Too many players on the court

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

In your case, you did notice it. You were confirming what you noticed.

You're going completely against the language of 10-1-6 imo, Mark. You discovered it while being violated and the penalty should apply.

Let's assume that the game is being videotaped.

My partner(s) and I allow the inbounds pass without having counted five for each side. (Mea culpa, but not much we can do now.) I just assume that there are 5 players for A and 5 for B, and don't think to count either side.

Now, A6 steps off the floor. This is my first indication that something may be amiss. At that moment, pause the playback and count how many players A has on the court. (Hint - the answer is five.)

When there were actually six A players on the court, I had no idea that there were six out there. Unless someone shows me that the rule has changed, or shows that Team A has done something wrong by having 5 on the court, I'm not calling a T. That may be splitting hairs a bit too closely for some of you, but that's what my decision is going to be.