Most fitting coach objection
 

JVB tonight. Very good game, went into overtime, thanks to a V comeback, including a V three at the buzzer to end regulation.

(And yes, one varsity crew member asked why I didn't call a travel on that shot.)

Coach V has been clearly on the whiny side. (Coach H has been fine.) Fourth quarter, 30-second time out, throw-in at the sideline, near H bench. Team H breaks after the first horn, and is ready for the throw-in before the second horn. I administer. Second horn sounds; Team V is still huddling. I hold for a few seconds, no huddle breakage, eyeball my partner, whistle, point, hand the ball, as V is breaking the huddle, and finally hustling out of it. ("Ridiculous!" I hear from the V bench.)

H's possession comes up empty, but V is still grumbling at me on the way back down.

Me: "Coach, they were ready. You weren't!"
Coach V: "We were coming out! Come on, YOU KNOW THE RULE!"

There it is.

I doubt the 4th quarter is the right spot to first use the RoP procedure. Get it earlier in the game or use some other method to speed up the team.

The OP didn't say anything about there being a problem with delays earlier in the game. What "other method" do you suggest? It's not our job to baby the teams when they aren't ready when the second horn blows.

An oxymoron if ever there was one. :rolleyes:

In the 4th quarter of a close game? I'd wait and ask the coach when I near his bench to get them out quicker next time. 4th quarter of a blowout? Put that sucker down.

Based on the description, I'm in the camp of giving the teams a lot of encouragement to get them on the court with 30 seconds of a close game. One official could have stood outside his huddle to move them along. Perhaps a "we're getting ready to put the ball in play whether you're ready or not" statement would get them out of the huddle. I think it was good that you didn't whack the coach after the "you know the rule comment".

Of course, your association may not tolerate teams coming out of a timeout late, in which case, you definitely did the right thing.

My association isn't real strict about it so most of us tolerate it more than in other areas.

If it had been a problem throughout the game, it should have been addressed earlier in the game. If it wasn't a problem until then, it was simply a matter of timeouts not being nearly long enough for the coach to convey all that he thought needed to be said.

Do you ever see this done in a college or NBA game when you're watching on TV? No.

So why do NFHS games become this weird laboratory for officiating experiments? This kind of, "watch what I have the power to do!" stuff is nonsense. Indeed, fourth quarter of a close game, for Pete's sake please find another way to address this.

John Adams et al. made teams not breaking timeouts an NCAA POE a couple years back. But like pace of play in baseball, change isn't coming overnight. So in the meantime, stay close to the huddle, stare in the assistant coach's face, hold up two fingers, and keep verbalizing. But please don't put the ball down when an entire team isn't even moving onto the floor. For college officials that's a sure way to get kicked off a staff. Should be like that for HS, too.

I'd recommend following the rule over your advice.

If you were a cop, you'd pull me over for doing 57 in a 55, wouldn't you?

I'd certainly ticket you for making an illegal u-turn.

I agree with this 100%. U never see it at the higher levels, cuz it's unnecessary. It should be a last resort after prior warnings have gone unheeded. I've seen officials do it when we're few seconds late, and we're hustling onto the court, and they put the ball down. that's crap. In my opinion.

Spoken like a true coach. How about you have your team break the huddle after the first horn as it is supposed to do?

This is what we were taught, this is what we do, and (most) teams here know this.

Nobody is recommending setting the ball down exactly one second after the second horn. If I see a conscious effort to get on the court, fine.

No, sir. It's never about us. It's about moving the game along and not stalling. You had 30 or 60 seconds, including a 15-second warning. If you're still huddling after the second horn, and you're not coming out, whose fault is that?

Thank you. We do. How about you don't get your panties in a bunch if we break the huddle a second late. Spoken like a true over-officious, power-hungry look what i can do, referee.

Put me down on the side of "no freaking way I'd ever put it on the floor here."

I have put the ball on the floor a few times. I think the last time was about 2012.

That said, the times I've done it are when I've had to work too hard to get a team out earlier in the game and the team subsequently hasn't bothered starting to break the huddle on the second horn later even with an official in there trying to break it up. They figure I won't do anything about it...and that's when I will.