The one thing I hear from officials that makes me cringe
 

When I read posts and fellow officials say "I am not going to..." I wonder about that official. Example-- "I am not going to ask a coach twice about whether its a 30 or 60" I am just curious-- are you doing something at that moment that is more important? A milliion things are going on in a coach's mind at a point in the game when he or she needs a timeout-- and him not communicating perfectly with you is not something to get in a power struggle over. I see controlling the flow of a game is #3 on (my) list of priorities (#1 keeping game safe, #2 preventing one team from gaining unfair advantage). <BTW #4 if looking sharp out there, but that's a different post> Why not be the kind of official that works hard to keep game flowing smoothly, and putting forth a little effort to communicate with a coach can help greatly with that. Why do you have to be "that official" that thinks it's polemic situation-- "my way or the highway" attitude. Note, this post does not deal with any rule issues, as there is never a good excuse for ignoring the rules-- it's about being a LEADER on the floor rather than a DICTATOR, and often choosing to be "smart and effective" rather than "proving you are the boss"

Let the flames begin--

Yeah, I'm not going to chase a coach into his huddle and ask them what type of time-out they want. I'm not dictating anything. I ask, I don't get an answer, then I'm moving on to my duties, which include letting the opposing coach know what type of T-O is being assessed and reporting the T-O to the table.

Last I checked, there are 2 teams on the court, and the other team has a right to know how much time they have so they can properly prioritize what they are going to discuss during the T-O.

Leadership means running the game, not letting the game run you. There are also coaches who don't want officials coming into their huddle and asking questions that have obvious answers. Smart and effective means taking in context clues and making decisions without running over to the coach to prove how good of a communicator you are. :rolleyes:

+1 Raymond. And I’m not here to be a dictator or be involved in a power struggle.

As a part of my pregame, I end with “coaches, let us know 30’s or fulls”. I’m simply expecting them to be able to comply with a simple request. Let’s not make it anymore difficult than it is.


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OP here-- I agree with Dennis
 

Dennis-- I'd be on your crew anyday. The kind of pragmatic leadership you describe is exactly what I value. If you know what the coach wants, but he does not overtly say it-- move on. I totally agree. My beef is with the kind of official that I described in my opening sentence.. one who says "I am not going too..." who would choose to make life difficult for the coach just because he can is the kind of guy I don't want on my crew.

I do not say that at all in the pre-game. I honestly do not need to tell them that, they know what their job is and that is to tell me what kind of timeout they have. If they do not tell me or I cannot get some solid indication, I am going with a full timeout. It is really that simple. And I have only had a issue a couple of times in my career and the coach was trying to be obstinate. The vast majority of times, the coach tell us even when asked.

Peace

You all keep referring to full timeouts and 30 second timeouts. I'm going to have to assume that a full timeout is a 60 second timeout even though no one has explicitly stated that here.

Does that mean that a 30 second timeout is a half-timeout?

I don't want a guy on my crew who doesn't realize there are 2 coaches who require communication and is ignoring the non-calling coach, who is standing there waiting to find out the length of the T-O.

I'm pedantic (it's an end line, not a baseline), but that's overly pedantic IMO.

I thought he meant to make the font blue.....

If he didn't, he will certainly have to get over it. ;)

Peace

Sixty It Is ...
 

Agree. That's exactly how we're told to handle it here in my little corner of Connecticut (except "Full" is frowned upon, our evaluators prefer "Sixty").

I usually report it as a "shorty."

The timeout should start when the players for both teams are at their benches. If the players are at the bench, and the timeout should start, I'm not going to hold things up because a coach... Who asked for the TO in the first place... Won't answer a simple question.

Btw, if a player asked for the TO then the coach has no excuse.

We already have to be the "bigger men" while coaches rant and rave, now you want us to hold your hand and help you call a freakin timeout. I don't think so.

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This is great. Do you guys do a round of shots as well?

I hate coaches who just plain ol don't take responsibility for their and/or players actions, complain about everything, just like to make noise to make noise, who are always the victims.

Ya some officials are brutish, but in my experience they are outnumbered by the number of dipsh!t coaches.