Joey Crawford (Video)

[APG]

Originally Posted by IUgrad92

Then what's the benefit of an opposing coach calling a timeout after the first of two free throws or a football coach calling a timeout before a field goal attempt?

By your theory, there's no point..... But coaches do it on a regular basis, so there must be something to it.

At least in the NFL, kickers actually make it at a higher clip after an opposing head coach tries to "ice" him. Still doesn't stop coaches from the practice. Fans and coaches always remember the one time that it concidently "works."

Icing the kicker remains ineffective practice - Stats & Info Blog - ESPN

However, looking at the effectiveness of such a strategy reveals that coaches are better off pocketing their timeouts.

With 10 seconds or less remaining in the 4th quarter, kickers who are not iced have made 70.2 percent of field goals since 2001. When a timeout is called immediately before the try, they made 83.0 percent of attempts. That increase of 12.8 percentage points means recent attempts to ice a kicker at the end of a game actually increased the kicker’s chances of success by 18.2 percent.

In fact, you don't even see NBA coaches try this silly practice. Timeouts are too valuable, in being able to advance the ball, for them to waste one of their at maximum 3 timeouts at the end of the game.