Warning for delay
 

Worked a game earlier this week...there's a foul and defender B1 winds up w/ the ball. He takes a jump shot well after the play has been stopped by a whistle. He he shot at the other team's basket after he wound up w/ the ball. A few minutes later, he winds up w/ the ball while on offense after the play has been stopped and he shoots it again. I go up to him and say "hey, we're not playing a college or NBA game today, do me a favor and when you wind up w/ the ball after a whistle, just give it to me or my partner and don't shoot it, ok?". He says ok and we go on. That was the second quarter. At the end of the third quarter, he winds up w/ the ball around the free throw line in the backcourt. Time expires, 3 or 4 seconds elapse and he throws the ball at the other basket and it bounces off the wall on the other end of the court. I go have another chat with him, and figured a warning for delay would be the most I could penalize so that's what I did. My questions are 1) can I warn for delay like that between periods? 2) What would you have done differently?

You could T him.

10-3-5b: A player shall not delay the game by acts such as failing when in possession, to immediately pass the ball to the nearer official when the whistle blows.

This is not a call most officials will go looking for, but it sounds like this guy was way over the limit.

A team warning for delay is incorrect here as the kid is not doing one of the four actions that constitute such.

So you can either have a stern word with him, as you did, or issue a technical foul.

The first two instances would be covered by the rule JAR cited (It should read part (b) though, not (c).) The third, however, is after the expiration of time in the 3rd quarter. That changes things a bit. First, the player is no longer a player. He is now bench personnel. If he gets a T, then his head coach also gets an indirect T and loses any coaching box rights. Secondly, 10-3-5b is no longer a perfect fit for the situation. Therefore, if a T is to be assessed in this case, I believe that the kid must be charged with an unsporting technical foul under 10-4-1.
Besides just being a donkey, the kid is breaking 2-7-4.

PS Reading JAR's citation made me notice an unannounced editorial change in that rule. It actually changed two seasons ago, and I just noticed!

Here is the 2006-07 version:
10-3-6b: ...Failing when in possession, to immediately pass the ball to the nearer official when a violation or foul is called.

I guess it was altered to include whistles for time-outs and held balls.

You can't warn him for delay on this. Talk to him, then T him. The third quarter incident might just warrant a T without any previous warnings; but if you'd talked to him previously, definite and easy T.

You could also mention to his coach that you talked to him, so that the coach knows exactly what's happening when you whack the kid.

All delay warnings are listed in rule 4. This isnt one of them.