Five Second Violation
 

A partner of mine had this in a game Sunday afternoon. I completely agree with him and think he handled it correctly...

NCAA rules, two rival teams. Second half, score is close, anyones game. Less than 2 minutes on the clock. We just had a violation on Team B in the begining of transition giving the ball back to Team A in Team A's front court on the baseline. My partner in the lead position (but opposite tableside) hands A1 the ball out of bounds and starts the count. Three seconds into his count the horn sounds for subs. My other partner who is tableside (center official) doesn't allow them in and I hear my partner in the Lead position tell A1 very clearly to "keep playing keep playing."

A second later, A1 throws the ball back to the lead official. My partner the lead official hands the ball back to him and gives him three more seconds and calls for a five second violation.

I agree with my partner because I think A1 knew he was screwed and was running out of time. If my partner didn't call it, there would have been a disadvantage given to Team B who was playing great defense to prevent the entry of the ball.

The game ended with Team A winning by four points. Great game! I was lucky too, I had two great partners who kept the game moving and called a very consistant game!

Nice job not bailing A1 out.

The officials are not required to recognize the horn. Play should continue unless there is a whistle.

You guys did it correctly.

Would you or your partner have treated this differently if it was a 15-20 point game?

Sounds like a job well done - especially the communication from the lead. It's much easier to defend/explain this call if you tell the kid to keep playing and throw the ball back to him than if you just let the ball drop to the floor and stare at it.

Or, he could have let it hit the floor OOB and called a throwin violation. Either way....

Why would you consider that a throw-in violation? The thrower is allowed to bounce the ball OOB before making the throw-in.

I think he's trying to say that if you allow the ball just to bounce and get out of its way there's going to be a throw-in violation because either another member of that team is going to get the ball or the throw-in player will move to get the ball. Either way, it's a violation. :)

Then again, maybe that's not what he's thinking at all.

Or perhaps he's thinking that after a couple of bounces you'll hit the 5 second mark and call that violation.

To allow the ball to bounce away after the thrower has tossed it back to the official, and then call the violation for leaving the spot, etc., seems a lot like setting the thrower up. Better, I think, to do what the OP saw.

Seems like the officials handled this situation very well. Personally, I would let the ball bounce off of me and to the floor. I am not setting up the player throwing the ball in, because it isn't my responsibility to "bail them out." Get the ball inbounds or spend a timeout. My count doesn't stop because of the buzzer at the table.

BTW, that is something I cover with EVERY table crew, EVERY night I call, on any level (JH-College). I let them know that once the ball has been handed off to the team throwing the ball in, do not buzz us (the officials). It is too late to sub in, because the sub(s) was/were not at the table when the dead ball occurred. (Rules say 15-seconds before the dead-ball.) I also let the table know that if there is a correction to be made, do not buzz us once play has started. Instead they are to wait until the next dead ball, as whatever happens can still be corrected at that time. I started doing it this season, and I have not had a table problem this entire season. Preventative officiating . . . it is a beautiful thing.

What rule says that subs need to report at the table 15-seconds before the dead-ball?