What Are You Gonna Do?

[BryanV21]

This situations seems pretty obvious. There is nothing in the rules that states the defender can't stand there, so you allow it. BUT make sure to pay attention for foul play.

If the coach says something about the player being there, then politely tell him/her "I understand the concern, but unfortunately there is nothing in the rule book that prevents the defender from standing in that spot. But I assure you, I'll make sure there isn't any foul play here."

Personally, I'm a fan of preventative officiating (such as talking to the players who are close to violations like three seconds), so I completely understand wanting to do something to get the defender out of there. But let's not put ourselves in situations that aren't backed up by the rules, and therefore could lead to more problems.

One person earlier in this thread said that if the defender does say something, award the offense another free throw. The place that hurts a team the most is on the scoreboard, so if you affect that then you're probably all good.

BTW, if the defender is out of hand with his words to the shooter, then give him a tech for taunting. I can't imagine giving the other team another free throw, as well as a tech against them, isn't going to help clean things up.