Odd situation from my last tournament.

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Didn't the NFHS come out with a recent interpretation of this situation?

5.8.3 SITUATION E: A1 is dribbling the ball in his/her backcourt when the Team A head coach is yelling "side out" offensive instructions to his/her team and the official stops play believing the coach requested a timeout.

RULING:An accidental whistle has occurred. Team A was not requesting a time-out, and therefore, should not be granted or charged with one. Play is resumed at the point of interruption.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by just another ref

5.8.3 SITUATION E

just another ref: Thanks. Nice research. Nice citation.

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

just another ref: Thanks. Nice research. Nice citation.

Research?? What makes you think I didn't quote this from memory?

[Da Official]

Originally Posted by just another ref

5.8.3 SITUATION E: A1 is dribbling the ball in his/her backcourt when the Team A head coach is yelling "side out" offensive instructions to his/her team and the official stops play believing the coach requested a timeout.

RULING:An accidental whistle has occurred. Team A was not requesting a time-out, and therefore, should not be granted or charged with one. Play is resumed at the point of interruption.

Scenario: A1 is holding the ball in the front court and being closely guarded by B1 with less than 1 minute in the game Team A up by 2. As I'm nearing 5 on a 5 second count I hear what I thought was a time out request from Coach A. I blow the whistle and point to the bench and state timeout. Coach A who obviously isn't the smartest says "I didn't call a timeout, I don't want a timeout" even though he has 2 remaining. I say "ok so you don't want the timeout". He says "no". I say "ok, we have a 5 second count violation, (Team B's) ball."

Question: Based on the above case play I was wrong to call the violation. My thing at the time was the coach said what sounded to me and my partner to be a call for a timeout and considering the play and the score it was pretty reasonable to expect a timeout called. If I follow the point of interruption rule to the letter it would be Team A's ball on a throw in, correct? How fair is that? Is it reasonable to wonder what if coaches started using this non-timeout tactic to their advantage?

[Adam]

1. make sure he wants a timeout. It's okay to hear the request, hit your 5 second count, and verify by looking at the coach he wanted the TO before granting it. A coach in this situation will almost always give the signal and the words for this request.

2. Whether you made a mistake depends on whether you actually got to 5 seconds prior to blowing the whistle. If you blew before hitting 5, you should give A the ball back. It may not seem fair, but it's not fair to penalize them prematurely either. A1 could have thrown a pass just before you got to 5.