After Sub's - Requesting Lineups

[Hawks Coach]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
To all of the doubters out there I have only one thing to say: Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Mark, I was willing to support your argument to a point. But you can be so mindlessly arrogant that it defies reason. You equate referees to lawyers, as though the professions were equivalent in their approach to the rules for which they are the guardians.

However, lawyers go through 3 years of strenuous schooling and are told that precedents from 200 years ago may apply to their cases. Referees take a couple of classes, get some on-court training, buy a current rulebook and casebook, and voila. They are told that the rules they enforce are in the current version of the rules/cases they possess, not that they are responsible to study every rule written since Naismith invented the game.

You may be right that the old way of dealing with this is still the best way to handle it. But to imply that anything else represents ignorance is completely off-base and insulting to your fellow referees.

[CYO Butch]

With all due humility, I am a coach with a team of girls who do have trouble matching up when the opponents send a bunch of subs into the game. Should I approach the refs beforehand and tell them that I would like to have my captain ask for the "line-up" opportunity when the other team sends in 3+ subs? If I do, should I be ready to cite the old questions and answers in the rule book? Would this be seen as putting him into a spot? The argument/discussion from Mark DeNucci seems pretty persuasive, and I would like to share it with the senior ref before my next game. However, I'm not about to make a federal case out of it if he says "no".

Another alternative is to request the line-up when the opportunity first comes up. The senior ref who who does most of our games should be old enough to remember the old rule book, so it might be ok. I'm just not sure he really has a very intellectual approach to the game, so he may never have studied the old questions and answers. Also, I'm concerned that by doing it during the game, it may put him into a tough spot - something that I hate to do as a coach.

Any and all advice are welcome.

Any and all advice are welcome.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by CYO Butch

Any and all advice are welcome.

Coach,simply ask the officials before the game if they will take a coupla seconds on multiple substitutions to allow your players to pick up their checks.They don't have to line them up so that they can do that.The vast majority of officials will give you that few seconds.Also train your players to seek out their checks on the floor when they come in,and then communicate with each other who they are going to take.You can also help out before you send them in by informing each sub who they should take.Between you and the referees on the floor,you shouldn't have any problems matching up.

[CYO Butch]

Thanks, I'll do it that way. Actually, I tell each of my players ahead of time for whom they will be substituting when they go in. I make sure they watch their teammate and the player the teammate is guarding. The problem comes up when the other team sends in masses of subs, and it gets worse when I send in 3+ and the other coach does the same. Then, it falls all appart when we both send in 3+, and the other coach changes from a 3-small/2-big lineup to a 5-small lineup.

Anyway, thanks again Jurassic Referee for the advice.