What would you have done?

[ma_ref]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

As the new Trail my count would start when I got down to the end line. If I can get down there, then so can the nonscoring team. It's not my fault that they were caught out of position. The ball is there and clearly at their disposal. Yes, I'm counting.

This isn't what you said earlier. You said your count starts when the ball is available, and had nothing to do with your position relative to the end line. Just because you got down there quickly does not necessarily mean the other team can, too. As the trail/new-lead, we are already closer to the mid-court area than the team that had the ball stolen. As an official, we must keep up with the player that stole the ball to get the best possible view in case a violation occurs, so naturally we are closer to the end line than any player from the new throw-in team.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the what it means for the ball to be at the disposal of a player/team, because I totally disagree with you on this. You're penalizing the new throw-in team for making a concerted effort to put the ball back in play in a timely fashion, which is nothing less than what they're supposed to do, and that goes against the principles we're supposed to adhere to as officials. There's no abuse of the rules here at all.