Held Ball Signal Mechanic
 

I had a partner tonight tell me that on a held ball, I should just go up with two thumbs rather than use the stop clock signal, then go two thumbs up.

What is the correct mechanic?

Exactly as he told you.

The pictures in the back of the rule book should give you the answer.

Note that picture 3 says "stop clock for held ball" -- so you don't need the separate "stop clock" signal.

He was correct.

DISCLAIMER: UNPOPULAR/CONTROVERSIAL OPINION INBOUND. THIS OPINION MAY OR MAY NOT BE SUPPORTED BY RULE, BUT FEEL FREE NOT TO POINT THAT OUT.

I like throwing up the stop-clock mechanic before the held ball signal. It's not necessary but it gives officials a second to make sure that another official doesn't have a foul or a timeout. It's like a blarge -- I'd rather avoid any situation where two officials would be giving different signals and then having to sort out which action came first.

OFFICIALS MANUAL 2.4.3 Held Ball
B. Give the signal for a held ball immediately. There is no need to raise a hand for the stop-clock signal.

We usually hit the whistle a few times before coming in with a mechanic. No stop clock, but no immediate thumbs, either.

That is exactly the reason to give the proper signal first....so you can tell something about what each other has just by looking at each other. Maybe theirs really was after.

It is one of the three ways to stop the clock. You do not need another signal to stop the clock for a held ball.

Peace

So do you also throw up the "open hand" when you have a foul, just in case your partner has a TO or a traveling violation (or other) at about the same time?

Did you read the disclaimer? :D

Yes, I did. Thanks for checking.

You give the proper signal so it is clear what you have for your partner at the very least.

Peace

And what if you throw up the stop clock open palm and your partner has a fist?

If you come in with 2 thumbs up and your partner has a foul and fist, you figure out what came first. It is no different than any other double whistle and is nothing like a blarge.

Exactly what I do.

If you don't give a stop clock signal how is the timer supposed to know to stop the clock??

That timer isn't looking to your signal to stop the clock.

Wait, then why am I doing it?? :eek:

NBA officials advocate a delay between the whistle and the signal (they use that time to point out the jumpers), so do not be surprised if you start seeing it creep into the Big South, Atlantic Sun, and SEC; then trickle down from there.

Except we don't need jumpers, so there's no real point to it.

Pointing at the jumpers is just the same thing as signaling held ball -- it doesn't solve any (perceived) problem of conflicting signals.

I prefer to give 3 quick whistle burst before the 2 thumbs up mechanic as it implies to the 2 players to quit (wrestling).

Walk And Chew Gum ...
 

Wouldn't the same result be accomplished by doing both at the same time?

Look, I'll admit that what we do doesn't completely conform to the mechanics manual.

We hold on the thumbs as we close on the play -- it lets us each verify that none of us has a foul or violation first. If one of us has a foul/violation, he comes in immediately with it. If none of us do...that means we have a held ball and all of us can give the thumbs.

Since we moved to this, we haven't had a single instance of thumbs + something else.

I was originally taught to just use the thumbs as the stop-clock signal, then I've been seeing a movement towards what aremred uses. When I think about how I actually do it on the court, I realize I'm actually doing what Rich is doing. Whistle, pause and look, then thumbs.

Yep. Personally I kind of feel like an idiot if I'm running in with my thumbs up immediately while a partner is coming in from the other direction with a push on one of the players that is involved in the scrum. If you just blow the whistle a time or two while peeking at your partners to make sure they don't have anything different, no one is the wiser.

Why does this concept not apply in reverse? Even if they do have something else, isn't it just as likely that the held ball was first?

Why would you feel like an idiot? A held ball is what you had. Your partner had something different. You just have to figure out which happened first. Nothing unusual about that.

Nothing unusual, certainly, but why have a coach complain that "he said it was a held ball, how can you have a foul?" Way easier to just hit the whistle and see who's got what.

And JAR, the foul's ALWAYS before the held ball, that's how.

This is obviously not true, so I guess it's another "'cause that's the way it's called" thing.

I almost always have a held ball first. :shrug:

Traveling! ;)

If there's one official with a held ball and another with a foul, which one is usually reported? The foul.

Chicken Or Egg ???
 

It depends on which came first. Sometimes, a hand holding an arm slides down to the ball leading to a held ball situation. Foul first. Foul charged. Sometimes, one of the hands on the held ball slides off of the ball, onto the arm, in such a way as to hold the arm. Held ball first. Held ball.