"Try it and you'll find out"

[Mark Padgett]

In reply to everyone who says you should tell when this or that is the situation and the player asks you, I have to say that I must draw the line somewhere on coaching the players as to the rules. I can't tell them "all the time", and I can't tell them "none of the time".

I have chosen to be consistent and only inform on certain points. I don't want to get in a situation where a player violates and a coach complains to me that I told something to the other team to help them not violate in a different situation but I didn't tell his team. The more I can minimize the possibility of giving a coach the opportunity to complain, the more I am performing preventative officiating.

Besides, coaches perceive they have enough reasons to complain without me adding any. Notice I said perceive because most of the time coaches live in Fantasyland (with apologies to the Disney corporation).