This is something that I have have had a little question about. If a coach calls for a time out how long do you give them for them to tell you a full time out or a 30 second time out. Do you need to "track" the coach down if he or she doesn't tell you do you automatically go with a full time out? Any advise or Info would help.

Thanks

If the coach (or assistant) does not clearly request a 30 second TO by the time you are reporting it to the table it should be considered a FULL TO.

I try to make eye contact with the coach as I'm approaching the table and give him a look which says"what time-out do you want, coach." That is usually enough for him to signal his desire to me. If he makes no sign I just give him a full TO. If that is NOT what he wanted, he gets the message for the next one.

A pet peeve of mine. The opponents' CALL :D a timeout. As the official is reporting it to the table, I'm huddling with my assistants while my team is grabbing water bottles. Now I'm done huddling and I don't know if it's a full or a 30.

The calling official should take a step or two towards the non-calling bench, and say in their general direction (or pop his head in our coaches' huddle if we are nearby) and say "Full, coach" or "30, coach". Just as a courtesy.

Hey Coach
 

If the non-"calling" (requesting) coach is looking at me as I am approaching the table to report, I will give a quick "30 (or FULL), Coach" then report to the table.

When I give the information to the table EVERYONE in the area of the table (and beyond) should know whether it is a 30 or a full. I use proper mechanics and verbalize (very clearly and with enough volume) that information. THis is especially true in a nearly empty gym. :)

I was taught to figure out what we have (30 or full), alert the opposing coach, and then report and start the timer. In the case where I'm right in front of the table, I'll also give both teams a chance to reach the general area of their bench before I report.

Larks

This can be handled in your pregame conf. with the coach.

I always let them know we will ask, but they need to signal by the time we get to the table, or it will be a full.

Haven't had a problem yet.

Excellent preventative officiating
 

However, pregame conference with MS coaches is rarely conducted in this area. I do believe I will add that to my pre-game conference ritual, (when it is conducted).

Thanks for this tip!

It's a good idea to cover with the coaches before the game. Just a simple "Coach, on timeouts let us know if you want a full or 30" when you introduce yourself. My rule of thumb is to ask 3 times. If, after the third time I don't get a response it's a full. After "wasting" a full timeout, they'll get the picture.

I really can't imagine this scenario, from your quote you have assistant(s) meaning there are at least three of you and one of you can't see or hear the official telling you that it's a full or 30? I convey "30 coach" in a loud voice in the general direction of the non calling bench as soon as I know, then when both teams are in front of their bench I report it using the prescribed mechanics and "start it". I think that is more than enough courtesy, I am not going to come into your huddle and make sure you know.

In the association I am in, we report timeouts as 30 second or 60 second. What about yours?

Re: Excellent preventative officiating
 

For what it's worth -- I mentioned this in pregame conf. during two 8th grade girls games last night. In both games, we had the coaches signalling the variety of TO they wanted when they requested it. A minor thing, but it made game management that much easier...

Had one last night where the home team was inbounding the ball under the basket. The home coach is screaming "30 seconds, 30 seconds..." I assume he's alerting his team about how many seconds are on the clock so I ignore him and try to get the ball in play as quickly as possible since the clock's running (girls 9th grade "B" game, running clock). Luckily, my partner glances over to see what the ruckus is and calls the 30-second timeout the coach had been so feverishly asking for. The "A" coach and clock operator at the same time say "Wouldn't 'timeout' have been much easier?"

Re: Excellent preventative officiating
 

Maybe it is an OH thing, but we have to have the coaches verify the legality of uni's and such. So, with 2- 3 minutes left in warmups we wander over and introduce ourselves, ask the legal question, cover the dimensions of the box, TO's, and then we are ready to roll.

At every level this should be done, especially the MS where they have no concept of what a coaching box is.