Head coach arrives late

[bballref3966]

Looking for opinions on how you would handle this weird situation...

A team's actual head coach is running late to a game for whatever reason (I have seen it happen before), so the game begins with the acting head coach in charge. Either the acting head coach or other bench personnel is hit with a technical foul, so the acting head coach has to sit. The team's actual head coach shows up after all this. Will he inherit an indirect technical foul and have to sit for the game even though he was not present?

[bob jenkins]

Yes, he will "inherit" the indirect.

Similar to what happens when the head coach is EJ and the assistant takes over.

[Adam]

I'd probably give him a choice. He either inherits the indirect, or the gave moves forward with him as the assistant coach.

[Toren]

I'm curious how you treated the Assistant Coach when he was assuming the role of Head Coach.

Was he allowed to stand? Was he allowed to ask questions? Basically did you give him as much rope as you would a head coach?

If you answered yes to any those questions, then the Head Coach would inherit the indirect technical and the coaching box would be lost.

If the Assistant Coach was sitting the entire game and said something inappropriate or whatever else earned him the T. Then I see no problem with Adam's solution.

My 2 cents.

[Adam]

I should be clear, either way, the HC is sitting the rest of that game.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Toren

I'm curious how you treated the Assistant Coach when he was assuming the role of Head Coach.

Was he allowed to stand? Was he allowed to ask questions? Basically did you give him as much rope as you would a head coach?

If you answered yes to any those questions, then the Head Coach would inherit the indirect technical and the coaching box would be lost.

If the Assistant Coach was sitting the entire game and said something inappropriate or whatever else earned him the T. Then I see no problem with Adam's solution.

My 2 cents.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but if the actually HC is not present, that is not my issue. I would assume that would be made clear by the team before the game anyway so that we know who is responsible for the team. I would treat the actual AC like any other HC that was there. Now if the HC comes in the middle of the game, then someone needs to explain why that was not stated before the game. But most of all, I would probably report this to the Administrator and Assignor to see what they would like in the end. Never had this issue take place so I can only speculate what I would do if this were to actually happen. And any T that took place would not change whether the HC stands or not. Any bench T takes away the HC coaching box responsibilities, so I am good with applying the rules accordingly.

Peace

[rsl]

There is no rule basis for the head coach to "inherit the indirect". Fouls are assessed to a name in the book. If he gets two more indirects, I am not going to eject him.

The head coach rule is assessed to the head coach. He definitely inherits the seat belt.

Just my two cents. I think the rule could be read either way, i.e., that an indirect is recorded against a named head coach or against that team role.