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.