"Countdown" allowed or not?

[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by mbyron

The answer that jumps to my mind is: that's not his job.

If coaches or players want to count down, I have no problem with that. Since it does constitute assistance, that's properly the job of a coach or teammate.

I'm not talking about a situation where both teams have equal access to the clock(s) on both ends of the court; in that case I agree the table should not be providing extra assitance. I'm talking about this instance where there is only one clock/scoreboard on only one end of the floor, and (go figure) it happens to favor the home team in that it is within their view in the second half.

I had a similar situation come up in an NCAA game involving a shot clock, where one shot clock, on one end of the floor, did not work. We were told by the NCAA rules secretary at the time that it was indeed the table's responsibility to verbally count down the time when the shot clock neared expiration during the possessions on the side where the clock did not work. This was to be done for both teams, in both halves. It was determined that the table needed to provide the information equally to both teams, and it was an unfair advantage for one team to see a clock while the other could not.

I'm just extending that logic to this situation. If there's only one clock/scoreboard, and it's on the side of the court where both teams have to look to the side to see it, then both teams are equally advantaged/disadvantaged, and no additional table help is needed. If there's only one clock on one end, then I would have the table verbally count down (say, under 10 seconds) for each period, for both teams, when the offense is on the opposite end of the floor.