Should I have called a Tech?
 

Last weekend I was officiating some 11th/12th grade CYO. I called a travel on a kid, and he did the usual whine and moan, but then, he beamed the ball at me. Like a hard baseball throw. We were probably 8-10 feet apart. I was in sheer shock, and by the time I could register what happened, it was too late. Should I have called a tech? How long is too long to wait to call a tech on a player?

Yes, call the T. Doesn't sound like you needed to wait.

Yeah, the only hesitation should have been you getting the whistle back to your mouth if you didn't have it in already.

That's definitely a technical foul, and some might argue that's borderline flagrant.

Probably. I gave a T for this years ago. Or if nothing else, I would not have allowed that player to get away with something else for sure.

Peace

While it should be called sooner, I'd say the drop-dead point is when you administer the throw-in.

THis was the approach I ended up taking....I called him for EVERYTHING.

I hope you didn't look for violations/fouls specifically on this player, just because he whipped the ball at you. While he deserves some sort of discipline, this wouldn't be fair. Either call the technical or don't, but afterward, he must be treated like everyone else (at least as far as normal basketball stuff goes).

no, not at all, but whenever he made an infraction, i never thought twice about ringing him up again.

I did not mean go get him on other aspects of the game, he just would be on my list for the next outburst or action towards me or my partner I would then get him. That being said they would not get the benefit of doubt for other aspects of the game. I would probably call more fouls on things I might have decided were marginal if the player thinks I totally screwed up. I would not call something that was not there. It would just be in the back of my mind to make a foul call when I was either talking a player out of some action or not calling something that would normally not be appropriate for the game.

Peace

ABSOLUTELY! I don't think there is even ONE official on this forum that would not Whack this kid...at least none that have thought about this and are ready for this.

Are you ready the next time some player throws the ball at you hard?

I would have walked him to his coach and said, "this player just earned a technical, you want to handle him?" Coach says, "yes, I will handle him"..."thanks coach" tweet, technical foul.

If the coach says "No, he's alright", "Thanks coach" tweet, flagrant.

Officials and high school players are not equal. We are adults, I don't feel we need to take crap from kids. If he wants to act like an idiot, his coach can talk to him, either way he's sitting on that bench.

I totally disagree. Call the foul and make a decision and if a coach wants an explanation, then give it to them if they act professionally. I would not decide a flagrant act based on the actions of the coach. Make a call and move on. All you are doing is inviting more problems by interacting with a coach and then deciding to eject a player for something other than the actions alone.

Peace

BTW...I might have whacked him for this.

Kids don't get to "whine and moan" at me....and if this is usual for you, you are either relatively new (I would guess somebody in their 20's) and/or need to get some advice from some veterans in your area in how to handle these situations.

But...don't get me wrong...thanks for posting this kind of stuff, it gets us all thinking about what we need to do in certain situations.;)

The actions alone deem it a flagrant but if the coach decides to handle it, I would probably just rule it a technical.

Now if he had bounced passed it hard, that is nothing, throwing a dart at an official 8-10 feet away is grounds for flagrant. See ya.

8-10 feet away that's like 3 -4 steps...if that ball hits you, you might get a concussion. This isn't a no call, this is at minimum a technical. If he were 15-20 feet away, I probably don't have anything. But in this case, it's the proximity that definitely needs to be addressed.