Stealing the tap

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Bishopcolle

What is the mechanic for the violation of "stealing the tap?"

It's a jump ball violation. I simply pointed in the direction of the play and gave a throw-in location. I may have pointed at the player and verbalized the call, although that gym was so loud I was probably talking to myself. I couldn't even hear the JV guys' whistles (of course they were using pea whistles and not blowing them correctly, but that's another story). I did make sure the arrow was set properly. Probably the first time I ended up being the center after tossing the opening jump.

To answer the time question, it wasn't legally tapped -- by "stealing it" I meant (as many assumed) that it was tapped on the way up. To me, this means the clock never should've started. I didn't put time back, though, and this thread is really the first time I thought about it. It's the first jump I've called a violation on in about 3 years or so, but it was so egregious I simply couldn't let it go. I understand the people here who said "let it go," but I didn't want the game to start that way.