NCAA plans to T up coaches for sideline theatrics

Coaches sprinting to mid-court to protest calls, demonstratively jabbering at officials and even wandering down press row to grab a drink will be in hot water if NCAA officials follow through on a decision to heavily regulate sideline behavior.

The NCAA released last week “points of emphasis” for its officials in the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball seasons. Chief among them was bench decorum. Coaches who leave their designated areas near the bench to gripe with officials or holler at players will be penalized with technical fouls. Wandering out of the box will result in a warning, to be followed by technicals for ensuing offenses.

The decision to crack down isn’t new, but rather an expectation of increased enforcement of rules that have been largely ignored for years.

If a player or coach receives a technical foul at the college level, the other team gets two free throws and possession of the ball. Two technical fouls in one game result in ejection.

Endorsed by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the Collegiate Commissioners Association, the edict aims to establish consistent guidelines for sideline behavior for both coaches and players.

However, coaches at Montana and the head of the Big Sky Conference aren’t sold on the decision.

“There were years when there was a lot of violence in the game and fights, but I haven’t seen this as a real issue where coaches are intimidating officials and ranting and raving on the sidelines,” men’s head coach Wayne Tinkle said. “But obviously someone thinks it’s an area of concern.”

Last season, women’s teams in the Big Sky were assessed 21 technicals and men’s teams were hit with 64. Jon Kasper, the conference’s media relations head, said those numbers were consistent with national averages.

“I don’t think we’ve got a problem in the Big Sky but I think I understand the motivation for it,” Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton said.

Fullerton said he is concerned with how consistent officials around the country will be with the technical calls.

“I don’t want to see us dinging our own coaches and then turn on the TV and not see it being done,” he said.

There will be incentives for officials to go by the book, according to the NCAA. Officials who enforce the rule will be given higher priority for calling postseason tournament games.

Tinkle said he sees that as a potential problem.

“That might be the scary part,” he said. “You’re just going to have to be careful of the young guys who are trying to impress.”

Women’s head coach Robin Selvig, who agreed with Tinkle that there hasn’t been a real problem with sideline behavior in recent years, said he expects officials to use some logic before blowing the whistle.

“I think good officials will have common sense on how they referee, they always have,” he said.

According to Fullerton, a coach who wanders to press row for a bottle of water, ventures onto the court to pick up discarded warm-up pants, or attempts to aid an injured player without permission from a referee, should at least expect a warning.

“I worry,” he said. “Is someone going to pick up their bottle of water in the semifinal of the Final Four and get their second technical foul and get ejected? I’m not sure it’s healthy for the game.”

Tinkle said he expects the issue to dissipate as the season wears on.

“I’m sure early in the season, just like every other point of emphasis, they’re going to keep an eagle eye on it,” he said. “But I think by the middle of the season they’ll have made their point and move on.”

Tinkle has said in the past, he occasionally got riled up to motivate his team, and Selvig, who is in his 30th year coaching the Lady Griz, said he can be “fairly animated sometimes” and that he might have to cut back a bit.

“If they strictly enforce that, I don’t want to hurt the team by getting technicals,” he said. “So I’ll be careful.”

Tinkle doesn’t expect the edict to affect the way he coaches in games.

“If I get rang up a couple times early, so be it,” he said. “We’re not a staff that really gets out of control, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

Like Fullerton and Selvig, Tinkle would see a problem if officials get too heavy-handed with the enforcement.

“There’s a lot of times in the games when it’s a slow time. You get a little dry mouth, go down to the cooler,” Tinkle said. “They’ll have a lot of problems if they try to enforce it like that.”