What's the deal with "Official Timeouts"?

wigglestrue · Post #1 » by **wigglestrue** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:20 am

8:13 NJ - Official timeout

How many are scheduled in a game, and when? And...why?
Is it purely a TV-based thing?

MaxRider · Post #2 » by **MaxRider** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:28 am

i think 1 per quarter
they use it for commercial break and break for the officials

Post #3 » by **studcrackers** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:28 am

i think ive sorta figured out the nba's way of doing it each team must take 1 timeout per quarter and spend the other 2 full timeouts and 2 20 second TO's however they want

i know the college basketball way of doing it is the 1st dead ball after 16, 12, 8 and 4 minutes theres an auto timeout. i dont think they're charged to a team though b/c coaches still have a crapload of timeouts at the end of game which can be very annoying.

Heat3 · Post #4 » by **Heat3** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:41 am

MaxRider wrote:i think 1 per quarter
they use it for commercial break and break for the officials

break for the officials? wtf.

Post #5 » by **tkb** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:44 am

Primarily a TV thing. They happen after 9, 6 and 3 minutes every quarter.

Patterns · Post #6 » by **Patterns** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:04 am

They need to advertise.

Desmond24 · Post #7 » by **Desmond24** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:10 am

It is an "official" time out, some used for TV breaks but in now way a timeout for the officials/referees. They "break" when teams call time out, which is to say they rest their legs

wigglestrue · Post #8 » by **wigglestrue** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:58 am

tkb wrote:Primarily a TV thing. They happen after 9, 6 and 3 minutes every quarter.

Thanks tkb!

I noticed some kind of pattern, especially for the one in the last 3 minutes.

That's a lot of automatic timeouts, no? The NFL has the 2 minute warning which happens at the end of each half, but every O-D changeover after 4th down provides TV a commercial break. Baseball doesn't have any, because it doesn't have a clock lol, but every half inning gives TV a commercial break. Hockey doesn't have any as far as I know, just the two intermissions, but I'm not much of a hockey fan so I might be totally wrong. Soccer has one halftime break, but no breaks for commercials at any other time, which I believe forces TV to air commercials in a split screen setup or whatever.

Post #9 » by **The Duke** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:19 am

..... and Bowling does it between Frames

wigglestrue · Post #10 » by **wigglestrue** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:35 am

12 automatic timeouts + up to 20 team timeouts (12 full, 8 twenties) + 2 quarter breaks and a halftime? That's a ****load of breaks. Really slowing the pace of what ought to be a fluid, fast-paced sport, christ...and so many fouls (and there seems to be an unofficial quota of sorts for those) and free throws...boooooooo. I guess compared to baseball it's not a ****load, though -- it's more or less the same, since none of the 20 second timeouts lead to commercial breaks (well, wait...there are those commercials scripted for the announcers, so scratch that). Baseball has [adding]...17 half inning breaks, and...usually a few pitching changes[/adding]...so that's about 20-25 breaks in a baseball game. But that's baseball, where people expect the game to be slow and incremental. For basketball to have more breaks than baseball is crazy, IMO.

montaellis89 · Post #11 » by **montaellis89** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:51 am

wigglestrue wrote:12 automatic timeouts + up to 20 team timeouts (12 full, 8 twenties) + 2 quarter breaks and a halftime? That's a ****load of breaks. Really slowing the pace of what ought to be a fluid, fast-paced sport, christ...and so many fouls (and there seems to be an unofficial quota of sorts for those) and free throws...boooooooo. I guess compared to baseball it's not a ****load, though -- it's more or less the same, since none of the 20 second timeouts lead to commercial breaks (well, wait...there are those commercials scripted for the announcers, so scratch that). Baseball has [adding]...17 half inning breaks, and...usually a few pitching changes[/adding]...so that's about 20-25 breaks in a baseball game. But that's baseball, where people expect the game to be slow and incremental. For basketball to have more breaks than baseball is crazy, IMO.

There are 10 automatic timeouts in a NBA game. They occur at the first dead ball following the 6:00 and 3:00 marks in the 1st and 3rd quarter, and the first dead ball following the 9:00, 6:00, and 3:00 mark in the 2nd and 4th quarter. These official timeouts count towards the 6 full timeout each time has. Each time is forced to call an official timeout at the mandatory timemarks, and each team is charged alternatively for these. If a timeout occurs before the mandatory timemark, it will remove the official timeout obligation from being called at the next available timemark.

_BBIB_ · Post #12 » by **_BBIB_** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:08 am

Yeah it's a 100% advertising thing.

Those sponsors don't just make those leagues wealthy for nothing, they expect to see their ads run.

wigglestrue · Post #13 » by **wigglestrue** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:02 am

There are 10 automatic timeouts in a NBA game. They occur at the first dead ball following the 6:00 and 3:00 marks in the 1st and 3rd quarter, and the first dead ball following the 9:00, 6:00, and 3:00 mark in the 2nd and 4th quarter. These official timeouts count towards the 6 full timeout each time has. Each time is forced to call an official timeout at the mandatory timemarks, and each team is charged alternatively for these. If a timeout occurs before the mandatory timemark, it will remove the official timeout obligation from being called at the next available timemark.

So tkb was wrong? That's a rarity.

Anyway, 10 is still a lot.

Another thing that gets me is that basketball is a sport where runs are so important. These official timeouts interrupt runs, interrupt momentum. I know that the structure of the timeout schedule makes it equally disruptive to both teams. But sometimes it must interfere with one team's runs more than another's, right?

Those sponsors don't just make those leagues wealthy for nothing, they expect to see their ads run.

And they get run in baseball, football, and basketball. But not so much in hockey or soccer. Maybe that's more than a coincidence, that two sports which afford the fewest opportunities for ad breaks are far less popular? I don't know, probably not. But the nature of basketball is a lot more like hockey and soccer, and yet the same number of ad breaks as baseball and football have been artifically inserted into its games. Am I the only one who finds that interesting?

Post #14 » by **tkb** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:04 am

That is pretty interesting. Didn't know that there were 1 less in the 1st and 3rd quarter, but it makes sense since the teams have had longer breaks before those quarters. That they count against the teams total timeouts available is fairly obvious though, because there wouldn't be any play if not. lol