Disconcertion???

[Bradley Batt]

This is a tough issue - players almost always try to disconcert somehow...

I don't think that you could do anything about the towel waving on the bench... Why would that affect the free throw anyway? The bench is not in the line of sight of the free thrower - and even if it was you would probably have a weak case.

If an opponent on the floor yelled "Miss it" I would warn him not to do it again. If he did it again I would penalize him for disconcertion (if the shot was missed, of course). That way, at least I can go tell the coach, "Coach, I warned him the first time, but he didn't listen to me."

If it is a player on the bench I may warn as well - it depends on how loud it is, etc. Bench players usually stop there feet, clap their hands, and other things like that... If it was loud enough and, in my opinion, disconcerting - I would handle it the same way - warning first, penalize second.

I won't penalize handwaving on the lane unless they are really waving like crazy... If the defensive player just puts his hands up how can you penalize that? Similar to the situation when one of the player yells out, "I got the shooter." or something similar - probably just as disconcerting as "Miss it", but there is no way you can penalize a player for talking with his teammates about defense!

In general I think that none of this causes the players to miss shots - they either are good at making free throws, or they aren't. So, I don't give it all that much concern - and 99% of the players are going to respond positively when you warn them not to repeat a certain behavior.

Later,
Brad