Has anyone ever had a player fake an injury in order to avoid free throws?

I had a situation where the game was tied with 20 seconds left. A1 was on the line shooting 2 free throws. A1 missed both free throws. Team B got the ball and turned it over. the ball ended up in A1's hands and he was fouled again (not hard at all). As the player is going to the free throw line he starts leaning over saying that he's hurt. His teammates and the coach start saying that he's injured. Team B's coach is saying that he's faking.

What do you do?

Team A called a timeout and I was going to go to the Team A's coach and tell him that "#15 <b>IS</b> shooting 2 free throws!!" very loud and strong. If he then persisted I figured I could tell him that "I'm not sure that #15 is truely hurt but I'll take your word coach. Although I will be sending a tape to the state and let them decide."

Does this sound like a good way to handle this situation.

By the way the player came out and shot the free throws, made both and he looked just fine.

I do not think that we should ever decide that a player is not injured. (Well, you can decide that a player isn't really injured, but keep it to yourself!) If a kid tells you he is injured, he is injured.

Good idea not to emphasize that #15 has two shots. after the timeout, just follow your normal mechanics. I see nothing wrong with verbalizing that #15 has two shots, without any emphasis.

Saying, "I'm not sure that #15 is really hurt, butI'll take your word for it coach" will do nothing to improve the situation or game. Ergo, don't do it. ;)

I also would not threaten to send a tape to the state office.

Having said all this, with a kid appearing to have received a bump well out of his comfort zone, I've used some lines like, "That was a pretty athletic play you just did. You have two shots coming..." It usually works - they get up to their feet quickly.

So if you feel very strongly that the player is faking you are not going to report it?

What if the player is smiling at you saying that he's hurt and that he wants a sub.

Who do I report it to? My assignor? The league? All the kid has to do is say that he felt a pain in his (insert body part). Then how do we look?

Then I'm going to give him a sub. Why wouldn't I? He's going to have to go out and I'm not going to all of a sudden be a doctor out on the court and decide if someone isn't injured or not, that's not my job. If a player says he is injured then get them a sub.

I understand by rule what we are supposed to do but it just doesn't sit well if I know that they are cheating. If we never questioned it or reported it then this could become standard practice for an unscrupulous coach.

Why don't you just give them the benefit of the doubt that the player is injured. If it becomes standard practice it can be addressed then.

btw... I can't remember the last time I saw a player happy to leave a game due to an injury when he has FTs coming.

I have seen shaken up players make their 2 FTs & get subbed out.

fwiw

I had a game earlier this year where a player was injured/shaken up because of a foul while she was shooting. The coach and trainer came onto the court to help her. I told the coach she had to send in a sub or call a time out to keep the player in the game. She took the time out.

I later told this story to another coach. He asked what happens if the coach does not call a time out. I told him that the coach could have any sub shoot the free throws. He listened intently, and then told me how he would consider "coming off the bench to tend to his injured player" at a critical moment in a game -- if that player happened to be a poor free throw shooter. I know he did not use this tactic because he never had the chance, but I suspect he would have.

I saw this happen at a U Washington v Texas Tech womens game a few years ago. A minute or so to go, A1 for Baylor was bumbed (not hard at all) and fell, she was 0 fo 6 on FT at that point. She was slow a getting up and Tech's head coach was saying that A1 was hurt and wanted to attend to the player. The coach was allowed to come onto the floor. The sub made both FT to tie the game. The next dead ball A1 came back into the game and made the game winning shot.

The crowd was going nuts but the refs did what they had to do because the player said that she was hurt. Eventhough the refs suspected that she was not actually injured it is not their job to determine the extent of an injury.

I think that if this becomes a problem that the NFHS decides to address because coaches and players are faking injuries to avoid FTs, then they're simply going to go the way of the NBA and not allow any player to re-enter the game if he/she cannot complete his/her designated shots.

Being that this is for highschool players and younger, I doubt that the Federation will go this route (i.e. it's not going to happen in the foreseeable future). They want to maximize participation and allow players the benefit of the doubt.

Dude, on the court we're not doctors we're officials. If a player tells me he's hurt, then we have to believe him. If we force an injured player to take his shots because we think he's not injured we're opening ourselves up to a wide variety of legal problems.

If the coach/kid want to lie and cheat like that let them. If the other coach wants to bring it up with the state office let him.

I for one, don't care. Player says he's injured, I tell the coach he's got 30 seconds to replace him. End of story.

Luckily, I watch the TV Program "House". It is about a rude & arrogant physician. It is kind of a Fanasty/Reality series. The Fanatsy is that as soon as you are admitted to the Hospital....four top-flight Specailists are dedicated to finding out what ails you. The Reality is that they are
rude & arrogant.

House spends the whole program trying to guess what you have wrong and insulting you while you are dying? Last episode, he determined that a 15 year-old Super Model had
"male pseudohermaphroditism".

There is a lot of that going around and could cause a Player to pass up a Free Throw. So give them the behefit of the doubt!

Most kids are thinking "A chance to score points". I was injured on a foul back in HS. I was a 52% FT shooter [I thought "A chance to score point"] I was not knocked out, but close to it. Coach subbed in a guy who was a deadeye from the line and he sunk both ends of th 1&1. I ended up going back in after what seemed to be an eternity, but in reality was 6 seconds off the clock. Other coach goes nuts. If my Dad had not taped [audio only in those days] the game, I would not have remembered a lot of the finish.

Just let the sub come in and shoot.

You have to let the sub come in. Legally the last thing I would think you want, is for you as an official to make the determination on the status of an injury - with the litigation happy society you are asking for trouble.

If the other coach has a problem with it - tell him to appeal to the association with the tape and his belief of the status of the situation, but you can't make the determination on whether a player is actually injured. He might be pissed at first, but he/she will understand.

Just my penny to the conversation.