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Player Game Entry
Here's the scenario I need help with: After a timeout, game play starts with one team only having 4 players on the court. Upon realizing they're short, a player runs out from the bench and joins the game. Is this an illegal substitution since there is not really a player swap? If not what is the call? Doesn't this present an opportunity for the 4 man team to sneak a player in to an open spot on the court?
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You're going to have to specify under what rule set you're looking for an answer for.
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10.3.2 SITUATION B:
After a lengthy substitution process involving multiple substitutions for both Team A and Team B, A5 goes to the bench and remains there, mistakenly believing he/she has been replaced. The ball is put in play even though Team A has only four players on the court. Team A is bringing the ball into A's frontcourt when the coach of Team A realizes they have only four players. The coach yells for A5 to return and he/she sprints directly onto the court and catches up with the play. RULING: No technical foul is charged to A5. A5's return to the court was not deceitful, nor did it provide A5 an unfair positioning advantage on the court. |
Except the play in question occurs after a time out, not a lengthy substitution. Ergo, 10-1-9. T.
NFHS. |
Plus...you'll have the fun task of explaining to your supervisor why you let the game start with only four players on one team on the court.
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Inquiring Minds Want To Know ...
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ART. 9 A team shall not: Fail to have all players return to the court at approximately the same time following a time-out or intermission. Caseplay 10.1.9 SITUATION: Following a charged time-out Team B is still with their coach on the sideline when the official sounds the whistle to indicate play will resume. Four players of B return to the court just in time to play defense as A1 attempts an unsuccessful three-pointer. B1 rebounds and throws a long pass to B5 who enters the court just in time to catch the pass. RULING: A technical foul is immed*iately charged to Team B for failing to have all players return to the court at approximately the same time following a time-out or intermission. While it is true the entire team may be off the court while the procedure is being used, once a team responds, all players must enter the court at approximately the same time. |
Lengthy ???
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Of course, PG_Ref's post makes my comment academic. Quote:
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What If ...
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Doesn't Matter
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I'm not saying I agree. Just stating what the rule says. |
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And that is what the above cited case says. If they wanted it to be immediately after 4 returned without the 5th, the play would not continue through a 3-point shot, a rebound, and a long pass to the just entering 5th player before the ruling. |
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Also, the legal substitution phase is PRIOR to the warning horn of a time-out. What lengthy process are you allowing to occur after the warning horn? |
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Horn Blows at Midnight ...
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But the topic is academic because it's after a timeout. |
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Huh?
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Occurance would be whether B5 entered or not, given the wording of the rule. Right? |
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If B5 does not enter the court, he isn't a player. So the 4 on the court in this case are all the players. I'm with Camron here. |
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Trying to Get My Head Around This
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There's a Lot of Money Riding on This
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Therefore, is it not a logical, sound application of this same rule that, for instance, if a team is caught playing with only four players after a timeout or intermission, that they be then assessed a team technical if/when it is detected that they failed "...to have all players return to the court at approximately the same time following a time-out or intermission"? Especially when that's what 10-1-9 actually says? |
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Reading Is Fundamental ...
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I will agree that I complicated matters for younger officials before I read PG_Ref's great post, and citation, but so did BadNewsRef by continuing the discussion when it was, after all, academic. |
Players, Bench Personnel, Team Members ???
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Aren't team members considered players if they're sitting on the bench during a sixty second timeout (not an intermission)? I know that all team members are considered bench personnel during intermissions. This rule becomes important when deciding to charge, or not to charge, a coach with an indirect technical foul for technical fouls on players, or on bench personnel, during a timeout, or an intermission. Let's not treat this too casually, it's important, so let's try to figure it out. |
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NFHS: It's a team T for the rule cited already for failure to have all players return to the court at approximately the same time following a time out. NCAA: Without some sort of intentional deception to gain an advantage in the officials' judgment, there isn't much rule support to call anything. |
Very Simple Solution.
The 2014-15 season will be my 44th year of officiating basketball and I can honestly say that I cannot remember ever restarting a game with one or both teams only having four players on the court.
There are at least two and as many as three officials on the court. The ball should not be put into play until each official has counted all of the players on the court at least twice. The non-administering official(s) should keep one hand in the "stop sign signal" directed to the administering official until he or she is satisfied that there are five players for each team on the court. If you have any doubts as to whether each team as the correct number of players on the court do NOT let the administering official put the ball back into play. I know that I am sounding curmudgeonerly, BUT, this type of thing should not ever happen. MTD, Sr. |
Six Of One, A Half Dozen Of The Other ...
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Hat Rack ???
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See 4.34.1 |
Let's Go To The Videotape ...
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ART. 1 A player is one of five team members who are legally on the court at any given time, except intermission. ART. 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). During an intermission, all team members are bench personnel for the purpose of penalizing unsporting behavior. ART. 3 A substitute becomes a player when he/she legally enters the court. If entry is not legal, the substitute becomes a player when the ball becomes live. A player becomes bench personnel after his/her substitute becomes a player or after notification of the coach following his/her disqualification. ART. 4 A team member is a member of bench personnel who is in uniform and is eligible to become a player. Quote:
Bottom line, they don't have to be within the boundary lines (inbounds) of the court (blue line all the way around) to be considered players, as implied by just another ref's post: Quote:
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In the OP, the timeout is over. If B5 is on the bench, he is not a player.
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Why Not ???
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*after (their) substitute becomes a player *after notification of the coach following (their) disqualification No one substituted for B5 so their "player" status never ended. |
A Real Knucklehead ...
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If that's the coach's third technical foul, and he's ejected, I want to be sure that I'm applying the rule correctly when I call my assigner later that night, and when he hears from the athletic director the next morning. Right now I'm "leaning" toward this person being a player, but I'm not 100% sure, which is why I would like to hear others' opinions in this thread. I'm not sure that this is relevant but I thought that it would be worth throwing on the pile: 3-3-1-A- Note: When the substitute(s) is not properly reported, the player(s) in the game at the conclusion of the quarter/when the time-out was called shall begin play for the new quarter/after the time-out. |
Taking A Breather, Getting A Drink ...
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Time For Popcorn ...
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4-34-1: A player is one of five team members who are legally on the court at any given time, except intermission. |
Let's take this one more step. 10-1 says it's penalized when the fifth player returns. What if they play with four and there is a dead ball. B5 legally subs in. Technical foul? I would think no.
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Semantics ...
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time following a time-out or intermission. Maybe this rule isn't written clearly (big surprise for the NFHS), although it appears to be simple, direct, not very complex, and quite clear? Is the technical foul charged for not having all five players entering at the same time? Or is the technical foul charged for the fifth player entering at a time other than when the four entered? I'm a big caseplay fan, and this caseplay (below) seems to indicate that the second interpretation (above, fifth player entering at a time other than when the four entered) drives the technical foul being charged: 10.1.9 SITUATION: Following a charged time-out Team B is still with their coach on the sideline when the official sounds the whistle to indicate play will resume. Four players of B return to the court just in time to play defense as A1 attempts an unsuccessful three-pointer. B1 rebounds and throws a long pass to B5 who enters the court just in time to catch the pass. RULING: A technical foul is immediately charged to Team B for failing to have all players return to the court at approximately the same time following a time-out or intermission. While it is true the entire team may be off the court while the procedure is being used, once a team responds, all players must enter the court at approximately the same time. |
Nice Post OKREF ...
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Nice Post Camron Rust ...
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However, there's a difference between "some", and "all" (Fail to have all players return to the court at ... the same time) "Implication" is a good term to use in reference to this rule, casebook play, and situation. What did Felix say to Oscar about implication? Wait? I'm being told ... What? Assume? Not Oscar? Miss Olam? Well you get my drift? Right? |
Isn't the casebook and the plays included the interpretation of the Rulebook? It does say to penalize when the fifth player enters. The case play clearly states that the player entered during a play, and says to penalize immediately upon returning to the floor. Any thoughts on my original question?
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This Is The Heart of the Matter
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A) Those who are saying that there can only be a penalty executed on this play after the fifth player tries to sneak back onto the floor are saying that the Casebook narrows what the rule says and thus that is the only way a rule can be understood--in the light of the expressed application in the Casebook. That seems to be what BM's point, thrown onto the table for the sake of discussion, I assume, is. B) Those, like me incidentally, who say that when an official notes that after a timeout one team is playing with only four players, that at that time a team technical is deserved agree with the simple phraseology of the expressed rule. Another time an official may note the infraction is when he notes a player trying to sneak onto the floor as the fifth player who was supposed to be out there. There may even be yet another application for this rule, I just can't think of one right now. Now, the Casebook does explain how to execute a judgment on one scenerio that might result related to this rule, but a Casebook citation does not infer that that is the only scenerio that can happen whereby the original rule applies. Help me here. Is my point a valid one? It's important to me because this very debate is an open wound awaiting treatment by absolute correct interpretation in our area here. |
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Timeout ...
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This whole thread is about a person in uniform sitting on the bench after a timeout instead of returning to the floor where he belongs. There are also posts regarding whether, or not, said person on the bench is a player, or is bench personnel. It is my contention that said person is a player in both this situation, and in another situation in which an indirect technical foul is not being charged to the head coach because said person is not bench personnel. The definition of a player in one situation should be the same as the definition in another situation. Some posters in this thread ... Quote:
If said person is a player during a timeout, then that person should be considered a player after a timeout, unless a substitution, or a disqualification, occurs, even when they're sitting on the bench. Also, 3-3-1-A-Note tells us that said person is also player after an intermission (although not during the intermission). |
During....................after Do you not understand the difference?
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Goose And Gander ...
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If said person is a player during a timeout, then that person should be considered a player after a timeout, unless a substitution, or a disqualification, occurs, even when they're sitting on the bench. Also, 3-3-1-A-Note tells us that said person is also player after an intermission (although not during the intermission).[/QUOTE] Do you still defend this: Quote:
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With regard to the OP, it makes no difference whether this person is a player or not while on the bench.
If you insist on pursuing this angle: Player A1-A5 are in the game prior to a timeout. During the timeout A10 is told to enter the game but does not report. After the timeout A10 enters the game and play is allowed to resume, but both A4 and A5 mistakenly remain seated on the bench. Question: Which one is a player at this point? Answer: neither |
Casebook, Rulebook ...
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Sometimes the rulebook can be ambiguous. Most of the time the casebook is more to the point. The casebook often states that when A and B happen then we interpret it as C and penalize with D. It's pretty hard for a coach, athletic director, or assigner to argue with that. The rulebook is often more open to interpretation (which show up as NFHS interpretations in the casebook (thus the need for a casebook), or in annual rule interpretations), even when one knows the definitions like the back of their hand. Some casebook interpretations could never be interpreted in a specific manner if we only relied upon the rulebook. |
Good Question ...
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If entry is not legal, the substitute becomes a player when the ball becomes live. A player becomes bench personnel after his/her substitute becomes a player or after notification of the coach following his/her disqualification. A10 is a player. I don't know if A4, or A5, is a player. I do know that, by definition, one of them is a player, and, by definition, one of them is bench personnel. I do know that if either A4, or A5, come off the bench to score an uncontested layup, I'm blowing the play dead as was described in the original post. In the case where either A4, or A5, curse at me from the bench, short of any input from the coach regarding the substitution, I'm probably calling both of them players and hand out the lesser penalty (no indirect to the coach). I don't see how a coach, athletic director, or assigner, could find fault with my handling of these situations. It would be difficult for any of them to find any written fault with how I handled this. |
Are All Four Of The Players All Of The Players ...
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In light of all that's been posted in this thread, especially JetMetFan's citation (3-3-3), do you still believe this: Quote:
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I have a huge problem with this. The whole purpose of the indirect to the coach is: Coach, you are responsible for your bench. ART. 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). During an intermission, all team members are bench personnel for the purpose of penalizing unsporting behavior. Even if you insist that he is a player (why?) for the purpose of this rule if he is on the bench he is also bench personnel. |
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Player Or Bench Personnel ...
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Start another thread about this if you wish. I honestly don't know how I would react to this (indirects) in a real game, and if it would be any different than how I answered on a written exam. Again, in light of all that's been posted in this thread, especially JetMetFan's citation (3-3-3), do you still believe this: Quote:
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The definition of a player, quoted above, is simple enough. There is no provision for a player to be seated on the bench during a live ball. 3-3-3 assumes normal circumstances. When the officials allowed the game to resume with 4 players, the situation is no longer normal. |
Get It Right ...
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Indirect ???
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Team A requests, and is granted, a timeout. No substitutions are made during this timeout period. During the timeout, while sitting on the bench, one of the uniformed members of the team, who was a player before the timeout, curses at a nearby official. Said uniformed member of the team is charged with a technical foul. Is the head coach charged with an indirect technical foul? The question is not should he be charged, for philosophical reasons, with an indirect, the question is, by written rule, is he charged with an indirect technical foul. Quote:
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Get It Right ...
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If B5 was a player before the time out, and wasn't substituted for or disqualified (and the coach has been informed), then he's a player during and after the timeout. Regardless of whether or not he enters the court. So if B5 earns a technical foul during the time out, or after the time out but doesn't return to the court, then the head coach should not get an indirect tech.
But if B5 was substituted for during the time out, and THEN earned a tech, the head coach does get an indirect tech, as B5 was bench personnel at the time. Now, if we can't determine if B5 was a player or bench personnel at the time he earns a tech, then I'm not giving the head coach an indirect. At least the way I understand things right now. I don't want to have to eject that coach without being sure it was the correct call. Oh, and it seems that the team would only earn a technical foul when the 5th player illegally enters the court (like in the OP). My question at this point is this... is it ever legal for that fifth player to return to the court? Can the team play with 4 players until the next stoppage of play, and at that time the 5th player can legally enter the court? |
Answer to the Question Posed
Quote of a Previous Quote by OKREF:
Let's take this one more step. 10-1 says it's penalized when the fifth player returns. What if they play with four and there is a dead ball. B5 legally subs in. Technical foul? I would think no. (Follow Up Question by the Author): Quote:
#1, 10-1 doesn't say that it's penalized when the fifth player returns. It says, "Penalized when they (referring to Arts. 3,4,5,8,9,10) occur." When what occurs? "When a team fails to have all players return to the court at approximately the same time following a time-out or intermission." That means that your conclusion, "Technical foul? I would think no" is based on emotion perhaps, but not based on rule 10-1-9 and it's associated prescribed penalty. #2, the related Casebook citation does support something you suggest, the execution of the penalty when that fifth player does return into the game. That's what attracted the attention of the officials that something was wrong. But that Casebook situation also had an illegitimate advantage that resulted when the fifth player finally decided to run onto the court. The illegal status of having failed to "have all players return to the court at approximately the same time following a time-out..." wasn't discovered by an official until this illegitimate advantage occurred. In this sitch what was illegal was not just the return to the court, it was the "failing to have all players return at approximately the same time." The technical could actually have been called any time an official realized that the team failed to do what it's supposed to do when it was supposed to do it, that is return all five players to the court after a timeout at approximately the same time. #3, I'm not saying I agree with all this. Only saying that this is all what the rule says. In fact, this has always been one of the ten rules I don't think are fair, that a team is penalized for erringly playing with four players. Heck, if they put themselves at a numbers disadvantage by their own fault, I rationalize that they should be required to play like that until at least the next dead ball. But that's not the rule. #4, I reserve the right to be wrong. But I don't think I am...on this rule and casebook situation. Then again, there's sometimes a fine line between confidence and cockiness. |
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"Sorry coach, my partner and I failed to count your players after the timeout, and allowed the game to continue, and even though 40 seconds has expired, and your player is legally entering the game now, I'm going to have to give you a T". Not a conversation I would like to have. |
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I'm not gonna apologize to the coach for failing to do something which is ultimately his responsibility. |
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Choose your conversation. One results from emotion. The other derives from a rule. When given the unsavory choice between those two, what would be the best to choose? You're gonna have a coach mad either way. Only thing is, only one of them didn't make sure he had five players on the court. |
Still Confused In Connecticut ...
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Now that we've, hopefully, finally, moved away from the player/bench personnel debate, I am still confused about the whether the technical should be charged when the officials realize that there are only four players on the floor, or when the fifth player enters from the bench. |
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If it is noticed prior to that, the official who calls it then has support of the clear reading of the rule in 10-1-9. Choose your poison. On to another valuable sitch.......... |
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Therefore, I'm not calling a T unless the 5th player re-enters the court during the live ball. Until that point, all (four) players have returned at approximately the same time in accordance with 10-1-9 |
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Es tut mir leid.
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In the spirit of the enabling fellowship of officiating, let me invite the posting person who, joining admittedly late, to review all the discussion and responses from the beginning of the thread. Then a well-rounded personal interpretation can be formulated based on whatever clarity is gleaned from that review. |
How many people here have ever called a T for a team only having 4 players on the court?
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I agree with the thinking (based on the case play cited) which is that the technical foul should occur immediately when the 5th player enters the court after the others -- not automatically if the officials realize only 4 are playing. Until the 5th player enters the court (not at the same time as the others) I do not see how 10-1-9 has been violated. I was making the point that it is also not clear to me that 3.1 has been violated because the officials can not say for sure that the team does have five players available. So one other reason (which I didn't think had been mentioned) as to why I would not stop play and call a technical is because I can think of at least one scenario (although unusual) where it would be legal to play with 4 players -- specifically a situation where the 5th player is the only player available and he/she becomes injured/ill during the timeout. What am I missing? |
Having read all six pages to this point :)... The consensus is that the player who enters the court after the ball is live will receive an immediate tech? (Irrelevant whether or not he gains any advantage).
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Following a lengthy substitution process, it's nothing unless there's an advantage created by the player coming back on late. |
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But I know there have been times when I see a team breaking the huddle, and I wonder to myself, "are there any new players who didn't check in?" Especially those times when only 4 players come on the court after a time-out, then the coach turns and says, "Billy, what the hell are you doing, get in there." |
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Adam: I will address your post first. I am getting senile in my old age but allowing a game to restart with a team having only four players on the court is something I would remember. I did not say that it should never happen. You said "should never happen." I said: "this type of thing should not ever happen." Remember, the late J. Dallas Shirley said: "Never say never and never say always." Billy: Yes, I have had instances of six players on the court of one team, but not I do not remember allowing a game to restart with six players on the court. That said, like every one on this board I have had a sixth player run on the court. But I remember one situation in a girls' H.S. jr. varsity game years ago. The Home team dressed only six players. We were in the middle of the third quarter and the Visitors had the ball Table Side in their front court and I was Trail when the Visitors requested and was granted a timeout. I administered the Visitors' throw-in after the timeout in front of their bench. V-1 inbounded the ball to V-2 opposite side of the front court. As V-2 drove to the basket, H-1 ran passed me toward her bench and out of my vision. As V-2 scored, H-6 ran into the Visitors' front court. At first glance I thought it was H-1 running back until I realized that it was H-6 and not H-1. Of course we had probably had six players in the court at the same time during this play. None-the-less we had three possible TF scenarios but we choose to charge the Home Team with a TF for having six players on the court. The hilarious part was the V-HC thought we shouldn't allow her team's basket because the other team had six players on the court :eek:. MTD, Sr. |
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