2man Technical Question

[Back In The Saddle]

Warning, what follows is pure blasphemy.

Here's what I prefer. The L administers the free throw from the baseline, and he watches the shooter. You don't need or want both officials focused on one player. The T moves back to where he can most effectively watch the other nine players. If there's been trouble, he might even want to be right in the middle of them, talking to players and making his presence known.

IMHO, consistency for consistency's sake between regular free throws and technical/intentional/flagrant foul free throws doesn't make sense. Regular free throw coverage is a compromise that allows the crew to watch seven players on the lane for violations and fouls, and try to keep an eye on the other three, and then be prepared for potential rebounding action. Very little of that applies to T/I/F foul free throws. In these cases, the crew should consider who/what needs to be covered and put themselves in the most advantageous position to do it.

OTOH, don't deviate from standard coverage just to be different. If the best way to cover a particular T/I/F free throw is to be in regular free throw positions, then go there. Just don't both officials be focused only on the shooter.