Coach Help
 

45 seconds left in tie game..A1 fouls out and while on bench is mouthing off to my partner who called his fifth foul who was opposite the bench. I was right in front of A's bench and told the coach I can't have A1 talking from the bench to my partner and asked for his help to stop it.

Did I handle this in the best way?

With a tie game and 45 seconds left I wanted to have some restraint b4 I tagged the kid.

Sounds like great restraint in a close game. If the kid has been a problem all game long and the coach knows the kid has been warned, I would be more likely to call a tech in that situation. It's all about judging the situation and weighing the rules, and what has happened up to that point in the game.

I honestly can't think of any scenario where I don't call this technical. Easy call, IMO.

I can but there aren't many :)

If the kid is rockheaded enough to mouth off in that situation and his coach - or assistant, if there's one around - isn't aware enough to stop him, then he deserves whatever he gets.

Depends on what you meant by "moputhing off" but the way you handled it is fine, to me.

I'll expand just a bit. I suppose it depends, as bob says, and what is meant by "mouthing off," and it may mean something different to me than to the OP. But a coach needs to be proactive in taking care of his bench in this situation, IMO. It would be pretty easy for him to hear the comments and address them before I had the chance, and I'd likely give him a second to address it before I stepped in. Most games around here, the coach would shut this down quickly.

In the case where I'm willing to ask the coach to step up, it'll be something along the lines of, "Coach, do you want to take care of your bench, or should I?" And if his response isn't immediately to address his player, we're shooting free throws.

The above post is perfectly stated.....

Adam - your hoop IQ goes through the roof when not responding to Billy Mac:D:D:D:D

I'd say that you didn't support your partner and allowed the kid to get away with unsporting behavior.

+1

I'd say you handled it well (OP). I think I'd hold back on whacking him and see if the coach addresses...along with my comment like "Coach, please control your bench. This is the only time I'm going to say it". MOST coaches are going to jump on the kid because they realize he could cost them the game due to his nonsense.

If the coach does nothing and doesn't acknowledge the comment, all bets are off and the very next "peep" from the bench is getting a swift T.

We all handle these situations differently. How we choose to handle them will determine what levels we actually work. Each one of these plays will be treated on an individual basis. But I am goign to try to find a way not to whack this kid instead of finding a reason to whack him...if it can be avoided. I have whacked many a player but lets not fool ourselves...time and score do mean a lot in this play.

Time and score may have an affect on how I'd call it, but not in this case. Tie game, bench needs to learn to shut their collective pie hole. Blow out game and the losing team is getting a bit restless? I'd be more inclined to actually approach the coach and give him a chance to deal with it.

Tie game? Summer ball? Perfect time to learn the lesson, IMO.

Multi Sport needed no help with the coaches in our camp game. I think less than 2 minutes into the game he rang up an AC. And he sent him packing by the time we reached halftime.

Earlier in my career I think I looked for reasons to give technical fouls...show everyone that I am in control. I have learned over 23 years to look for ways not to give technical fouls. Use all my resources and experience to defuse situations...if at all possible. Sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't...but if there is some "gray area" I am going to try.

Let's just say I am plenty willing to use other tools. In the summer, though, I'm more likely to skip to the most efficient.

And in either case, it has nothing to do with a close late game. The perfect time for an idiot coach and his idiot players to learn to control their pie holes is during "meaningless" summer games.

I can't say that I don't disagree with you at all. But, I am not automatically going to default to a technical foul just because it is a "summer" game. I feel that you can also use "summer" games to "strongly educate" coaches and players.

That's a nice theory, but there's a huge difference in the demeanor and professionalism between a high school coach, whose job is at stake, and an AAU/Select coach, who essentially is the boss of his own empire. It's often a futile effort to attempt to educate an AAU coach.

You are 100% correct.

Oh, yeah. +1 big time

Again, +1. Your attempts are likely to fall on deaf ears and you end up giving the tech anyway. It's summer ball ... if we can all agree that we're not doing rotations and switches as we would normally do during the season, it can't be that big of a leap to understand that for reduced pay we're also listening to/tolerating less BS. Why not just skip the preliminaries and go straight to the main event?

I would even take it one step further and say it's often more BS more quickly than what we deal with in HS ball. These coaches go from zero to psycho in less than a second. Any attempt to calm them down or *gasp* reason with them usually only makes them go more insane. They aren't listening. They are only reacting. And then the parents (and sometimes the players) feed off of the coach's reaction. If you don't nip it in the bud, it only gets worse.

Had you and your partner discussed this kids behavior. What kinds of things had he been saying to you both the entire game. I dont have as much experience but normally a kid who behaviors like that at the end of a game is a problem every game and has a big mouth every game. The coach knows it and either takes care of it or lets him loose. I have given him his one warning by this time. If he goes off after that warning I think he should get a T. If his last foul was wimpy then I might give him a little more room. I would love to hear anything that was discussed or heard from this kid up to this point.

Absolute garbage. Time and score NEVER mean anything when it comes to unsporting behavior. That needs to get penalized consistently. Failure to do so is an affront to officiating in general and the game itself.

Stop thinking like a coach and start having the mindset of an official.

It seems that now you may have swung too far to the lenient side. You need to have your partner's back. I don't care if one has been officiating for 3 years or 30 years, one needs to assess the technical fouls that are warranted. Some excellent advice which has served me well for over a decade is to never compromise on a safety issue and always penalize unsporting behavior.

I will always have my partners back...whacking everyone really doesn't solve all your problems...I didn't say I don't whack kids when technicals are warranted...just your definition of warranted and my definition of warranted maybe totally different.

If you don't think that time and score may be a factor then you are just kidding yourself...but I am just a sellout according to you so what do I know. :rolleyes:

You must be an ex-coach too.
"Lah me."

From your description and the fact you're asking the group whether you handled it properly it sounds as though you have some remorse over not calling the T. Someone up the food chain told a group of us recently that we generally only regret the ones we don't call.

Back to the OP: I only just put the scene together in my head (hey, I'm old). Was A1 on the bench saying things to your partner that were loud enough for your partner to hear 40-50 feet away? If that's the case then a T is a no-brainer regardless of time/score. Even if it was loud enough for you to hear - obviously it was - I don't think letting it slide is proper. A kid fouls out we all know there will be some grumbling but after that initial response (s)he needs to be quiet.

Sorry to disappoint you...NO! :)