JRutledge wroteI would only care what happened first. The timing of the whistles would not be that much of an issue ... Do that often throughout the season and not much of a discussion honestly.
Agree. And, as JRutledge stated, this is not an uncommon occurrence. In a situation where a team has player control, a coach would rather burn a timeout and have the certainty of keeping the ball after the time out, versus the 50/50 chance of getting the ball after a held ball (or the flip side, losing the arrow if they have the arrow).
I wish I had a dollar for every time, in this situation, a coach yells, "Timeout, timeout, timeout", when a held ball is about to happen, especially a girls game.
I'd be a thousandaire.
Bottom line? As JRutledge stated, it's what came first, held ball, or timeout request, not who's whistle came first (or "My whistle is bigger than your whistle").