Being shown up?
 

I was doing a freshman game Saturday and the coaches on one of the teams are lobbying for three seconds to be called on nearly every trip down the court in the first quarter. I'm in my first year so I consult with my partner, who has been doing this for 10 years, to make sure my understanding of the rule is correct. He assures me it is, says to ignore the coaches because the problem is they just don't have anybody who can cover the center and want us to bail them out. Fine. A little while later, I'm serving as trail official and one of the assistant coaches starts doing a count out loud. My first thought is to stop play and call a technical for trying to show us up. I decide to wait until the next break to talk to my partner again. He says he heard the counting too, but it's not serious enough to call a technical. I'm not sure I agree. The game soon became a blowout so the coaches kept quiet the rest of the way, but I still wonder if I should have followed my first instinct and called the technical, if only to let the guy know he better keep his mouth shut in future games. Anybody have thoughts?

Hmm
 

Even though he may be trying to "show" you up, I think you need to hold off on the T. Maybe warn him at the next dead ball, let him know you are watching for the 3 seconds but are not in the need of his help. I don't think I would T him up for what he did. But I am very generous.

The only way I say anything to the coach in that situation is if I am table side. Then, IF I say anything (because the noise is distracting me), it is only to pull my whistle out of my mouth a little and say "Coach, please control your bench" then move on.

I would first warn the head coach that the assistant is about to lose the coaching box for him. I wouldn't think twice about teeing up the assistant after that.

A trick that has worked for me in the past (but it won't work in all situations) is to tell the coach with a very straight face that everytime they count out loud or yell for 3 seconds you lose the count in your head and you have to start over. They will get the point and stop counting. Some officials will call 3 seconds on their team to get the point across but I don't advocate that.

Whining for the same call on <b>every</b> trip down the floor? An <b>assistant</b> coach showing you up like that where everybody in the stands can see and hear him doing so?

Nowayinhell you ignore that. Your 10-year partner is a l'il light in the intestinal fortitude department imo. Warn 'em then call the "T".

Nip it, nip it in the bud!

I have to agree with JR on this one. Me: "Coach, if you have any concerns, I will be glad to address them, but I don't want to hear from your assistant again. Thanks." Coach (turns to his assistant): "Stop!" End of discussion. Next time, Me: TWEET! "Technical Foul, ? Team Coach. Unsporting conduct." I give a lot of latitude to HEAD Coaches, I don't listen to assistants at all, unless it is during a timeout or intermission and they are asking a question or addressing a concern FOR the Head Coach (and doing it in a COURTEOUS, PROFESSIONAL manner) and to let them know their Time Out Situation. but that is me. JR and Nevada, among others, have already told me that I let coaches get away with too much. :D

COACHES? Greg, COACHES have no business saying anything to you. Yes, we allow the head coach some freedom. But COACHES implies more than one, which means the asst. is running his mouth. This is what happens when these things are ignored. It only gets worse. Give the head coach one opportunity to clean it up. Then, take care of business. If I have an asst. coach who is counting 3 seconds aloud, there won't be a warning.

BTW, that comes from our state association office as well. Asst. coaches are to be seen, not heard.

I like the reply by All Heart...I always tell them...."I only have an Alabama Public School Education, so I may count slower than others, but I always count the same":)

I would try to warn the head coach first -
I do not have a book with me at the moment but there is something in the book about trying to influence or show displeasure with an officials call by gesturing being a technical foul. I would say that this qualifies as such so after one quick warning to the head coach WHACK them let the caoch deal with the assistant later.

Assistants are there to coach, not to talk to us. At a lower level game, I would have thrown a T. Varsity, I would have talked to the head coach or the assistants and assure them if their bench isn't controlled, I'd jump in and take care of it. Friday night, girl's varsity, one of my partners calls a foul early in the game and 3 assistants sort of stand (they didn't get all the way up) and complain. The first time out I walked over and reminded them that we would only be talking to the HC and that they need to keep themselves calm so we don't have to take care of them. They thanked me for talking to them and we didn't hear a peep out of them the rest of the game.

Try this technique. Go over to the bench and ask, "Who is my head coach?" Now you obviously know who that is if you did the right things before the game. But say it loud enough that all the coaches hear you ask this question and wait for the response. When no one says anything, then let it be known you will only listen to the head coach and tell the head coach he is responsible for the conduct of his bench. I will bet you a lot of money if you have to give a T after that, the message would have been sent.

Assistant coaches are to be seen and not heard. As said above we give the head coach a little leeway because of mores in many sports, but no one has the right to incite the crowd or behave in a manner that is inappropriate. It is very inappropriate to yell out a count. Also remember if you are working a freshman coach, chances are they are not very experienced or very knowledgeable. If they were more knowledgeable or more talented, they would be not at the freshman level. So always keep that in mind when you are working these types of games.

Peace

After crying unacknowledged for a moment for a traveling call, I had an assistant last week earn a T for sarcastically praising us for getting a travel on his team. Oddly, I didn't hear a peep from him or the HC the rest of the game.

Funny how that happens sometimes :D :D :D

Seriously, there's no reason to put up with this repeatedly from any coach, but especially from an assistant. At the first occurance I'll normally give the HC a chance to fix it - a calm, quiet "Coach, you need to get your bench under control" usually does the trick. If it doesn't, then call the T.

IMHO the reason a lot of this behavior occurs is that collectively, we as officials don't do the best job of setting clear limits and then consistently enforcing them. It doesn't help when they get away with murder one night, then get their feet held to the fire the next. We need to do better.

We just got an email from one of my assignors the other day about this very thing. He said that when you let a coach or player get out of control, you do a disservice to the rest of us because that individual gets the message their behavior is acceptable. Great point!

I disagree with this completely. Just because one official tolerates or does not penalize someone for their behavior, does not do any of a disservice. Not everyone is at the same level of ability or knows how to deal with coaches. This was a first year official, I do not expect him to handle the situation like a long time veteran. Coaches need to know what is acceptable or not and many times they have to run into certain officials that do not care what they think. Maybe they would be able to intimidate much younger official and they will not get that same treatment when they run across someone that knows how the assignor and officiating community feels.

Peace