THE BOX

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Article from the local sports page for your reading enjoyment.


A boxed-in feeling on the court
Peninsula District basketball coaches agree that the coach's box should be extended.

By JASON JORDAN
247-4648

February 7 2006

It's 12 feet long and 2 feet wide, and if high school basketball coaches stay within its boundaries, the coach's box serves as a safe zone. Take a step outside the rectangle, and he or she loses their privilege to stand. Make that same mistake twice, and the coach can get the boot.

"I guess you could say it's kind of like being in jail," Bethel boys basketball coach Craig Brehon said.

Good luck to coaches trying to holler at the 12th man on their bench while serving their sentence - all 32 minutes - because the box stops at the bench's midpoint.

High school basketball coaches know all too well the power of the coach's box, and most Peninsula District coaches agree that its parameters limit their coaching abilities on the sideline.

"It impedes us in being able to coach more," Brehon said.

Steve Whitley, who serves as rules interpreter of Peninsula Board 125 for officials, said that coming into this season the coach's box was a point of emphasis for refs: The National Federation of State High School Associations and the Virginia High School League felt that coaches were abusing the box.

Also, the NFHS rules book states that "it is a distinct advantage to the coach who is permitted to be out of the box because the coach has a better chance to communicate with his or her team."

"It was for two reasons," Whitley said of the coach's box crackdown. "They thought the officials were doing a bad job of managing it, and they thought the coaches were ignoring it. If a coach can go to the opposite side of the court and communicate with his players, it can be a tremendous advantage."

According to VHSL rules, refs are supposed to warn coaches the first time they step out of the box, unless the coach is "behaving in an unsportsmanlike way." But Brehon, who has received one technical foul this season for being out of the box, said that only experienced refs give the courtesy of a warning.

"Some refs are quick with the whistle," he said.

Brehon understands that extending the box to halfcourt might cause confusion for the scorekeeper and the clock operator, but he thinks the box should be extended to the baseline, the way it is in college. And if Brehon yanks a player out of the game and that player heads to the end of the bench, as is often the case, Brehon can't give instructions to that player unless he moves to a seat within the confines of the box.

"It creates confusion when you can't tell a player why you pulled him out," Brehon said. "He's got to come all the way back down to where you are for you to talk with him, and in small gyms things get crowded."

That's why Menchville coach Erick Mays would be content if the box would be extended to the end of the bench. Mays estimates that the area from the end of the bench to the baseline covers about 8 feet.

"I have no need to go to the baseline," he said. "But I should be able to walk down and talk to my players."

Whitley agrees with Brehon. He said that as long as the coach isn't trying to upstage the ref, he should be allowed to walk down to the baseline. What stops the extension is the NFHS, which decides the placement and dimensions of the box.

"I wish it would extend to the baseline," Whitley said. "The way it is right now doesn't give the coaches a great deal of room, but they want us to pay more attention to it this year."

Therein lies the big issue for Phoebus coach James Daniel. He said that officials often are so focused on policing the box that it affects their ability to make accurate calls.

"A ref will remind you that you're outside of the box four times during a game," Daniel said. "It hinders the game because they're paying more attention to the box sometimes."

The coaches might be interested to know that the NFHS told officials that if they don't do a better job of managing the box, they plan to go back to when there was no coach's box at all. That would force coaches to sit the entire game.

"We're helping them out," Whitley said. "We told the coaches before the season how the games were going to be called. We're not going to run down the court and look back to make sure they're in the box. Our primary focus is the 10 players on the court. But they knew before the season and even before games that we watch the box."

Problem is, there aren't stipulations in the rules that say if a coach is allowed to step his or her foot out of the box or if the technical only is assessed when the coach completely comes out of the box. The vague interpretations create confusion for coaches. "You just don't know how much leverage you get with that rule," Brehon said. "I haven't seen consistency from crew to crew with that. When the game is going on, I'm not looking down at the box because I'm a hands-on type of coach."

Those are the differences that Brehon has noticed this season. He can't see much difference in the number of technical fouls that are given as a result of the box, Brehon just doesn't know what to expect coming into games. But Whitley said that he tells refs to use common sense when giving technicals.

"I tell them if they're straddling the line, don't be a stickler," he said. "If the guy is four or five feet out of the box screaming at you, then take care of business. We try to preach consistency, but when you've got 114 refs, it's hard to get that. But for the most part, the coaches are good about staying in the box."

But will it get bigger? That's up to the coaches, Whitley says.

"If they fuss enough, they're going to change something," he said. "The problems with the box aren't just here, it's nationwide. It's going to change soon." «
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