I can never agree with anyone who says they've only called two of these in a career. The players aren't that smart and you can't talk every dumb player out of 3 in the key. Personally, I hate to make the call, but after I've barked "Get out" 3 times and the player makes no move to give up his spot, or the ball is passed to him, that leaves me no choice. A lot of guys, though, love the three second call. It seems to be an excuse for some to blow the whistle, which destroys the flow to the game. Any more than two 3 second calls in any game is excessive (even two is excessive) and it usually indicates an official looking for any excuse to blow the whistle rather than trying to avoid unnecessary calls. There are times, though, when the call must be made.

How can you make these 2 statements together? You never have a player ignore these warnings more than twice? My question is when it started and whose idea it was to start warning for this rather than just making the call. I never heard an official try to talk a player out of the lane when I was a kid. (long time ago) I personally find one call equal to several warnings, so I choose to call it rather than talk unless the game is out of hand.

It's easy to make those two statements together because they make sense in terms of preventative officiating. The three second call always interrupts the flow of the game and if it were called strictly by the book with no warnings it would more often than not be an off-ball violation with little or no bearing on the play and often no measurable advantage gained. A warning accomplishes the same goal as calling the violation as it causes the player to clear the lane, thus eliminating any advantage without stopping play. If the player gains an advantage by remaining in the lane, then you can always make the call. The voice can often be as effective as the whistle, especially when it allows you to maintain the flow of the game.

Re: Re: Re: One of the most compelling reasons to call
 

It would have been interesting to be a fly-on-the-wall for that half-time discussion...:D

Re: Re: Re: One of the most compelling reasons to call
 

Even worse! I hope you mean potential rebounder . . . . .

Once the shot goes up, team control ends, no more 3 second count.