End of Game Timing Situation

[crosscountry55]

Originally Posted by Raymond

These requests always come with a prerequisite, i.e.: "if we make the free throw I want a time-out", "I want time-out when we get the rebound", etc. If the prerequisite occurs, and nothing else, I go ahead and honor the request.



This is one of those "when in Rome" or "do what's comfortable for you" situations.

Originally Posted by bucky

IOW, use your judgement when applying this technique. Allow it as strategic points in the game where it would be logical on the coach's part.

I lean toward Raymond (must be a Virginia thing) and also agree with bucky that this concept is amplified at strategic game points, particularly end-of-game scenarios.

My crew applied this perfectly a few weeks ago in a nail biter. Game tied 50-50, 15 seconds left, turnover at division line. I’m C opposite and I can see the coach who just lost possession talking to my partner at T. He had one timeout left and I knew exactly what they were talking about (it didn’t take a rocket scientist). Sure enough, there’s a score (by the time I look up I see 1.9s) and an immediate whistle, but all was drowned out by crowd noise. Timer didn’t hear the whistle, clock expired, home crowd rushed the court. So we’re giving the, “nope, not done yet, everyone get back” body language, and then my partner puts 2.3 back on the clock. He knew the exact time even better than I because the coach had “reserved” the timeout in the event of a score, thereby allowing my partner to think about looking at the clock exactly when he blew the whistle, which he did (and no, he didn’t visually confirm with the coach, he just blew the whistle, and I was proud of him for doing that). When you gotta go the length of the court, that 0.4s difference can be big.

That was my favorite “communication” moment so far this season.


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[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by crosscountry55

... he didn’t visually confirm with the coach ...

Did the coach yell, "Time out"?

Even if nobody was looking at him, did the coach give the "T signal"?

Not a rule question, not criticizing, just curious.

This was a highly strategic situation and it sounds like your crew was spot on.

In this situation, even without a pre-request for a timeout, everybody in the crew should be expecting a request for a timeout, and try to get a peek at the clock when the ball goes through the basket.

That's why we get paid the big bucks.