H.S. basketball season is just getting under way around here.

I like to do a few Middle School games for "warm-ups" before the actual H.S. Varsity contests begin.

Monday night, me and two other H.S. Varsity officials officiated a 7th and 8th grade game.

Everything was going great...the play wasn't to bad for 7th grade boys...and we hadn't heard a peep from the coaches.

4th Qt. a buck 40 left...Home Team A has the ball down by 4 pts. Player A1 is bringing the ball up court as Coach A yells something...I turn around as I pass A's bench (New Lead) and I see the coach looking at his player yelling something "OUT". I know now that he was saying "TIME OUT"...but, I couldn't understand him at the time and he wasn't looking at me or giving any signals at all. For all I new he was yelling out a play like "SIDE OUT" or something...anyway, A1 ended up losing the ball OOB.

Coach A comes 3 steps out on the court and goes balistic. "I was CALLING time out! You didn't give me a TIME OUT!" I calmly walk the coach back to his box and tell him I didn't understand what he wanted. He kept it up...I told him that was enough...he kept it up...I whacked him.

Now, with the 50 or so fans and all the kids watching this coach...he goes even more nuts...I tell him that's enough...he says, "I don't care give me another one"...Whack...thumb extension, "Coach, you are ejected".

AD escorted him out.
I talked to the AD after the 7th grade game...he saw it all and agreed with me. I guess the guy isn't a teacher there, but works at the local H.S. (maybe a janitor...who knows)

I also didn't let the coach come back into the gym for the 8th grade game...one official said, "I don't know if we can do that"...I said we are doing it...and we did. :)

I think I'm warmed up now...;)

One cannot fathum the number of words and sounds waffling through a gym that (to me) can sound like "Time" or Time Out".

Hard call to make.

Hear it.
Visually verify it.
Check for team possession.
Grant it.

That takes a few seconds.

I like to tell the coaches before the game "Guys, give me the "T" signal along with the verbal if you want a time-out. If you don't wanna do that, then don't blame me if I miss a request". If it's a noisy gym, the visual signal is always better.

I hate that damn rule that allows a head coach to request a TO.

3-Man crew for Junior High? Are you nuts?

Nah...we like to kind of get back into the swing of doing 3-person...like I said, it's kind of a warm up for us. Also, we get a chance to work with newer officials who haven't done 3-person as much...good training time...as these officials will be doing 3-person for their H.S. Frosh/Soph/J.V/and Varsity games.

JR...good suggestion on asking the Coaches to give a visual signal if we can't hear the request.

Hate to say it, but it's one more rule that the NBA has right.

I know what you mean about not being able to hear or understand the coach. Tonite JV boys. Mid 4th Qtr I am T in front of home team table side. Kid drives to bucket from my primary. Loses ball OOB. I, nor partner, have nothing. No foul. Coach goes off on his kid. What he says & what I hear are two different things. I hear "THAT'S BULL$HIT" I immediately hit the whistle and whack this guy. I am thinking he is screaming at my partner because of a no call. Well then he looks at me and can't believe I whacked him. I told coach what I heard and he countered with a "I would never say that" I called partner over and we discussed what she may have heard compared to me. What I was told he said was "Don't Force It". Cleaned up this mess by taking the whack away and giving the ball to visitors. Both coaches were ok with result of clean-up and even had the coach meet us in the hallway right before we left to say we did a good job. That made me feel better as I drove to work. It's crazy how some statements can get turned around in a loud gym.....

It can be real tough to hear them sometimes. JV girls game last night noisy gym, visiting team is bringing ball up court & being pressured in back court. The visiting coach is screaming something, but neither my partner nor I could understand what she was saying. Home defender tips the ball OOB & VC yells at us "why didn't you give me the time out?" - turns out what she was yelling was "time". I told her that the word "time" is ambiguous, that she needs to say "time out" clearly, & it would help a lot if she gave a visual signal at the same time.

For the coaches who are reading this -- it helps if you know and say the official's name. We are all tuned to listen for and respond when we hear our name. So, if a coach indicates, "Bob -- give me a time out" I'm more likley to hear it and, thus, grant the TO. Without the name, it just gets lost in the background of other things the coach is yelling.

Excellent point. If I hear a coach say, "Joe, blah blah blah," then I know they're talking to me. On the other hand, if they say, "Hey a$$hole, blah, blah, blah," I just assume they're talking to my partners. :D

I've said for some time, that granting time outs can be one of the hardest thing for officials, especially when working 2 man. So much can happen in the very little amount of time it takes to turn your head to see that they want a time out. Last year, in one game I granted 2 time outs late that were a little questionable because by the time I looked to the coach to confirm, the ball was loose. Both went against the home team, who's coach needed a T early, and eventually lost. Possibly my worst night of the year last season, primarily because of when I granted a couple of time outs.

A lot of times, the situation can dictate the time out. If team A goes on an 8 point run, after the basket, I'll give a quick glance to the coach of team B. Most times (9 out of 10) the coach will take the time out. Close games, I tune in more to the coach, because I know they are trying to work for their W.

Where does it say that in the rule book?

Whoa.....

That decision is entirely up to the individual league, state office, whatever. It's never an official's decision. We have no rule book backing to suspend anyone from their next game, no matter how much we'd like to.

Handle with care.

You're right you're right..my mistake. Brain fart for a minute. I deleted the post. Sorry guys.