I struggle with whats a "requirement" to get a timeout properly signaled.

Is Verbal enough?

1) In a loud Gym "Tim" "Tom" "Terry" sound a lot like "time" to me. Lots of "t" words flying around. What ever happened to the required handsignal. Is it still mandatory? Can I ask for it in preGame?

2) In a scrum some players will start yelling "time" to avoid a JumpBall. My luck has it their face is usually buried in the floor covering a ball like a laying hen surrounded by players. Is that Good enough?

3) Coach's are playing that weak verbal "time" when they cannot make up their mind.

What a good ref do?

It is up to the player or coach to request a timeout. If they can't do that in a clear, readable manner, they don't get one. If they want it bad enough, they'll get their point across.

The last thing you want to do is guess and make a mistake. Insure they want a timeout and give them one. If you can't determine their intention, wait until you can.

BigDave is absolutely correct. Never guess! Once the player or coach wants one badly enough, he will jump up and down to get your attention. I would add that you should make certain that the coach/player is entitled to a TO...which means that the ball is dead or that his team has possession.

The team has to have player control,or the ball being at the disposal of a player,to be granted a TO. Team possession(control) by itself is not good enough to grant the TO. R5-8-3ab.