I won't forget this...

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by Big2Cat

As another official who also coaches, please know that some teams get bent out of shape if you win by 10, or 15. I have had and seen plenty of teams blow a 15 point lead in the 4th quarter, and a lot of times it was because they didn't want to be seen as "running up the score".

For some reason, we get to the point of thinking that we have to stop scoring and keep it close. My job is not to keep the score close. My job is also not to stop my team from scoring--that is the other coach's job.

That said, I can usually tell immediately if we are just having great success against an equally matched team (and keep all the pressure on) or if the team we are playing is vastly inferior in skill to our team. If it is the latter, then the press comes off almost immediately, we do not fast break, we still play man to man but do not pressure the ball until the top of the key. If it is really, really bad we might also go to a tight zone and not challenge outside shots.

However, each coach reads each situation differently, and yes, sadly, some are just jerks who don't care.

Yeah that's a good point and I am certainly not the type to get between a losing team and a good azz whuppin. But I'm pretty sure the visiting coach was miffed because he had just emptied his bench.

[tomegun]

Another thing to keep in mind: if little Johnny is finally in the game, he wants to score too. Keeping your starters in and scoring is different than putting your subs in and scoring. That could be the highlight of someone's basketball career if they don't normally get in the game.

[Adam]

I heard a great perspective on this a few years ago during discussion of an intrastate blowout game at the D1 level. If the team getting destroyed is as talented as the winning team, it's their responsibility to throw in the towel. In this case, the winning team shouldn't be faulted for playing hard to keep their lead and even expand it. However, if the winning team is vastly superior, then you can (not necessarily "should") put more onus on the winning team to call off the dogs, so to speak.
A coach who's been around for 17 years isn't likely to be easily offended by this. 1 minute left in a 20 pt blowout? I've seen some pretty big comebacks (had a great one this year), but never seen 20 points made up in one minute. The only thing that could possibly need addressing at this stage of a game is sportsmanship.

[Red_Killian]

Originally Posted by tomegun

Another thing to keep in mind: if little Johnny is finally in the game, he wants to score too. Keeping your starters in and scoring is different than putting your subs in and scoring. That could be the highlight of someone's basketball career if they don't normally get in the game.

I resembled that remark in my HS playing days.....garbage time was my time to try to shine....or at least not screw up too bad.