Game Situations: Using Timeouts

One of the big things a coach needs to determine before a game is how he should use his timeouts.  How you handle time outs is so critical when it comes to in game management that it could be the difference between giving your team a chance to win the game at the end or not. 


The point in a game that you use timeouts are so important that you need to play certain scenarios in your mind before game time and answer the following questions (my answers are after the questions):
  • Will you call a time out when a player is on the ground trying to get a loose ball?  In general I do not want to waste a timeout in an effort to save a loose ball.  This opinion will change at the end of a game if a loose ball could tip the balance of the game in our favor.
  • Will you call a time out when the other team is on a run and you want to disrupt their momentum and have our team regroup?  In general the younger the team you have the more you may want to use your time outs when things are going against them.
  • How many timeouts will you call in an effort to break the other team's momentum throughout the game?  If your answer to the above question is that you will use your timeouts to break momentum then the answer to this question is use them all if you have to.  There's no sense keeping time outs in your pocket if the game is getting away from you.
  • Will you call a time out if you need to urgently discuss something with a referee? No.  Wait until a break in the game.
  • How many timeouts would you prefer to have at a minimum at the end of the game?  At a minimum 2 but I will not avoid calling time outs earlier in the game if I need to break momentum.
  • If you have both 30 second timeouts and full timeouts how do you use them?  I like to use the 30 second timeouts first and save the longer ones for later in the game.
  • Do you use timeouts at the end of the first half to set something up?  I usually don't want to call a time out for this situation.  If you have a play to run at the end of the half just run the play.
In general I like to think of time outs as my way of trying to control a game.  If the game is working in my favor, I don't need to use the time outs but if it is getting away from me then I believe they should be used in an effort to keep the game from getting away from my team.

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