New IABBO RULE BOOK

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by OKREF

Captains and coaches meeting is mandatory in my state.

I am sorry to hear that. I don't want HCs in my Captains Meeting from a historical perspective.

There are many here that do not like the rule that allows HCs to request TOs. The current TO request rule in both the NFHS and NCAA Men's Rules Books is the same TO request rule found in the NCAA Women's Rules Book which was kept when the NCAA took over the women's college basketball rules writing duties from NAGWS (National Association of Girls and Women in Sports) in the late 1980's. NAGWS Women's College Rules were a mish-mash of NBCUSC (National Basketball Committee of the United States and Canada, the precursor to the NFHS and NCAA Men's Rules Committees) and FIBA Rules. I think that most of us are familiar with the FIBA TO request rule: Only HCs may request a TO: It must be made to the Scorer and the request is granted at the first Dead Ball-Clock Stopped stoppage of play.

It as only been in the last 60 years or so that HCs could huddle with their teams during TOs. And most of us remember the days when only players on the court could request a TO. The reason being is that historically, the HC is a non-entity in the rules. Historically, by rule, the Team Captain was the actual man in charge on the court and in charge of his entire team. Even now the rules state that a team consists of five player, one of whom is the Captain.

I use my Captains Meeting let the captains know that they are the leaders of their teams and that I will come to them first when players, substitutes, and bench personnel (including HCs) start to become a problem.

The best example of a captain being in charge was a game from 1994. The game was the Michigan AAU Girls' 14U Championship Game with the winner going to the National Championship Tournament (actually Michigan AAU also qualified its second and third place teams that year). The point guard for the team that eventually lost the game was also her team's captain. The HC had been chipping (but not stepping over the line) but eventually he started skating on thin ice and as his PG/TC was dribbling the ball up the court I told her that her HC was skating on thin ice and that she needed to handle it the first chance she had. At that point in front of a crowd of about 75 people she looked over at her bench and yelled: "Dad, shut up! You are embarrassing me!" Needless to say, we did not hear from the HC the rest of the game.

MTD, Sr.