Technical Foul Costs George Washington University Dearly

[grunewar]

Dayton 63, George Washington 61

By Steven Goff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 23, 2009; Page E07

George Washington relinquished a one-point lead in the final 21 seconds last night, not because of faltering defense, poor rebounding or any of the other maladies that have afflicted the Colonials this dreary season.

No, they lost their eighth straight game, a 63-61 setback to Dayton before 2,517 at Smith Center, because they had too many players on the court......

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...012204037.html

[tjones1]

Count your players, count your players, count your players.

[wanja]

There is a breadkdown in officiating focus and communication here. As a matter of preventive officiating during substitutions, at least one official should count the players and give a non-verbal confirmation to proceed to another official.

[TrojanHorse]

Right or wrong, When I officiated I was taught that unless someone just ran out on the court..that having too many players was our fault.

[grunewar]

We've had this discussion many, many times on the Forum. While most of us do count players and won't put the ball in play if discovered - ultimately, it is the coaches responsibility IMO.

[TrojanHorse]

But with three officials on the floor, someone should have noticed a sub running on and someone not running off. In D-I, I think this is highly unacceptable.

Sure the kid coming on should have made a point to tell the kid he is subbing for to come off..but the official blew the whistle after a made basket to get the sub in, who is watching to make sure one runs off.

[Texas Aggie]

ultimately, it is the coaches responsibility

This is 100% accurate. It isn't a matter of losing focus. I may not see a guy who might be blocked by another player or standing by a coach, thinking he's on his way off. In addition there are coaches who will try to get away with this knowing that we might just stop play and rush someone off. If we blame ourselves in all these cases, they always get a pass here.

[deecee]

Originally Posted by TrojanHorse

But with three officials on the floor, someone should have noticed a sub running on and someone not running off. In D-I, I think this is highly unacceptable.

Sure the kid coming on should have made a point to tell the kid he is subbing for to come off..but the official blew the whistle after a made basket to get the sub in, who is watching to make sure one runs off.

You are right. This is D1, and there are 3 officials. There are also 2-4 assistant coaches/team managers, 1 head coach, 6 players on the court and 6 more on the bench, 1-2 athletic trainers, 2-5 other team personnel. So SOMEONE should have noticed, and bemoaning the fact that "blah blah its the officials responsibility" NO ITS NOT -- its good game management and a courtesy for a good fair game but this is all on the 15-20 team members and personnel. And you are right, in D1 this is highly unacceptable that a coach or his staff cannot run a substitution correctly.

So please get off your its the ref's fault. Its not ideal, but in NO WAY is this the officials fault or responsibility.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by TrojanHorse

Right or wrong, When I officiated I was taught that unless someone just ran out on the court..that having too many players was our fault.

Yes but, the reality is a team should not send anything but 5 onto the court. It should not happen on our watch, but it happens. And ultimately the teams should communicate properly and it would not happen.

Peace

[LeeBallanfant]

So now after we help a team avoid a TF by telling them they have 6 players (after all this is undergraduate university ball, not post graduate, so the difference between 5 and 6 might be a difficult concept for some student athletes), why not help avoid a TF when they call a time out over their limit and say you cannot have it.

Totally ridiculous for refs to help a team count to six.

[Fan10]

The officials for this game were Mike Kitts, Tim Higgins, and Jim Burr. While I agree that this ultimately is the coach's responsibility and I am not assigning blame to the officials, I am very surprised that this got past three very highly-respected, veteran officials like the three of them.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Fan10

The officials for this game were Mike Kitts, Tim Higgins, and Jim Burr. While I agree that this ultimately is the coach's responsibility and I am not assigning blame to the officials, I am very surprised that this got past three very highly-respected, veteran officials like the three of them.

Simply proof that it can happen to any of us. Nobody's perfect, that's why the rule exists.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Fan10

The officials for this game were Mike Kitts, Tim Higgins, and Jim Burr. While I agree that this ultimately is the coach's responsibility and I am not assigning blame to the officials, I am very surprised that this got past three very highly-respected, veteran officials like the three of them.

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Simply proof that it can happen to any of us. Nobody's perfect, that's why the rule exists.

Exactly. Makes me feel a hell of a lot better about having it last week. Not that I haven't been extra focused on it since.

[bigdogrunnin]

Until this season, I had called this ONCE in a 7B Girls game several years ago. Coach says, "go get her!" So the girl on the bench did. Right in the middle of a live ball. The little girl was so fast in getting on the floor, the coach couldn't even get "NO" out of her mouth until the girl was almost to the center circle.

Now, earlier this season, I have a 9, JV, V girls triple header. 9th Girls game, home team comes out of a TO. 5th Player goes behind bench. Partner not paying attention to me and hands off ball for a TI. About 15 seconds run off with 4-to-5 on the floor and THEN the 5th player for home decides to just run on the floor. TWEET! "T".

In the VARSITY game, after another time out, the visiting team has all 5 girls come onto the floor. The coach tells one of the girls to sit down, so she does. Again, Partner hands off for a TI. We are 5-6 seconds into the play and the girl who sat down, gets up and walks onto the floor. TWEET! "T".

Couldn't believe it. Once in my entire officiating career, then TWICE in one night.

I agree with the others, in that ULTIMATELY it is the responsibility of the coach, and sometimes those things happen.