should/could I have done after the initial conference.

Nobody in stripes could care less who gets credit for an assist. The real question on this type of play is "would you grant a TO to a player who is "tapping" the ball to a teammate?".

There is a correlation. If you can't see it then stick to your back court violation. It is the safe call but I am not convinced it is the correct call. Either way, I would not worry about stopping a game to convince my partner. I would back him up on either call.

What is the correlation that you're referring to?

I don't know about safe, but it was definitely NOT the correct call.

Three officials should not be conferencing at the same time unless the teams are at their benches. So by the time he realized what was going on it is way too late to send the teams to their benches.

If this were the last two or three minutes of the game I would do so. But in this situation I'm going to let the crew chief live with his call.

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Sounds like you have it all figured out then.

If I think a player intentionally batted the ball into the backcourt, that would probably be enough for me to say he had control, maybe... Just my thought...

I think the only thing you could've done was send the team's to the benches and join the initial conference once you saw how long it was taking. That being said, it sounds like even if you did that, the official who made the call was convinced that the tap established "control" and was not going to change the call. The last thing we want is an argument on the floor. Did either coach say anything? What did the film show? Did you send it to your coordinator for his/her opinion? Information was brought to the official who made the call and he decided to not accept the information. That is about all you could do.

So you are saying that if A2 bats the ball away from B2 during the course of rebounding action, you would call a violation when A1 retrieves the ball from the back court?