Georgetown-St. John's final closing seconds
 

Anyone see the Georgetown-St. John's game tonight? They're going into overtime now, but with less than 30 seconds left, Georgetown was up 2 and missed a FG. St. John's came down with the ball, and bobbled it. The player recovered it, falling out of bounds, jumped in the air as he was falling out of bounds and called time out- the ref standing a few feet away granted it. Despite the fact this was clearly against the new rule, the time out stood. St. John's ended up tying the game. Thoughts?

Didn't see the game. Sounds like a misapplication of a rule.

Are you sure that the player didn't have one foot on the floor and that he was completely airborne?

BTW St. John's won 59-56 in OT.

Falling out of bounds is legal to have a timeout granted. Airborne is a different story.

Peace

"Summers missed a jumper with 17 seconds left in regulation that could have given Georgetown a four-point lead. Thomas grabbed the rebound and called a timeout although it appeared he was in the air when he called it. Thomas, whose 16 points were a career high, was fouled with 2.3 seconds to go and made them both to force the overtime." -- Associated Press

Georgetown vs. St. John's - Recap - March 03, 2009 - ESPN

Rule 5 / Scoring and Timing Regulations
Section 12. Timeouts Not Granted
Art. 1. No timeouts shall be granted:
a. To the opponents of the throw-in team after the throw-in starts.
b. During an interrupted dribble.
c. To a player or coach when an airborne player’s momentum is carrying him/her out of bounds or into the backcourt.

I once had a sitch in which I was trail, table side, near A's bench. A1 falling OOB. Coach calls timeout. Then again louder. Then again more louder. Sort of a timeout, TimeOut, TIMEOUT. I was close enough to hear the 1st timeout request and granted the timeout. This ocurred in the closing seconds of a tight game. The timeout everyone heard was TIMEOUT with A1
already OOB.
Something similiar may have happened in this sitch if the play was near an official.

Very good point! Once a season I have to tell a coach that his nonchalant signal/voice makes it very difficult for us to properly grant the request. A little more effort on his part makes the request that much more obvious to us.

Maybe the player verbalized it while "on the floor," and followed with the hand signal after going airborne.

The other possibility is that if the player was indeed airborne, it is considered an IW, no TO is granted, the ball is given back to the team last in control at the time of the whistle (St. John's), but then the coach or player could still request the TO at that point. What happens, in effect, is the official screwed Georgetown out of a turnover, and St. John's still got to request a TO during the dead ball.

I think we need to note to new or rookie forum followers that we are talking about NCAA rules in this thread and not NFHS rules. In NFHS games it is permissible to call for and be granted a time out while a player is airborne and going out of bounds. See casebook play 5.8.3 Situation D.

Honestly, if that has to be pointed out, that is rather sad in my opinion. ;)

It is very clear we are talking about a college game.

Peace

Yeah, but a rookie/newcomer might not know that the ruling is different per NFHS rules set.

Then they need to use a little bit of common sense and read the rule or at the very least ask a question how this relates to the high school level. Do we have to tell newer officials that the two 3 point lines do not apply to high school as well? ;)

Some things should not have to be pointed out to you. That is why they have the rulebook in the first place.

Peace

If they were working on a court that had both sets of lines I personally wouldn't assume that a rookie knew which line applied and for which rules set. But that's JMHO.

And based on some the questions asked by some posters I wouldn't assume everyone is in possession of a rule book.

Like you are assuming newer officials would not know the difference? ;) There are many newer officials that work other sports as well. Depending on the sports others might work, basketball is not nearly as complicated when it comes to rules differences from one level to another as it is in sports like football or baseball and even softball.

Peace

Why is it bad to clarify, Rut?

Can you quote anywhere I said it was bad to clarify? I was just pointing out that it was rather obvious we were talking about a college game. NCAA Rules were quoted as well. ;)

Peace

Sorry, "sad" was your word.

Yes it is sad. When you have the title of the thread involves college teams and a rule quoted in the first few threads, it is sad you have to point out the obvious. ;) I would take a completely different attitude if someone did not clarify the level and did not quote the rule for that level.

Peace

Sorry if I offended anyone with a clarification. Although probably 98% to 99% of NCAA and NFHS rules are the same, this one is different.

What's sad IMO is forgetting that some who read and post here are just getting started in an avocation that others have been involved in for many years and truly don't know there is a difference.

No apology necessary. The thread took a sad turn, all right, but not because of you.