text: The time out rule was changed after the 76 Finals, in which Paul Westphal of the Phoenix Suns called a time out (which the Suns didn't have)... Jo Jo White converted the free throw, putting the Celtics up by two.  But the Suns then were awarded the ball at mid-court, and Garfield (yup, that's his first name) Heard threw up a shot from about 20-25 feet out to send the game into a third overtime. There was no three-point rule at the time.\n\nAfter that, the rules were changed so that no additional time outs would be awarded.  But under the rules at that time, calling an extra time out would cost a technical foul, but you could still get the ball out at mid-court.\n\nTeams get too many time outs as it is... last night, for example, the cameras clearly showed Pat Riley signaling for a 20 second time out, yet they went to a commercial break at that time, AFTER they showed a replay of the previous score...These TV time outs are ridiculous.\n\n\nCalling a timeout in the college game doesn't advance the ball (to midcourt) the way the NBA does.  It just results in a technical foul (as Webber found out).  But that's why Webber had to bring the ball up before he took that time out...in college, when you call a time out after a made basket, you still have to advance the ball 94 feet.