Nothing like a holiday in the middle of winter to get the basketball bulletin board heated up. Here is my second post for the day and I think I am going to do a third here in a few minutes. I was officiating a sophomore game this past weekend when the following occurred and I have been thinking about it ever since: (I know the coaches would be surprised that we think)

Team A has possession of ball in front court. A1 passes ball to A2. While pass is in the air B1 deflects the ball (still in the air - out of bounds). B2 (in bounds) leaves floor to retrieve ball, grabs ball then lands out of bounds. Before his feet reach the floor out of bounds, he signals a time out. I called an out of bounds violation on Team B. I believe a time out can only be called during a dead ball or during a live ball when you have team control. In this case did Team A's control cease when player B2 grabbed the ball out of bounds on his way to the floor? If so, I goofed.

Yep - you goofed. B2 has player control, therefore team B has team control. B2 was last in contact with the floor inbounds, making his status inbounds. "He is where he was until he gets to where he was going." Player control is defined as holding or dribbling a live ball inbounds. That's what B2 was doing. Under NF rules (and I hope it never gets changed), a player in player control can request and legally be granted a timeout as they fall OOB.

I feel that if a player wants to trade a turnover for a timeout, that's their choice. I always think it's a smart play, depending on the game situation, of course.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mark Padgett

Quote:

Originally posted by Dennis Nicely Under NF rules (and I hope it never gets changed), a player in player control can request and legally be granted a timeout as they fall OOB. I feel that if a player wants to trade a turnover for a timeout, that's their choice. I always think it's a smart play, depending on the game situation, of course.

I saw a fifth grader pull this very trick this weekend--the kid will go far with this kind of quick mind!!

Juulie - I wasn't doing this game, but I heard that in a PIL (Portland Interscholastic League high school) game about 3 years ago, a kid did this late in the game and his team was out of timeouts. The resultant technical cost his team the game.

OUCH!

It happens in even larger scenarios.....
 

Chris Webber for Michigan.... Need I continue the story?

If I have timeouts left and it is late in a close game, maybe I will be happy we called the TO. Otherwise, there are all kinds of situations where I would rather let the other team get the ball and keep play going. Take this situation - we have the other team rattled by our press and we tip the ball and catch it jumping out of bounds. I would rather lose the ball and keep the other team in disarray - until their coach calls the TO. My players don't know the big picture with respect to overall game flow and when we can endure the turnover and when we should call the TO to keep the ball. Most times, an individual possession does not win a game. TOs called at the right and wrong times can have much more influence on the outcome.