As you describe it I wouldn't agree that there was a question as to whether or not a team was in posession. This was not a loose ball your opponent had posession of it. Therefore I'm guessing the official ruled that the coach called timeout before your player tied it up. You are correct that he didn't "have to" grant it, but if his team clearly has control then there isn't really a reason why he wouldn't. Don't confuse this with a situation where there is a loose ball and two players are going after it vying for control, in that case I would tend to withhold granting the TO request until it was clear to me that one of the players has control.

Really?

5-8-3a

The ball is in control or at the disposal of a player of his/her team.

A player does not have control of ball during a held-ball situation.

Held ball definition: 4-25-1 (for this case)

Opponents have their hands so firmly on the ball that control cannot be obtained without undue roughness.

So yes, you cannot request timeouts when held-ball happens because no one has full control of the ball.

Check your vocabulary. And yes it makes a difference.

Anybody can request a timeout anytime they want to. Whether or not the official GRANTS the timeout is a completely different issue.

You've almost got it right. If a TO is granted while the ball is jointly held; you grant the time out and still go to the arrow. In practice, however, I would inform the requesting coach that we still have a held ball and see if he still wants the TO.

I'm seeing a situation in my head where the other team was holding the ball and your player was trying to tie him up. If the coach's request came even a split second before your player succeeded in tying up the opponent, the TO should be granted.

If the TO was requested after the ball was truly tied up, and the official blew his whistle to grant it; he should grant it but put the ball back into play with the arrow.

Note, the request doesn't have to come before the defense touches the ball; it needs to come before the official judges the ball is tied up. It's a judgment call all the way.

Of all the things to jump on him about, this seems awfully petty to me. I can tell you I've had exactly one player request a timeout in the past 4 seasons, and I flat out forgot to even get his number.

<strike>Further more, I couldn't even tell you where it's written that we're supposed to get the number.</strike>
Disregard, I found it in the mechanics, but stand by the rest.

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1998.

I hardly jumped on him. I don't really care if you think it's petty. At the lower levels, the kids aren't as savvy to think about calling timeout when they are on the floor with the ball and it's about to be tied up - the coach is usually the one who calls timeout in that situation. The varsity kids are a little smarter and will do this quite often.