Incident

[Terrapins Fan]

You always pray you don't have an incident. I usual literally pray that I don't. Last night I didn't pray. But I did have a bad incident. 18 secs to go in the 3rd quarter a player goes down from the home team on the baseline. I am the lead. Ball is rebounded and a fast break starts. I stay close to the player till the play ends, my partner going to lead sees what has happened and stops the play. It's a 21 point contest, so no big deal. The home player dislocated or separated his shoulder. The game was delayed for 30 minutes waiting for the ambulance to remove him from the floor.

I wasn't sure if I should have stopped the play right away or not. I knew he was hurt, it's just one of those plays you don't see very often. I was glad my partner stopped the play, not that 3 or 4 seconds would make any difference.

[stosh]

IMO, you got it right.

What if you broke up a fast break (assuming it was for the other team) and the player is ok enough to stay in the game? I would say unless the player is visibly convulsing, apparently unconscious, in danger of getting run over by the play, or some other scenario that would require immediate medical attention, let play continue until there is a natural break in "advantage".

[mbyron]

The question I ask myself is: will 10 seconds make a difference to the injured player? That's how long we'd have to wait for the fast break to end.

Very seldom, the answer is yes: if a player is unconscious, has stopped breathing, or is bleeding from the ears. In those cases, I will stop play immediately.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by mbyron

Very seldom, the answer is yes: if a player is unconscious, has stopped breathing, or is bleeding from the ears. In those cases, I will stop play immediately.

I would add that I stop the play if the player is on the floor and there is a lot of action around them that could lead to them, or another player being injured because of their location. Concur it's rare.

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by Terrapins Fan

I was glad my partner stopped the play, not that 3 or 4 seconds would make any difference.

Then what's the point of stopping the game?

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by grunewar

I would add that I stop the play if the player is on the floor and there is a lot of action around them that could lead to them, or another player being injured because of their location. Concur it's rare.

I have no problem with that. The OP concerned situations where we were going the other way on a fast break.

[JRutledge]

There is nothing wrong with taking a second or two to make sure that a kid is actually hurt. And unless players are all around him and he could get further hurt, I do not see the need to immediately kill the play. Now if you judge that the fast break is over and the kid is still on the floor or not coming up the floor very well, then stop play. This is just a situation where experience and judgment collide. I have not read anything that suggested you got it wrong or that you did not do what you are supposed to do.

BTW, if you work long enough, this will likely happen again or something worse will take place in relation to a player getting hurt. I had a player dislocate his ankle several years ago (one of the most gruesome basketball injuries I have ever seen BTW) and it took a long time for the player to be removed. The player was all alone on a fast break and stepped wrong and injured himself. In that case we stopped play immediately and no one said a word about it.

Peace

[archangel]

JVG game last Friday, 1 pt game with 2 min to play. Missed shot fast break by losing visiting team- as I'm the new lead, and dribbler is about 4 steps from an easy layup(which she continues to do after whistle) when partner blows whistle while still under Home teams basket and standing over an H player.
Of course, I'm next to V coach who is initially unhappy with the call(and probably still is), asking me whats going on/basket should be good. I saw the injured player and told coach I'd check w/my partner, thinking" I'm surprised he whistled at that point".
Turns out the player had hit her head, was bleeding from 1 eye, and not moving. Partner(and I agreed) felt the injury deserved immediate attention, hence the quick whistle.
Game was delayed, paramedics arrived quickly, player taken away..found out days later that there were no serious issues...
V coach didnt say another word on the injury whistle and eventually lost by 1.

[SmokeEater]

I think you handled the situation very well. Like Rut said its not the first time its happened and won't be the last time you see it either.

Myself the worst thing that happened was a 13 yr old kid was jumping up to block a dunk attempt and as their hands both made contact on the ball the impact or pressure (not sure which) snapped the poor kids arm. He came down with a scream and ended up sitting under the basket for about 15 mins until I convinced him he wasn't going to die. I am an EMT and was the only qualified person in the gym who could reasonably administer first aid. Got him to the sideline and had his arm supported temporarily until the ambulance showed up. 30 minutes later we were off again.

I actually got quite a few complements about that game, so I guess it was one of the best and the worst all rolled into one.

[Terrapins Fan]

Thanks for the replies.

Action was going away from the player.

I had another player go down about a week ago. He laid on the floor OOB and when the basket was made, I blew the whistle to get the coach and he ( the player got up and walked onto the floor....I was P.O., he just laid there for no reason.