Points of Emphasis

[Gator]

For Women’s D1 this year one of the points of emphasis is bench decorum. My question is about what this means. I know the rules say that when the ball is live, only the head coach may stand except that in reaction to play, the team standing is OK. (Ya - I know - that is not the official language, but ...) Our seats are in the 3rd row behind the visitor’s bench and tonight the assistant coach was standing often but she was so short maybe nobody noticed. However from 1 to 3 or 4 players almost constantly stood whenever the ball was at our end of the floor and often stood even when the action was at the other end. It drives me crazy! If fans stand in front of me, I can stand and see over them but when the bench stands, I can’t see what is going on at all.

Now the action was fast and furious on the floor with a lot of contact and potential for it to get out of hand. They, from my perspective, did an excellent job in walking the line between letting them play and calling the stuff which was important.

In an environment like that does stuff like bench decorum just go by the wayside unless it is interfering with the game itself? I am assuming that it is a point of emphasis because it was getting out of hand in previous years. In other words, I’m a bit confused about points of emphasis and what they mean in the real world. BTW - the official team was headed by, in my opinioin, one of the best in this section of the D1 women's world, Bryan Enterline who has also officiated in the WNBA for 6 years. IE, I'm not complaining about the officiating - just trying to understand.

(I’m a fan who reads this board to become better educated about what happens on the court and why and I really appreciate the education I’m getting!)