A-1, while closely guarded in the frontcourt, holds the ball for 3 seconds and then starts a dribble. Is the official correct to start a new count?

When a player is closely guarded and holds the ball for three seconds, the official should begin counting the duration of that hold. However, once the player initiates a dribble, this action resets the closely guarded count. The rules state that the closely guarded count does not continue while a player is dribbling.

This means that by starting the dribble, A-1 is no longer considered to be holding the ball and is allowed to move freely. As a result, the official is correct in resetting the count to zero.

The other choices, while plausible in certain contexts, do not apply here because neither calling a timeout nor determining if the player was fouled would affect the resetting of the closely guarded count. The critical part is that the initiation of the dribble signifies a new phase of play, and thus warrants starting a new count.