NBA Timeouts

The value of timeouts in the NBA and even a bit in the NCAA has been diminished due to the increase in TV timeouts. You know they have been diminished when you see players scambling for loose balls and screaming for a timeout at the same time. If the timeout is granted, the player is praised for making a good play. You know teams have too many timeouts when they can waste one on a loose ball.

A timeout should have more value than a possession. In other words, when a player is about to fall out of bounds and he calls a timeout, the timeouts should be few enough where it would be better to lose the possession and save the timeout for a late game situation.

Compare NBA timeouts to NFL timeouts. Outside of 2-minute offenses, have you ever seen an NFL coach happy about calling a timeout? No. That's because with only 3 timeouts per half, they have more value in the NFL. Those NFL timeouts are precious for the end of the game. I would like to see the same in the NBA. Players can rest during TV timeouts and be forced to save the timeouts for the final minutes.