Summer ejection #1
 

Working 4 games yesterday. These are games 5 and 6 since March. With my parents in town, the $100 I made paid for dinner. Almost.

Quiet as can be all day, except for a short burst in the first half of game 2.

Team A in a halfcourt set. A40, a real GFU, cleared space for a teammate driving with the ball by moving an opponent out of the way. Really easy team control foul, which I call.

A40 then starts up the floor, clapping his hands loudly above his head. Partner and I whack him at the same time. A40 then has a meltdown and as he's heading to the bench takes his jersey off over his head. Partner and I eject him at the same time.

Yeah, I know. Those street taco wagons can be really expensive. ;)

You know, they really got on us in camps this summer about double whistles... :D

Who's watching the other 8 players? ;)

The 9th player presumably.

Still early in the game. Did the kid do anything prior that got you two riled? Maybe he's a goof with an immature attitude; but is it possible you and your partner had a prior attitude toward him as well? I don't know, maybe I would have done the same thing or perhaps told the team captain to tell A40 he's gonna get whacked next time.

He's on the honor system and thus the officials don't have to worry about him. :D

And to stay somewhat on topic, haven't had to eject anyone this summer...handful to T's here and there.

Really? You're going to warn on this?

In the first incident, maybe. The kid was on his way down the floor, and apparently nothing had gone on before this. It wasn't like the kid stood there looking and clapping directly at the official. But as I also said, maybe I would have done the same as Rich were it me.

Just one in camp. Kid was complaining about calls from his first foul. Gave him one in the 2nd half. He responded with, "I don't give a f***." And there ended our interactions for the afternoon.

Had him in the evening session and he was fine. My guess is his HC spoke with him (it was a team camp).

Knowing Rich, I'm relatively certain he isn't trigger happy with the technical fouls. I can safely assume that if I saw this video, I'd happily concur with the first T. The second is practically automatic.

I had an assistant coach eject himself Friday night...can I count that one? :D

*how does a participant "eject him-self" ?

It was early in the second quarter and I was working "one man" mechanics as my partner was held up in traffic. A player drove the baseline from the corner and right before he got to the lane gathered the ball to shoot. A defender stepped toward him so he simply ran (while holding the ball) to the other side of the lane. I called the travel and the assistant almost went nuts (figure it was his kid). I tell him to settle down and remind the coach that the assistant is his responsibility but the guy just walks down the sideline and out of the gym. Left on his own and stood in the hallway for the rest of the game watching through the door.

Therefore, he ejected himself. :p

Let's take this a step further.

Regular season game. AC starts chirping, so you tell the HC to control his bench. The AC gets up and moves off the bench, to another part of the gym. He remains mouthy.

Toss? Whack?

Probably not, but he's getting less rope than a normal fan before I have him removed. I'm also filing a report with my association and the state.

Well, if it is a regular season game I probably wouldn't be working one man mechanics so there would be an official by the bench to address the situation. But to address the probable question; Yes, I would tell the HC to control his bench. If the AC leaves the bench area I would have to think about this one for a moment...probably address it with the partner(s) at next dead ball. If he is still mouthy we need to decide if he is still an AC or a spectator (I can't remember seeing this addressed in the rules or case book). If he is a spectator and mouthy to the point of needing to be addressed, then I am telling the game administrators to try to calm him down before I have to address it (probably catch flack here for that, but I try to avoid tossing fans at "real" games). If we deem him to still be an assistant...whack.

I am going to need to ask about this at the camp I am attending in a few weeks. Honestly though, for now I am going to focus on the cruise I have between now and then (summer ball is over for me) :D.

For funsies, at what point is he no longer bench personnel? Is it once he's beyond the confines of the bench area?

#2: Can he come and go?

They aren't being paid enough to look at those players.

Honestly, if he heads back to the bench after sitting in the stands, I'm going to get ring him up then and there for leaving the bench.

If he never goes back, I'm going to assume he was out of place on the bench and never really belonged there.

In a regular HS contest there is a penalty for team members leaving the bench for an unauthorized reason.
Strictly speaking, an assistant coach or team manager cannot stand up without receiving a technical foul, except for a few specific circumstances.

Can you please direct me to the language in the rules book stating that the assistant coach may not leave the bench during the game. Perhaps he needs to use the restroom.

But coaches are bench personnel, not team members... 4-34-4

Here's the rub.

Restroom ??? Authorized Reason ...
 

10-5-5 The head coach shall not permit team members to leave the bench area and/or playing court for an unauthorized reason.

4-34-4 A team member is a member of bench personnel who is in uniform and is eligible to become a player.

10-5-5 is for team members, not for bench personnel. Interesting.

How about taking this approach (below)?

10-1-4 A team shall not: Fail to occupy the team member’s bench to which it is assigned.

4-34-2 Bench personnel are all individuals who are part of or affiliated with a team, including, but not limited to: substitutes, coaches, manager(s) and statistician(s).

4-34-2 implies that the coaches are part of a team, and thus, according to 10-1-4, coaches, being part of the team, must occupy their bench.

Note that 10-1-4 says "team" not "team members".

Whack!! Leaving the bench area for an unauthorized reason.

MTD, Sr.


P.S. I have a story about whacking a basketball HC for leaving the bench area, but it will have to wait of later tonight.

That would be an authorized reason, IMO. Going to sit in the stands and bitch to the officials wouldn't be.

You're right, the penalty would be for standing up: although I think 10-5-5 is meant to include coaches. I highly doubt the NFHS wants coaches to be able to move, at will, from the stands to the bench.

Is it ok for the AC to coach from the stands? What if he only moves during times he is legally authorized to stand (timeouts, intermissions, etc)?

If he wants to abdicate his role on the bench and become a spectator, I'll let it slide; but as soon as he makes it clear that wasn't his intent, he's getting stung for leaving the bench area for an unauthorized reason.

I'm applying 10-5-5 unless someone can convince me this isn't an example of a coach trying to give himself an advantage not intended by the rules.

There, fixed it for ya! :D

Send me a bill. :)

Convinced ???
 

10-5-5 only applies to team members, who, by definition, are members of bench personnel who are in uniform, and are eligible to become players. 10-5-5 does not apply to bench personnel who are not in uniform, i.e. coaches.

It is my contention that 10-1-4 could apply to coaches, who are part of the team, and, thus, must occupy the team bench to which it has been assigned.

It does make a difference. 10-1-4 is only a technical charged to the team. 10-5-5 is a technical charged directly to the head coach, who must now sit, and is only one direct technical away from getting the old heave-ho.

My point is that it seems clear to me that the NFHS wants all team members within the bench area, except at half time. I'm all for knowing what the rules say, but don't you have to charge the head coach if you're going to use 10-1-4 instead of 10-5-5?

Different Penalties ...
 

No. 10-1-4 is a team technical, charged to the team, not to the head coach, a similar penalty to a delay of game technical foul, or a technical foul for requesting (and being granted) an excess time-out.

Thanks, I couldn't remember and my book is missing for the time being.

So using 10-4, you get a team T.

Using 10-5, you get a direct T on the AC and an indirect on the HC.

Still not correct. The penalty for 10-5-5 is a direct T charged to the HC. However, that only applies if the person leaving the bench is a team member.
Since the AC is not, one cannot properly use 10-5-5 and the only route which is can see is 10-1-4 as Billy suggests.

I'm not sure I would notice the if an assistant left the bench to bitch from a different location. If on the bench and bad, whack. If in the stands and bad, stop game and remove. Unless I had whacked him prior to his leaving the bench I doubt I would notice his absence.

1. Why are you removing him? If you think that he is merely a spectator, his behavior would have to be pretty bad to warrant removal.

2. If you know that he is the asst coach, you don't need to worry about where he is complaining from because you can simply penalize him for unsporting behavior. That question would only arise if you had interest in assessing two technical fouls to him.

3. I'm not in favor of removing him without assessing any penalty.