Inbounds hand off rules

[referee99]

Originally Posted by Kevin W

I am a coach of a youth 4th 5th grade girls basketball team. We had a game today and I argued with an official that he was handing the ball in to quickly. As soon as the girl stepped up that was throwing it in he would hand it to her and start the 5 second count. This resulted in several turnovers for us because we were not set up and scattered across the floor. I kept my cool for the first 4 or 5 times, but finally called him over on a timeout and voiced my opinion. He said he had been officiating youth basketball for 15 years and had never heard of any rules when handing the ball in. Well I played basketball since I was 5 to 34 and watched thousands of games in between and unless a team won't come out of a time-out in time the officials always allow the teams to set up before handing the ball to the passer. Is there any official rules in the book on this?

Kevin W, I coached a 5th grade CYO team last year, and our ability to get set on throw-in situations was horrible. Our most eager player ran to the spot and got the ball, and my knuckleheads were still trying to remember our simple box plays and what they were supposed to do.

Fortunately as an official, I got some insight into how to control the timing here -- simply substitute on every out-of-bounds play under your basket. Designate one position that will be your 'hot seat' position. Say, Joe and Pete are going to share that spot.

When the out-of bounds situation occurs, just turn and say "Joe get Pete", or "Pete get Joe". They make a move to the table to report, they sub in and you've just bought 15 seconds. This will slow the game down to a level where you can get your players set and run your inbounds play. Also, really work on getting them to 'snap to' when you want them to. Set 'em up in different configurations on the floor. One is out of bounds, one is on the floor, 2 are by the division line, and one is near the sideline. Challenge them to get into their formation as quickly as possible. Time 'em. Make a game out of it... you know, one of those games with suicides in it.

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by referee99

Kevin W, I coached a 5th grade CYO team last year, and our ability to get set on throw-in situations was horrible. Our most eager player ran to the spot and got the ball, and my knuckleheads were still trying to remember our simple box plays and what they were supposed to do.

Another suggestion, here. DESIGNATE a TRIGGER for inbounds plays. This could be the "messenger guards" (old Cleveland Browns term) that referee99 mentions or one of your other players. I was also VERY DEMANDING that the same player inbounded the ball -- this is a VERY IMPORTANT job. This player had to be a fairly smart (relative to the rest of my team) player. We, too, would practice inbounds plays like referee99 suggests -- with the players randomly positioned on the court. I would relay the play in to the players THE MOMENT I KNEW we had possession of the ball. This would get the four "on court" players moving in to position. The trigger would also repeat my play call -- all the while moving in the direction of the spot, BUT NOT running to the spot.

Inbounds plays -- especially under your own basket -- provide a GREAT SCORING OPPORTUNITY (especially at the younger ages, but even at the college level and everywhere in between)!!! You want to take advantage of these opportunities by either utilizing a sub (as JRut and referee99 suggests), having a very repeatable process as I suggest, or a combination of the two.

[Nevadaref]

From the 2007-09 NFHS Officials Manual on pages 20 & 51:

"The throw-in team should make a player available to attempt the throw-in. No appreciable delay should be allowed before placing the ball at the disposal of the thrower and beginning the five-second count."

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

From the 2007-09 NFHS Officials Manual on pages 20 & 51: "The throw-in team should make a player available to attempt the throw-in. No appreciable delay should be allowed before placing the ball at the disposal of the thrower and beginning the five-second count."

Thanks Nevadaref. Now that should settle it. Be sure to turn out the light.

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

From the 2007-09 NFHS Officials Manual on pages 20 & 51:

"The throw-in team should make a player available to attempt the throw-in. No appreciable delay should be allowed before placing the ball at the disposal of the thrower and beginning the five-second count."

Kevin,
Nevadaref's rule quotation in this case is what prevents an official from waiting say "a 5 second count" (as this would be a measured amount of time) before handing the ball to the inbounder.

However, that part of the manual also states that the proper and specific spot is to be designated by the administering official, the administering official should always make eye contact with his partner(s) to insure that his partner is ready for play to resume (which includes determining if there are substitutes at the table, insuring that there are exactly five players from each team on the court, neither coach is requesting time out, etc.).

I think you should now have an understanding of why the official was getting the ball in play when he was yesterday. Was he really rushing at times? Well, perhaps, you had to be there. But, as a coach, you have to adjust your team's play to the official for that game. JRutledge, referee99 and I have given you some options that can be employed to legally give your young team some additional time to get set for inbounds plays.

One of the interesting points of officiating sports is that there are many situations that one official can interpret (and justify that interpretation) one way while another official can interpret (and just that interpretation) another way. In this case, the term "appreciable" can be interpreted to be VIRTUALLY NO TIME as was the case in your game yesterday or it can be interpreted as NO SPECIFIC AMOUNT OF TIME (not five seconds or any other specified amount of time each time) as is the case in most instances.

Good luck next week....and be sure to spend some time getting the "cats" herded to their inbound spots quickly (except for the thrower) during practice......