Requesting timeout on layup situation???

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Raymond

If you have a game where you go to the AP arrow b/c the whistle occurs after the try is released but you grant a time-out when a player lands OOB prior to the whistle, why wouldn't a coach question that?

First. They're two different situations, apples and oranges, one is a timeout called by a coach that has to be verified, possibly taking the official's vision off the player for a second, and the other is a timeout called by player right in front to me.

Second: While the coach may question my release call there's no way that he has to rules knowledge to compare it to my airborne player call.

Third: Coaches, fans, players, and most officials (only one exception on the planet) really don't break down the dead ball rule for an airborne player. They just know that it's allowed in high school basketball, and has been called that way since the Mayans were kicking the heads of their decapitated enemies through stone rings.

Fourth. Here in my little corner of Connecticut, we're taught and expected to verify that the ball is still in player control after verifying that the request is being made by the head coach, before we grant any such timeout and sound our whistle. Been doing it that way since 1998, well before the 2016-17 NFHS Basketball Points of Emphasis. After I verify it's the head coach, I then observe that the player has released the ball and I will not grant a time out, nor will I sound my whistle, because there is no player control during a try. Ignore the request. Play on.

So unless I screw up, the question for me is moot.

And if a screw up, I will admit to the coaches that I screwed up and my partner and I will figure out how to get out to the mess that I caused in a fair manner, maybe using black and white rules, or maybe using purpose and intent of those rules.