Admin Notes
The five late-game situations have been redefined (by adding time-to-go into the calculation) to better map to situations for which a team may want to adjust coaching.
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New definitions and the number of points are as follows. Note that "Time" is remaining clock time in seconds, and "Shot" is shot clock in seconds. Definition is in the perspective of the team with possession; the team on defense will use the opposite situation (e.g., if the team with possession is "Far Behind" the team on defense will be "Well Ahead").
- Far Behind (formerly Blowout Loss): Trailing by more than 6 + Time/30
- Behind: Trailing by more than 3 + Time/60
- Close (formerly Late/3 points): Final five minutes, and no other situation applies
- Ahead: Leading by more than (Time-Shot)/60
- Well Ahead (formerly Blowout Win): Leading by more than 3 + (Time-Shot)/30
If none of those five situations apply, the "Early" situation will be used. Note that all but "Close" can be used prior to the final five minutes if the score margin is large enough.
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The intent of these time-based definitions is "need to score a lot", "down but not yet desperate", "close enough that normal preferences can be used", "ease up the pace but still try to get good shots", and "trying to run out the clock".
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Note there is no change to the determination of when the bench is cleared in case of a true blowout.

Comments
Stephen Thompson: No doubt there could be infinite settings. I just think that late and up 3 versus late and down 3 are so foundationally different as to warrant different settings.
John Henry: Current Settings Early, Late and Ahead. Late and Within 3, Late and Behind, Blowout Win, Blowout Loss I would like to see this a bit more defined for late game situations something like this... Early - Would be 1st quarter until last 4 minutes of 2nd half unless blowout settings kick in. These settings then kick in at the 4 minute to go mark. I am not sold on 4 minutes, just about the time in the game teams get a higher sense of urgency as the clock is winding down and the final TV timeout occurs. Late and Ahead more than 3, Late and Ahead 3 or less, Late and Behind more than 3, Late and Behind 3 or less Finally these would stay the same as today Blowout Win, Blowout Loss
Bill Edwards: Would be a great element to add to our game. Would give the coaches even more opportunities to control their teams in a critical part of the game. Lets geter done!
Coach Shers: I agree with your comments Andy - I think the 5 you lay out would capture the majority of situations