Update: Varsity Coach on JV Bench

[Brian Watson]

Originally posted by paulis
Tecnical fouls can be a wonderful tool to stopping behavior which is distracting or pissing you off. I get a kick out of officials who say they hardly ever if at all throw out a T. In my book, this probably means they take far too much crap than they need to or should. I am now saying to start calling them right away and often. Simply to use them to make things better. Basketball coaches are lucky in this regard. A T can have little (2 points) to no negative consequence. In baseball, managers do not have this luxury. Technical fouls are our way of quieting (hopefully) a coach with minimal consequence to the team.

I worked a game a couple of weeks ago with one of those officials who throws out T's extremely judiciously. I had just whacked the coach and asked my partner to tell the offended coach why and the bit about losing the box. As I turn and walk away I hear the coach erupting and wait and wait and wait for my partner to finish the job. Nothing. So I have to eject him from half the court away.

Maybe we need to look at more precise wordage in the rules book about when to T. This might make us appear more consistent in dealing with coaches.

I am all for taking care of business, I probably thorw more T than others. My point was, will wacking someone not on the bench help or hurt? In this case it was the right call and helped. My earlier point goes back to the axiom that you only issue a T to help the game. I think in some situations wacking someone not on the bench, even if it is the coach of the Varsity team, might not help the game. I totally agree that this situation needs to be addressed, but me, personally, I might not drop a T. I would probably have him escorted out. What happens if one isn't enough? Do you give him one or two or three more if he keeps it up? Remember, he is not limited to two before getting the door, he is not part of the team this game. I think if you just remove him, you ensure the situation is contained.