Timeout question!

[JoeTheRef]

Originally Posted by kycat1

What if you really have a brain fart and Team B has no time outs left near the end of very tight game. They get trapped and you hear time out from the bench area and grant the time out. Coach says it was not him/her. Could have been a bench personnel or a fan right behind the bench. What do you do then? If you grant the time out eventhough you should not have because the coach really didn't ask for the time out, are you going to make them take it and also issue a T for excessive time outs? I am not sure if this is fair and in the best interest of the game!
Any thoughts if you really blow this?

I would have to eat it. Get the ball ready for play and let's go. It's the officials responsibility to recognize the coach on the bench before you call the timeout. For all we know it could've been a fan or parent sitting behind the bench, or even worse, a fan or parent of the opposing team screaming timeout.

Now I've had a situation where I'm the new lead in crew of 3 going down court, standing in front of bench in the new front court while a full court press is on (C is hanging back helping the new T), I observed the trap, coach yells timeout, when I recognize him and call the timeout, the ball was already stolen. Team A had the ball when I heard "timeout", when I finally put air in the whistle and call the time out, ball is stolen. I give the TO and the ball back to Team A.