Giving a T
 

In the funny story thread, he used the expression, "I have freedom of the whistle."

Are we supposed to whistle when we give a T? I gave two back to back to the same coach last night.

He really needs a "how to talk to the ref" lesson.

Rita

I don't always whistle the T, although I often do. But I'm probably not the best authority on the subject. If the guy is getting in your face, a whistle can back him off quickly, and that can be useful. If you're having trouble getting someone's attention, a whistle does the job. Obviously, you need a whistle to stop play. For back to back T's, I'd at least give a whistle for the second one. It emphasizes to everyone that you're now adding on. But you also need to be careful about back to back T's. Sometimes it's necessary, but sometimes you can avoid the second with some judicial turning of your back and switching off of the ears. That saves the coach's dignity, if there's anything left to save, and it obviates the need to file a report.;)

Personally, the only time I will not hit my whistle for a T is if it's a book error before the tip. Beyond that, I hit my whistle hard and loud so that everyone knows what is going on. I don't want any confusion if I have to assess a T. As far as back to back, why weren't your partners coming in. If we have a T, we get someone else in there asap to talk to the coach and get the calling official away from the benches.

The best part of using the whistle is that you actually let your partner(s) know you've called one. Once, when working with an unfamiliar partner, we were lining up for FTs and I had no idea why. Not good.

I don't give Ts much. However, this guy was saying that we didn't know the rules. He wouldn't sit after the first T and said he would sit when he was good and ready.

He wouldn't leave the game either. I didn't push that issue but let my partner take care of it. He told my partner that we were wrong about his having to leave the game. He told my partner he would be back out as soon as he found the rule that he didn't have to leave the game.

There's a lot more to it. It happened during the fourth quarter of a game his team was losing.

It was our lack of knowledge that was causing them to lose, you know.:rolleyes:

Rita

That sounds like an easy ejection. Nice job.

Good point. I have had that happen to me. And I did that to my partner last night.

In four years this is only maybe the fifth time I've been in a game in which a T has been given. Maybe we have kindler, gentler coaches :p

Rita

Just as long as you keep that straight in your mind, you'll be fine!!:D

But seriously, you did the right thing. How long did you have to wait until he left? And in the end, did he finally leave the building, or did he hang around and wait for you after the game?

That's just it. Because I didn't use a whistle, my partner didn't know what was happening. The whole situation would have been better and maybe the second T avoided had I used the whistle the first time.

Learning, learning.

Rita

He did leave, with the threat that he was coming back out when he found the rule that said he didn't have to leave. Took a couple of minutes for my partner to convince him to leave.

He was with the visiting team so they were gone by the time I came out of the office after post game.

Rita

Another thing to possibly consider is the nonverbal message you're sending the coach by not using the whistle. If you step back, hit it loud and hard, you are presenting yourself as more assertive than if you just give the mechanic. Not giving the whistle may make you seem unsure. That's just my $.02.

Good ejection, just some advice:

1. Use the whistle, and calmly give the T signal, report it to the table and get away to find your partner.

2. Let your partner know what you have and let your partner inform the coach that he/she lost the coaches box. This does two things, it helps defuse the emotions of both you and the coach and it keeps any confusion away.

3. Whenever a coach is ejected and refuses to leave, it's simple. Tell the timer he/she has one minute and if they haven't left by the time the minute is up...ballgame!

Using the whistle gives you one additional tool in your box. When a coach is getting near the line, and won't back off by talking to him, then it can sometimes be helpful to put the whistle into your mouth. It serves as a warning that the T is imminent. I've had it work before.

Just to add a thought to blindzebra's comments, sometimes it's better to hit the whistle, signal the T, and go find your partner immediately. Take 30 seconds to talk about what you're going to do next, who will tell the coach to sit, which end to shoot FTs at. Then go back and report. It gives the coach a few seconds to calm down. And, if he's still going strong when you go to report, you have ample justification to unload him.

Not sure I like that.

There shouldn't be any discussion over who sits the coach, IMO, that should be your partner. Calling it, talking and then going back near the coach to report can be seen as baiting the coach.

I had this come up just last week. My partner got the visiting coach, 2nd half from lead. He came by reported, turned and said what he had and went to the other end to shoot. I walked across to the bench area and observed the players and let the coach talk to my back while we shot the first FT, as the second shot went up I turned and said, "Coach you have your seat the rest of the game," and went back across the court for the throw-in.

We took care of business, the coach had his say without feeling challenged, he calmed down, my partner had a chance to regroup and the game went on from there without incident.

BITS has it dead on! Get away from the coach, talk to your partner, let everyone know what is going on. Then report the Technical, administer the Technical, and continue with the game.

As for the "back-to-back" technical fouls, well . . . probably shouldn't ever happen UNLESS they REALLY deserve it. And, if it does, it is better to let two different officials each give the coach one, rather than only one official giving both (JMO). That way, it doesn't turn into a "he said - she said" issue, and you don't end up trying to justify why you tossed a coach acting like an idiot. CYA

Wait - you mean he never did find that rule??? :confused:

I always use the whistle to signal a technical foul except for pre-game administrative or dunking T's. A good piece of advice that I've been given is to turn or walk away from the coach before you signal the T. That way you're not as confrontational, you're not seen as provoking a response and if the coach decides to react, you've put some room between him/her and you.

The getting the partner away part I understand. The talking to the coach part is BS (with very few exceptions). I will tell a coach he must sit and then he sees my backside. The official who called the T can talk to the coach about the technical foul at the appropriate time if he/she so desires. Anything else, IMO, is consoling an adult who got what they earned and should learn from it unless they have something better to do in the locker room.

Oh, I hit the whistle and point at the offender(s) when I call a T. I would say the majority of T's call themselves (if you want to look at it that way). It probably isn't a mystery to everyone so I just call it and move on.

first off -- once you inform a coach he has to leave its up to game management to get him out -- if they cannot do this for whatever reason only then should you call the ballgame -- but take every step necessary.

Inform coach he has to leave
Inform game management he has to leave
Talk with an assistant if available
Talk to game management again

By now if none of this has worked you have no choice but to disqualify his team from participation. get out -- write it up and go home knowing you did everything you possibly could to get him to leave.

On a side note -- what if said coach returns after his ejection? If he returns to the bench -- I will hit the assistant coach with a T -- and tell him he has 10 seconds to get the ejected coach out of here or its a DQ.

I like the way you handled this.:D

The real beauty of these kinds of discussions is that we can both be very successful with our approaches :)

Just to clarify a couple points, if you already know that your partner is going to sit the coach, that's fine. The point is to get the calling official away from the coach and to give him a few seconds to calm down. A second benefit is that it can also help keep the crew from screwing up. I work with many less experienced officials, but it was a more experienced official who thought he was doing me a big favor by getting everybody quickly lined up to shoot while I was reporting a T. Only he had us shooting at the wrong basket. You can imagine how well that went over.

Second, it isn't actually necessary to go back near the coach to report. The foul reporting area is vast. If the calling official administers the T, which is the way we do it on my crews, then you can turn from your huddle, report from where you are, and hustle off to the endline to administer the free throw. The next contact that coach will have will be with your partner, putting him in an ideal position to deliver the second T if it is warranted.

I completely agree the crew needs to get together, I just don't agree with your sequence.

For me call it, report it, get away and talk to your partner seems less risky than call it, get away, talk to your partner and go back toward the coach to report...if you are using the foul reporting area that is in the manual, it isn't that vast...even if you aren't near the coach, the act of coming back and giving the T to the table, to me anyway, seems like it can be seen as an aggressive act.

In my game, we have ourselves a forfeit.

This is strictly not according to rule, deecee. Dexter has the right idea. If he tries to come back into the gym, it's a forfeit, pure and simple. There's no discretion or judgment involved.

What is this "coaches box" that you speak of? I think it's a mythical being, like Dan_ref's hair or Jurassic's sense of humor.

(Seems we've had a rash of "coaches' box" comments lately. I now have that response programmed in my auto-text.)

Shut up.

I now have that response programmed in my auto-text.

What did I miss?

(This auto-text feature really works.)

I thought you were supposed to turn those plates in.