Was this the right call?

Mark Padgett · #1 (**permalink**) Sun Jul 22, 2001, 01:39pm

This morning, a friend called me to describe a situation he had in a game yesterday. He wanted my opinion on whether or not he made the right call. Here's what happened:

Team A led by 3 in the final seconds. B1 had the ball and drove to the hoop. He put the ball up, it went in and he was fouled in the act of shooting as the horn sounded. That wasn't the issue, as there was no doubt that the shot and the foul came before the horn (I know the foul could have come at or after the horn and long as it happened before the shooter returned to the floor) and no one complained about the foul call. I guess he was bumped pretty hard.

Here's the crux of the question. Before B1 could go to the line to shoot his free throw to determine if the game would go into OT, Coach A requested a timeout. My friend looked at him and asked if he was "positive". The coach said yes. Our guess is that he wanted to "freeze" the shooter. His problem was that he was out of timeouts! My friend indicated the timeout, went to the table to verify it was an excessive one, verified with his partner that the coach had been notified at his previous timeout that he was out, then called the T. He explained the situation to both coaches.

Coach A argued on two points. His first point was that the officials should not allow it if he was out, or at least tell him he was out first. OK - we all know that isn't the case. Besides, the official gave him every opportunity to remember he was out by asking him if he was positive.

After losing that argument, he then wanted the free throws for the T to begin the OT, not be shot immediately after B1's free throw from his foul. My friend told him that even though the action causing the T happened after the horn and was not part of the shot, the rule was that it must be shot at that time because the quarter is extended until all activity that is a result of things that happen before the horn are completed. I guess the coach didn't even get as far as disagreeing with this point because he couldn't even get past understanding it.

My friend called me mostly for validation of his position. I told him that my understanding of the rule was that he made the correct call in all cases, and that he explained it properly. BTW - this was a high school level boys summer tournament.

What do you think?

Also BTW - the point was almost moot because B1 made his free throw, B2 missed both shots for the T, the game went into OT and team A won. How ironic!

JugglingReferee · #2 (**permalink**) Sun Jul 22, 2001, 05:17pm

As I see it,

You're correct about the foul being on an airborne shooter.

I think calling a TO is a good move. Too bad it was excessive.I believe it states in the official's manual that the officials are to notify a head coach when that team's "non-excessive" TOs are exhausted. Good game mgmt to ask the coach if he's "serious".

The T should be part of the 4th quarter, as it has not yet ended.

Sounds like everything went right.

..Mike

BktBallRef · #3 (**permalink**) Sun Jul 22, 2001, 05:23pm

Sounds like your friend nailed it to me. For reference sake, the rule is 5-6-3 and a similiar case book plkay can be found at 6.5.3c.

Good job!

dhodges007 · #4 (**permalink**) Mon Jul 23, 2001, 03:21pm

What if he wasn't notified that he used his last timeout?

JugglingReferee · #5 (**permalink**) Mon Jul 23, 2001, 05:15pm

Quote:

Originally posted by dhodges007
What if he wasn't notified that he used his last timeout?

No recourse, just an "Sorry, coach." That's why they have assistants. It's not very hard to manage that (how many TOs you have left) on your own.

..Mike

Mark Padgett · #6 (**permalink**) Mon Jul 23, 2001, 07:09pm

Quote:

Originally posted by dhodges007
What if he wasn't notified that he used his last timeout?

The reason he checked if the coach had been notified was not because it would have changed the call, but just to have another "arrow in the quiver" to make the coach realize it was totally his screwup.