Scheduler is NOT my friend!
 

So after this weekend...my final in Montana...the scheduler is no longer my friend! ;)

So Friday night I work a VB game at school A...school A is jockying for playoff seeding and school B is #1 in the state. Needless to say school A expected to get routed (so the assistant told me) but as you know that never works out at this point in the season.

On the jump ball it is tipped to my sideline (3-person) and a B player grabs it then steps on the sideline. I give the ball to A and we begin play. The R had the arrow set towards team B because he thought it went out before the player touched it. We get ready to throw the ball in to start the second quarter and A coach says it should be their ball. I confer with the R and he says he set the arrow in the wrong direction because confusion so we switch it. As we turn around our 3rd partner is in a discussion with the B coach about a three that was counted in the official book as a two. So we talk, recall that we did signal a three for B #4 and have the book change it. So of course the A coach goes nuts saying it is outside the correctable error timeframe which I tell him the score can be corrected at any point. Turn back around again and now the B coach wants to know why we changed the arrow. I explain that the player caught it before stepping out, the player and coach say no way...I say coach I'll be honest, it has been about 15 minutes but that is how I recall it happening and that is what we are going with. So after 5 minutes or so we get it all settled.

So we move on, A coach still *****ing about the score change but he's known to be a jerk anyway. Fast forward to 4th quarter, 14 seconds to go, team B up by 4 team A has one TO left. They foul and put team B on the line for 2. I am C, and I see the A coach hollering to his players "bucket, time out, bucket time out". Well my partner at L thinks he is talking to her. Second shot is good and she whistles a TO. She goes to the table, reports and we take a 60 second. A inbounds, goes the length hits a trey and A coach asks for a TO...so I grant, then turn to the table where they inform he doesn't have any. Of course he goes nuts wondering who requested his last TO...partner says "you did coach". We talk and I tell her we have to T him. So we do and the whole place goes nuts and rightfully so. Team B ends up winning by 5 and clearly no one is happy.

Why is the scheduler not my friend? Where do you think I end up the next morning as trainer...school A for a frosh game. Didn't go well...issued two Ts and asked a parent to leave. What a weekend!

This is confusing. He is clearly not asking for a TO and I hate to say it but unless the coach request a TO, I don't take prorated TO requests. I will inform them that I need to see a signal. Then I will issue the TO.

Other than that the T was warranted as these coaches try to play the victim all to often. But all this is avoidable by only calling the TO when it is called.

1. If you make that OOB call, you need to make sure the arrow is set properly. That responsibility is on the entire crew, but you're the only one who knows whether B had possession before the ball went OOB. Might be a good idea in this unusual circumstance to clarify it with the crew, table, and coaches before resuming the game.

2. "Still ****ing" is itself an issue that needs addressing.

3. Once A takes their last time out, inform the coach that he's out. Sort out the ensuing mess prior to being required to call a TF.

I wouldn't do this. What if the book was wrong now you are on the hook. I don't care to know how many TO's are left and who has how many fouls. I try and keep track of TO's called in my head incase we need to fix the book but it's not our place to remind the coach how many TO's he has.

At the varsity level each team has a scorekeeper and that's their job.

I've had officials tell me that if they know a coach is out of TO's they won't call the TO.....I'll call it in a heartbeat, especially if it's obvious enough.

NFHS Rule Book: Rule 2-11 Art. 6: Record the time-out information charged to each team (who and when) and notify a team and its coach, through an official, whenever that team is granted its final allotted charged time-out.

According to the NFHS rules book you are suppose to inform a coach when the book notifies you they have used their last timeout.

This is the ONLY time a tell a coach how many they have left. If they think they still have one they can take it up with the official book.

I agree with you about not reminding a coach how many timeouts they have left but I do, and we are suppose to, inform them when the official scorer notifies us that a team is out of timeouts. This could have helped avoid the situation in the OP.

Exactly-and when I sit on the bench doing stats I keep track of timeouts on my board.As a scorer I will inform the officials on the floor.What they do with that info is up to them.If a coach asks I will tell them.Question-why do some officials ask for players with 3 or 4 fouls on both sides? Seen it a lot this year.

You're supposed to tell him when he's out. That likely heads off the mess. And if the coach wanted to question the TO, he should have done it WHEN IT WAS GRANTED, not on the next one.

And that one time I did and after the game, which was close and the team lost the scorer says, "Hey, I messed up and you had one more."

Who do you think took the brunt of that?

I inform the scorer to let the coach know this info, and I don't care what the book says. BTW the scorer is an official.

That is what we told her in the locker room postgame. I get asked for pre-emptive TOs reguarly but always turn back to them and ask if they still want it. How many times have we had coaches change their mind.

Agreed Maven and double checking the arrow is added to my list of future things to do.

We had told the coach he had 1 remaining...again, I was across the court and thought one of the other two would have notified him of zero remaining. It would have cleared all of that up at that point.

When granting the TO after the made FT did anyone look towards coach, make eye contact, ask 30 or 60 coach? We've got to be sure that whoever called the TO knows it to avoid a conflict. The Technical was definitely warranted.

Wow.

Really? Another official who wants to make up his own rules, not those made by the NFHS. Wow. No wonder that consistent application of the rules, as written, is a point of emphasis every year.

+1 for not telling them how many they have until they are out of timeouts, then make sure to notify them they are out.