Indirect Technical - what next?

[Mark Dexter]

Originally posted by Stan

I thought a qualification to be a scorer for collage ball was to be a mind reader!

Still working on that one, Stan!!

I must say, I had to do a lot of it at the beginning of this season. Some of the men's officials were starting the 'walk and talk' and basically mumbled fouls in my direction. Maybe the women's NCAA staff needs to give these guys some pointers.

[Nevadaref]

Originally posted by Camron Rust

I agree with that conclusion and had one like that similar in the past. The game suspension should only be used for unsportsmanlike acts, not simply two T's.

Imagine a player who gets a T to start the game because they're wearing an illegal jersey. Later, they get blood on it and leave the game. Without notifying the officials or the table, they change to a clean shirt and come back into the game. The commit a foul and it is discovered that they changed numbers. Another T.

You may not actually call these T's but for the sake of argument, let's assume they get called. By the letter of some state's rules, this would create a suspension for the player when in reality, neither is suspension worthy.

I have actually asked the asst. director of our state association about this. He told me that two Ts and a disqualification from a game would result in an automatic suspension for the next game no matter whether the Ts were behavior related or not.
I originally didn't believe this was proper, but after I had some time to think about this for a while, I have concluded that this is the correct stance to take.
To explain why I have two reasons:
1)
I had a game in which a player was T'd by my partner in the 1Q for complaining about his calls. In the 2Q this player broke the throw-in plane and hit the ball while it was still in the thrower's hands. I gave him his second T of the game. This player was DQ'd and had to sit out the following game.
While some may feel that this is harsh, I look at it from the other side. This kid is actually getting a better lesson on why he should not be yapping at the officials. If he hadn't received that first T for his mouth, he wouldn't be sitting at all.
2)
Lastly, I'll state that the reason interfering with the throw-in is a T is because it is considered unsporting behavior. The game is supposed to be a sporting contest and certain acts in the game are clearly not in the spirit of fair play. The throw-in example is one, and the same is true of changing your jersey and not informing the officials/scorer or a pre-game dunk (showing off or intimidating the other team).

In fact, I would have to check, but I think that all player technicals could well be considered unsporting behavior.

Therefore, those who say that the kid should not be suspended for a game would have to answer this point convincingly before I would join their ranks again.

[Adam]

Nevada, your point #1 is dealt with by the fact that the player is sitting down for the rest of the game following the 2nd T. If he hadn't popped off early in the game, he'd still be playing at the end. So, he's already got an extra punishment.
Your first point is one of opinion, and I'm not prepared to argue either way. Personally, I think there is a line between game behavior that results in Ts (slapping the ball while still OOB on a throw-in or even stepping OOB on purpose to avoid a screen) and unsportsmanlike behavior (like popping off to a ref and some dead ball contact). Isn't a player entering unbeckoned a player T as well? Personally, I like that my state will differentiate here. But, it's not my call, so I'll go with whatever they decide.

Adam

[Camron Rust]

Originally posted by Nevadaref

I have actually asked the asst. director of our state association about this. He told me that two Ts and a disqualification from a game would result in an automatic suspension for the next game no matter whether the Ts were behavior related or not.
I originally didn't believe this was proper, but after I had some time to think about this for a while, I have concluded that this is the correct stance to take.
To explain why I have two reasons:
1)
I had a game in which a player was T'd by my partner in the 1Q for complaining about his calls. In the 2Q this player broke the throw-in plane and hit the ball while it was still in the thrower's hands. I gave him his second T of the game. This player was DQ'd and had to sit out the following game.
While some may feel that this is harsh, I look at it from the other side. This kid is actually getting a better lesson on why he should not be yapping at the officials. If he hadn't received that first T for his mouth, he wouldn't be sitting at all.
2)
Lastly, I'll state that the reason interfering with the throw-in is a T is because it is considered unsporting behavior. The game is supposed to be a sporting contest and certain acts in the game are clearly not in the spirit of fair play. The throw-in example is one, and the same is true of changing your jersey and not informing the officials/scorer or a pre-game dunk (showing off or intimidating the other team).

In fact, I would have to check, but I think that all player technicals could well be considered unsporting behavior.

Therefore, those who say that the kid should not be suspended for a game would have to answer this point convincingly before I would join their ranks again.

In my example the changing of the shirt was simply to get rid of a bloody shirt and the failure to notify was only an oversight (by the coach), not an effort to confuse anyone (assume the player involved had a head of hair like Carrot Top and was 6'8" while everyone else on both teams looked like Danny Devito.)

I believe there are effectively two classes of technical fouls: behavior related fouls and tangential fouls (illegal number/jersey, etc.) I can't see pinning a T that the kid has no control over on them individually when considering suspensions.

[Hawks Coach]

Nevada
I think it is a huge stretch to say that the reaching through the plane T is for unsportsmanlike behavior. It exists to prevent an unsportsmanlike delay in the agme by the defense, but it is not in and of itself unsporting. It is an act that occurs in an instant as part of playing the game. Dissension, taunting, talking trash, profanity - diffferent type of action altogether.

And yes, you could have a player learn something from the first T by suspending for the second T. But then again, you could have a player learn from the first T by suspending for the first T, if that was what the rule was intended to do.

So no, I don't think all Ts are unsporting, I don't think all Ts should result in a suspension. I hope that most states distinguish between types of Ts.