You just never know

[Rufus]

Didn't want to steal Chris Whitten's thunder so here's a new thread with a similar theme.

BV three-whistle, late in the 4th period of a tight but sloppy game. After a made basket and time out, A1 is inbounding the ball. I tell him he can run the baseline, hand him the ball, then start my 5-second count.

When I get to 4 A2 jumps out of bounds and receives a pass from A1. The gerbils in my head start running as I try and process if A2 had established oob. While they struggle to keep up with the increased demands on my higher functioning I stop my visible count but in my head I start a new one. I get to 2 and don't blow my whistle.

A2 inbounds the ball and finally the gerbils get me up to speed and I blow the play dead and call a 5-second violation.

Needless to say, I'm not happy about how that whole thing played out for a variety of reasons. In the end we/I got the call right but on tape it'll look horrible.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't stop your count for anything because you just never know when a brain fart will cause you issues.
2. Be ready for the "castle" move. They hadn't broken it out all game, and I hadn't seen it in years, but because I got caught off guard it caused me to freeze.
3. Get with your partners to ensure everyone know what you've got. I did and things went well after that.

It kinda stinks that a well-called game had that happen, but I won't forget the lessons any time soon.