Direct Technicals to Bench Players

[Texas Aggie]

I'm certainly not going to criticize him for not doing it earlier. Its a feel thing, and officials are different. The first incident is described as the player "stood up and yelled..." Then, they "stood up and said..." Finally, they "jumps up, looks at me, and screams..." So I might have handled it in a similar fashion, though its doubtful I would have let it pass a second time. However, given that I wasn't there, what happened wasn't unreasonable.

Here's a tip: when you give a warning, blow the whistle and announce the warning. Obviously, do this during a dead ball, but stop play after a made basket if necessary. (Yes, I can already predict those that say don't do this because there's no rules support...) An announced verbal warning, "BENCH HAS BEEN WARNED," in a loud, but neutral toned voice does wonders.