I've seen it all

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Freddy: I hope you realize that a large percentage of the Forum membership has absolutely no idea of what you're talking about.

Yeah, I might have a few more miles on the odometer, but you don't have to be an Environmental Chemical Analyst about it.

Sorry, was looking for the first opportunity to use that one.

[Judtech]

Call me a T.O. checker. I will say that it is easier to do in 3 person crew then 2 but it was something that was drilled in my head early on in my officiating career. It seems counter-intuitive that we are talking about how we deal with coaches during every other part of the game when they are doing what they shouldn't be doing, yet when they are doing something they are by rule allowed to do, some are saying we should ignore them b/c there is too much happening ON the court.
And the point that it is a coach's responsibility to get the officials attention that they want a T.O. would seem to cover this coach running down onto the court to do just that. If the officials aren't looking, what are the supposed to do in a loud, cramped gym?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Judtech

Call me a T.O. checker.

Veteran officials know when to look for timeout requests. A coach watches his team, ahead, or behind, on the wrong end of a 12-2 run? Guess who we're watching? A team behind by a few points, in the last minutes of a close game, with timeouts left, that probably wants to stop the clock? Guess who we're watching? A player is on the floor with the ball, and is about to be surrounded by some defenders? Guess who we're watching? A player is about to be trapped in the corner? Guess who we're watching?

Now, granted, sometimes both officials must be watching the players, but even then, especially the official off the ball, should try to take a peek at the bench during these situations.

[Berkut]

Originally Posted by Judtech

Call me a T.O. checker. I will say that it is easier to do in 3 person crew then 2 but it was something that was drilled in my head early on in my officiating career. It seems counter-intuitive that we are talking about how we deal with coaches during every other part of the game when they are doing what they shouldn't be doing, yet when they are doing something they are by rule allowed to do, some are saying we should ignore them b/c there is too much happening ON the court.
And the point that it is a coach's responsibility to get the officials attention that they want a T.O. would seem to cover this coach running down onto the court to do just that. If the officials aren't looking, what are the supposed to do in a loud, cramped gym?

Have a player call the TO, of course.

I don't think there is any debate that good officiating demands that an official be aware of typical TO situations, and pay a little more attention to see if a coach wants one.

However, the TO request is just that - a request. While good officials will be cognizant that the request might be coming, good coaching will realize that there are situations where you might not be able to get the officials attention as quickly as you like, and it behooves you to train your team what to do in those situations. Whether that be a loud gym in a critical moment where the officials are dialed in on the play, or just poor or inexperienced officials who may not be paying attention.

[hoopguy]

First of all, I agree with posters who say that this play was handled incorrectly by the refs. The coach should have been given his time out and the game should have moved on.

My point is that there are certain times that it is impossible for the refs to grant a timeout to a coach. In two person mechanics there are times when it should not happen. When the ball is opposite the coaches area, and in second half instances it would be in the coaches defensive half, the trail if the opponent has the ball or lead if the coaches team has the ball will have his back to the coach and in no way can grant the time out unless he thinks it is okay to turn completely away from the action which is not usually a good move. The lead will most likely have on ball responsibilties so he would need to take his eyes away from the ball. In other words there are situations in two person mechanics where it can be nearly impossible to grant the timeout to the coach. There needs to be a lull in the action where it is okay for one of the refs to visually see the coach request the time out. This is in the case where the noise allows the refs to hear the request.

I am in the camp who believes that players should be taught that they can also be an extension of the coach and relay his timeout request to the refs.

I just witnessed this scenario at GV high school game. The coach was requesting a time out and a player was doing this task of relaying and requesting the time out but by the time the player made the requested, the ref was focussed on the coach who was far away and not the player who was right next to the ref. It was kind of funny but it shows that the refs are also not used to taking timeouts from players but only from coaches.

[M&M Guy]

For those that insist it's the officials' fault for not watching for the coach's TO request, I have an example of why we shouldn't always watch. A few years ago, late in the game, team A has a small lead, but B is closing fast. B just scores, and sets up the press on the inbounds. I'm new lead, opposite table. A has trouble bringing the ball up, so I start watching A's coach for A TO request, as I know we are getting close to the 10-sec. limit. Sure enough, I finally see A's coach signal and yell for the TO, so I blew the whistle and granted it. Unfortunately, as I looked back to see where the ball would be put in play, it was going through B's basket! B has stolen the ball and had shot it, and I had no clue whether A still had possession at the time of the request, because I was too busy "being aware" of the coach. After a conversation with my partners, we agreed B had stolen the ball, but the whistle for the TO happened before the basket. So, no basket, A still wanted and got the TO, and B got the ball after the TO.

About 2-3 years ago, I believe the NFHS came out with an article in their pre-season magazine covering this very topic; it may have even been a POI. Basically, while it did acknowledge officials need to be aware of situations where a team and coach may request a TO, the article was directed at coaches, explaining that the officials' first responsibility is the action on the court, and there may indeed be times where the officials may not hear a proper request. Even if the request is heard, the officials need to verify it actually was the HC that made the request, and also verify that it was requested at the proper time (such as player control on the floor). If those things cannot be verified, the officials cannot grant the TO, no matter how loud the coach yells for it.

I don't know if the T in the OP was warranted or not. But I don't blame the officials for not hearing or being aware of the request if the noise level was high, and there was other immediate action on the court.