NCAA
 

Duties of Timer; The official timer shall: Art. 1. Be provided with a game clock to be used for timing periods and intermissions and a stopwatch for timing timeouts.

Question is, what is the definition of a stopwatch? Can we make a case the game clock is a stopwatch when used for the TO?

Bart-->

We had this situation come up in a women's juco game last year. I went over and told the timer NOT to put up the time-out time on the clock.

The reasoning for me was that on the 75-second time outs, if the calling team breaks their huddle early, the other team must also break and play resumes. Why give the coach the option of seeing how much time he/she has left if they're ready for play?

Especially at the juco level. The coaches are not as knowledgeable about the rules there. Team A calls a full time out and breaks the huddle after 30 seconds. I go over to team B and tell them to break. The coach looks at the clock and says, "I've got 45 seconds left." It's going to take me more time to explain a rule the coach should already know than it would if there was no visible time out clock, they break the huddle, and the coach says, "That seemed quick."

Oh, and most electronic scoreboards these days have the option of the timer having a stopwatch on the board in front of him, without putting it up on the board. Teams, coaches, and fans do not need to see a running clock during time outs. All it will do is cause problems and confusion.

Good point. I've been working rec leagues and doing all the logistics of the Daktronics AS-3100 console.

Many modern scoreboards have a time-outs remaining function and automatically time the charged time-out. However, during one game, one team called an excessive time-out, and I was forced to point at the console to the official -- "NO TIME OUTS!!!!". The console had said no time outs.

We have a couple of schools here that do this. I have to say that I prefer the game time to remain on the clock during the TO. I keep having to remember to look at the clock before I report the TO to the table. I also like to be able to huddle with my partners near the end of the game if it is close and have that info up there for all of us to see.
Despite this, I have not asked any timer not to put the TO time on the board. I just deal with it the best I can that night.

Just be careful that the time displayed when you go back is automatically set at the actually the time left.

If it's done manually, you could lose up to 9/10 of a second - not a big deal at 7:45, but it's going to be huge with 1 on the clock in the 4th quarter.

You should do this everytime the whistle blows and on every change of posession (consistent with other court duties, of course).

Absolutely, Bob! While I do glance at it, I generally just am making sure that it is no longer running. I should have been more specific and written that I have to take a good look at the clock, so that I can remember the time, before I report the TO to the table and it completely disappears.

PS I don't look at it on a steal. I stay with the play.