I was watching the Kansas/Colorado Men's game last night and nearly fell out of my chair. Kansas up by 6 in the 2nd half. Colorado has the ball in their frontcourt. All the action at the 3 point line and as a shot goes up the whistle blows and the Lead Whistle calls a 3 second violation off ball as the shot is made. Is that the rarest call in the Mens game or was it a justified whistle. I have always held that whistle unless obvious advantage gained by camping in the paint. This call was off ball and play was uneffected. Any thoughts??

Welcome to the board.
 

How do we know that isn't what happened?

If he's been in the lane for 5 or 6 seconds and has inside position when the shot goes up, he's gained an advantage.

Perhaps the L had been trying to talk him out of the paint nad had no recourse.

Difficult to know.

I was at the Wyoming-Dayton game on Saturday, and saw 2 three second calls in that game. At the time I wasn't looking in the key, so I don't know if they were justified or not, most likely they were, however I don't know when the last time I saw a 3 second call made at that level and bam 2 in one game....Those calls stuck out like sore thumbs, right wrong or indifferent..

I'd ask this: Was that lead official watching the live play? Perhaps he'd not anticipated that a shot would go up, perhaps he didn't see it go up, or perhaps he didn't care it went up. He may have been shouting, "get out of the paint!" or "clear the paint, big guy!" and got no response. How many times do you warn before ya'll call it? I'll say this, I've called one (maybe two) 3-sec calls my varsity career. Hardly ever.

I am not necessarily sure that is something to be that proud of. Many times a 3-second violation can clean up post action and open up the lanes for a better played game. Not every game needs the call, but I would not have that on the top of my resume, so to speak.

I have been away awhile but now I'm back and this thread made me think.I had a j.v. boys game the other day and I had several warnings about camping in the key.On this time down I didn't say anything but realized i was at six on my count.I called three seconds and as I ran by the coach says you CAN'T call three seconds unless you warn them at the j.v. level.I was dumbfounded and speechless!

One of the most compelling reasons to call
 

3 seconds, apart from the fact that 'It's the rule', is when you can observe that a violation is going to put a defender in a particularly advantageous position if the shot misses. Obviously, you can't call 3 after the ball has been released . . .

Re: One of the most compelling reasons to call
 

Sure you can. If the violation occurs prior to the shot, it can certainly be called.

It just needs to be real quick.

Based on the responses I've read dealing with 3-sec lane violation, I wonder why it has lasted this long in the rule book. If its not going to be enforced, why have it? I hardly EVER see this call being made anymore. It was a common call years ago.

JMO, but I think one reason you rarely see it called is that it rarely happens at the varsity level and above. Players are coached more and more to flash and cut and not to stay stationary. Three seconds is a pretty good chunk of time. One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three. By the time you get to three, the player is almost always on his way out of the lane. It's just a function of the motion offenses that are being taught. Very few HS (and even college) teams have a HUGE guy who can dominate at the front of the rim. So they're not tempted to plop a guy in the middle of the lane and leave him there.

Another reason, of course, is that officials often look at 3-seconds as a "bush league" call, for whatever reason.

FWIW I've never heard a coach count these, he usually starts at "FOUR....FIVE....SIX...."

Re: One of the most compelling reasons to call
 

Uh-oh!

You're calling 3-second violations on the defense? I sure hope your shirt is grey and your pants are navy . . . .

JMO, but I tend to think of 3 seconds as a tool that I can use when needed to clean up a situation. If somebody is camping, I'm calling it. If somebody is gaining an obvious (to me) advantage, I'm calling it. But I'm not about to go looking for opportunities to call it, it's too disruptive to the flow of the game.

BTW, I had a partner once call 10-12 of these in the first half. No flow; UGLY first half.

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

Nah, I meant a rebounder . . .

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

An offensive player . . . camped on the weak side . . . an OPCOTWS

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.