Why no time out?

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by WarpedOne
I don't get it. The official actually asks the player if he's sure he wants a TO? What is he...a blackjack dealer? Why would you ever even ask a player if he really wants a TO? If ever, should you not be presumptious and ask every time?

You would be surprised how often a player wants a timeout and the situation might not warrant it. For example, during a time when we have an injury and a player "requests" a timeout and we have to wait for the situation to be handled, as an official you ask, "do you want a timeout still?" They might say no because the reason they wanted one in the first place was because one of their players was hurt. Or even better, they wanted to discuss a game situation, which they can techinically do during a injury timeout in the first place (not sitting down of course). Especially at the HS level, players do not understand what the rules are and sometimes ask for timeouts when the rules do not allow it. You ask to make sure the request is valid.

Peace