Lesson Learned

[Todd VandenAkker]

I hear what you're saying, and agree that if there was taunting going on, there probably should have been a "T" issued. At the same time, if there is talking between opponents that has the potential to escalate, or even mild "mutual" bumping, but neither is considered sufficient at the time to penalize, then it is generally accepted and fairly common to get them together and have a word, even if that means blowing the whistle to stop play so you can "warn" them. That is appropriate preventative officiating, but after that we need to penalize those behaviors to ensure nothing DOES get out of hand. It's really a judgment call as to whether the first incident was severe enough to be considered taunting, or borderline enough to try to prevent it from going further. But if, for example, someone makes an "awesome" basket, then gets in his opponent's face to celebrate, something like that gets an immediate "T."