Play situation
 

Game tied at 60. Both teams in bonus, all time outs are gone. A1 with ball, holding for last second shot. A1 shoots and misses, rebound by B1 with 1.5 on the clock. B1 instantly turns, signals, and shouts for a time out as he pivots. Official's whistle blows with .2 to grant the time out. Horn sounds and time expires. Officials discuss and determine that request was granted prior to horn expiration of time. They add .2 to the clock, asses a T to B for an excess TO. A gets 2 shots, makes 1, and inbounds at half court. Time expires on touch inbounds, game over, A wins by 1.

So the question is, do you ignore the TO request, knowing that they have no timeouts left? By rule, did the officials do what is correct? Any way this could have been handled better/differently?

Sounds like it was handled perfectly.

They asked for a timeout, you granted a timeout.

I will offer this scenario: if you ignore the timeout request, are you willing to give the coach of the other team a T when/if he or she goes nuts because you didn't grant the timeout?

The only question I have is to ask for more of a description about how you came up with .2 on the clock. Someone saw that and had definite knowledge?

Yes, one official did look up and see .2 right after he blew his whistle. I agree that all was handled correctly by the rule book. I was not there, only heard the situation from a 3rd party.....Funny though how some of the "higher ups" suggested that you ignore the time out and "let the players decide the game" in the OT.......

If I hear a time out, I'm granting it. In a game like this, a good coach will always know how many time out he/she has, and if it is zero, he/she will let the players know and tell them not to call a time out for anything.

One of the players did decide the game......by requesting a timeout!

Ask Chris Webber what happens when you are out of time outs and you call one.

I was thinking about that event as well.

IMHO Rule 5-12-2 is the supporting documentation. "Time-outs in excess of the allotted number may be requested and shall be granted during regulation playing time or any extra period at the expense of a techinical foul for each.

What if the coach thinks he has a better chance at a half-court steal and shot than winning in OT? Grant the TO.

Agreed. Sometimes the coach calls the timeout intentionally, even though he knows he doesn't have one.

"If I hadn't called it, they step out and hold it until the clock runs out."

Exactly. Sometimes they call it hoping you'll stop the clock and then decide to ignore it and go with an IW.

2001-02 NFHS Basketball Rules Interpretations

SITUATION 12: Team A has used all allotted time-outs. The scorer notifies the referee, who properly advises the Team A coach at the beginning of Team A’s last called time-out. During play later in the game, A4 attempts to call time-out when he/she is being pressured by B2 and 83. U2 ignores the request by A4. RULING: U2 should honor the request of A4, even when this would be a time-out in excess of the number allotted. Game officials do not have discretionary authority to assist players in avoiding rules violations. (2-7-6; 5-12-2)