Coach on court
 

Is it acceptable for a coach to approach an official on the court to ask a question during a time out? I wanted to ask a question, the officials were on the opposite side of the court during a time out so I came on the court to ask a quick question. Didn't get that far before one of the officials told me to go back to my bench and said he could have T'd me up for coming on the court. I was cool, no yelling, just told them I wanted to ask a question. Seemed unreasonable to me.

It is acceptable. It might be wise to beckon the official over, so you can have a private conversation away from fans, but it is not a technical to approach an official to ask a polite question. I am assuming that you are the head coach? Perhaps that official was frustrated and didn't want to communicate, which is wrong. What happened later in the game?

Un, no it isn't. It might be tolerable occasionally for the coach to step away from his bench in a timeout if done politely but the first thing that should happen is for the official to direct the coach back to his bench area. Until the coach is there, I'm not entertaining any questions.

I agree. However, the official in question threatened a technical just for approaching him across the court. I never said the official had to talk to him over there, and even suggested it would be wise to invite the official over. Remember, this coach (according to his account) was polite and I'm sure would be willing to walk back to the bench area to talk.

Cam, would you threaten a coach with a technical just for approaching you during a timeout?

You are missing the point, which is that the coach could be assessed a technical foul for being out of the time-out area.
It is okay to politely ask a question of the official, but it must be done from the proper location and the timing is of utmost importance.
It is quite possible that the official didn't wish to discuss the situation at that time because it would have looked as if the coach was correcting the official in front of everyone in the gym.
Better to wait until play resumes and the official has occasion to come near the bench. When there is a suitable break in the action, the question could be asked and answered.

As I said, I don't disagree about time and place. However, any official threatening a technical foul right away is not exhibiting good communication. The official could have handled the situation better than that.

Hey BillyMac, I've Got A Question ...
 

(IAABO Two Person Mechanics) Unless the officials are discussing a specific game situation, the farthest any official should be away from the table, and thus, from the benches, during a timeout, should be about thirty feet (sixty second time out). From the outer perimeter of the time out "huddle" the coach should be able to get the officials attention at that distance. And, by rule, the coach can be out as far as the imaginary line extended from the nearest free-throw lane line during a time out. Should be plenty of opportunities to get an official's attention during a time out, as long as the coach is polite.

Without hearing the tone, it came across to me as more educational than threatening.

And whether I entertain the question in this case has a lot to do with how the coach has behaved prior to this point.

As BillyMac mentioned...

So the coach did have the right to be on the court at the moment. Given where we're supposed to be during a time out there's no reason to warn/threaten the coach with anything assuming he/she wasn't being belligerent.

Timeouts are for times to discuss things with the team, not to discuss things with the officials. Just like coaches do not want us around them at that time, officials do not want coaches in their face. And it is not about communiciation being good or not, it is about a time and a place. It is usually not the time, nor the place.

Peace

This is VERY key, and unless I missed it, yet to be answered.

Perhaps the official's reaction/response was because this was a mouthy assistant ... or any assistant.

I don't get the impression most assistants realize how low they rate in the NFHS rues book.

The Coach has the right to be in the time-out area...the time-out area is the area where he talks to his players. That doesn't mean that if the rest of the team is over by the bench, he gets to come all the way to the free throw lane to "talk" to me. I'm not on his team and am not part of his time-out.

Now, if he is asking a legitimate question, I will quite often go over there and talk with him. Or just wait until the first horn sounds when I have to go over there anyway.

But that rule does not give the Coach permission to come that far out there to talk to the officials.

I am the head coach. My style isn't to yell or get all freaked out, in fact, I probably only asked for clarification once or twice the entire game. Didn't come on the court for those clarifications.

I just wanted clarification on a call that happened right before the opposing team's time out. It helps me instruct my players as sometimes they don't understand what they did wrong. It's usually quick and painless.

I've been coaching 10 years and this is the first time an official threatened to T me up for approaching them with a question. As I walked on the court, I said, "Can I ask a quick question?"

Not a huge deal, just got me wondering what you guys had to say about it.

If I am on that game, I am stopping you from coming out towards me/us. I will come over to you briefly...the problem with letting you come out there and have a mini-conference with me/us is simple - what does it look like to the other coach? Would you want me to be doing that with your opponent?

All great, but you are not owed anything. And when you deal with officials some will not take your "questioning" the same way. And as a coach you should realize that on many levels. Just like we work with certain officials and we adjust to our partners all the time. And all I know for sure is timeout time is not that time you will get the most talkative officials. Maybe if you ask the question after the first horn or warning, but not right after the timeout. If anything we as officials need to talk to each other sometimes and your wanting answers is a distraction.

Peace