Just like a test question!

[HokiePaul]

Originally Posted by Adam

May seem absurd, but it's the rule. Going to your assigner with "well, I know something had to come off, and I thought it was probably 5 seconds, so I picked 3" could get you in trouble. Going to your assigner with "I know time should have come off, but none of us had a count so we left it alone" is backed by rule.

You can get away with the former in lower level games. I wouldn't try it in anything above middle school, though.

Just to clarify, that's not what I'd be going to my assignor saying. And that's not the thought process. As I said before, I'm not guessing.

I'd be following the rule that states "an official's count or other official information may be used to make a correction" and that a timing mistake can be corrected when the official "has definite information relative to the time involved".

The "official information" is that the ball was legally touched inbounds and some time has elapsed. The "definate information" is what I would get with my partners to determine ... specifically that "definitly at least X seconds had elapsed". A visible count is not necessary. If I'm observing a play and determine that a player was holding the ball but not-closely guarded for 3 seconds, passed the ball to a teammate who then shot, I have definite information that at least 3 seconds have elapsed, even though I did not have a visible count because the player was not closely guarded.

I'd be going to my assignor saying that I had definate knowledge that at least 3 seconds had elapsed and I used that knowledge to correct an obvious timing mistake. How is that incorrect by rule?