"Play"

[M&M Guy]

Originally posted by rainmaker

Is it too late in this thread to go off on a tangent? What do you do when you're ready to hand the ball for the throw-in, and the player who is supposed to do the actual throwing is standing just in-bounds, waiting for everyone to be in place? Do you just wait? When is this delay? When do you say something? When is it illegal?

It's never too late to go off on a tangent. And, apparently, never too early, either.

I've had this happen a couple of times as well. Sometimes you just have to be a little more assertive in getting their attention. I've grabbed their arm and (gently) pulled them where they needed to be. Of course in this day and age, use with extreme caution. Another thing I've done is stand directly in front of them so they have no choice but to look at me, and then I tell them they need to back up a little, or send them to the right spot. Usually, it's just a matter of the player missing the play call from the coach, and they're hoping coach will say it again. Of course, after all this, if you feel they are ignoring you on purpose, you can always start the resuming play procedure. (I think there's an article or two about that on officiating.com. )