Basketball Referee

Basketball Referee

Rndballref

20 Years Experience

Chicago, IL

Male, 60

For twenty years I officiated high school, AAU and park district basketball games, retiring recently. For a few officiating is the focus of their occupation, while for most working as an umpire or basketball referee is an avocation. I started ref'ing to earn beer money during college, but it became a great way to stay connected to the best sports game in the universe. As a spinoff, I wrote a sports-thriller novel loosely based on my referee experiences titled, Advantage Disadvantage

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Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

My son and another boy went for a rebound and both got their hands on the ball equally, but the bigger, stronger boy twisted, dipped and pulled the ball and him into his gut, with the result my son was "over the top." Was that a correct call?

Asked by Rod over 11 years ago

This is a tough judgement call. If, both boys simultaneously held the ball or put force on the ball in opposite directions (as in a stuffed blocked shot) then it should be called a held ball (jump ball going to the possession arrow). If the ref rules that there was not dual possession then you have to call a foul and/or subject a player to really getting hurt. This does not happen too often at the boy's varsity level (quick and strength), but it happens. Opinion: good officials have a quick whistle for held balls to avoid the weaker player always getting a foul.

If you have 5 seconds to in bound the basketball to a teammate, how come when players let the ball roll down court it's not a 5 second violation? As I see it the ball is not inbounded if no one touches it.

Asked by Tniz over 8 years ago

The in bounder has 5 seconds to release the ball. The restriction is satisfied as soon as he releases the throw in.

What I was asking is if my team was awarded the one and one then on the next foul they said weren't in the one and one shouldn't they be awarded the one and one because they got it on the last foul

Asked by Jamie over 11 years ago

The answer to your question is no. If the previous award was in error, it was either correctable or uncorrectable depending on when it was discovered. If the second foul still does not put you in the bonus you should not be awarded any free throws. The fact that a mistake was made on the previous free foul does not mandate a second mistake (assuming both of these fouls occurred with less than 7 team fouls).

Is juggling a loose ball (not yet have possession, still trying to get hold of the ball) from a pass while running toward basket considered violation/travel?

Asked by Alan almost 8 years ago

By definition, you cannot travel if you have not established possession. If you are tapping or bobbling the ball it is a referee judgement call if you have possession.

Is it legal for a referee to be referring a basketball game if he is related to a player?

Asked by Joe over 8 years ago

There is no prohibition in the NFHS rule book prohibiting relatives officiating a game. However, good sense should prevail. My state asks what schools an official is affiliated with to avoid conflicts of interests but that is for the state playoff system only. This should be avoided whenever possible.

During a boy's high school basketball in California, the referee ran in front of a player as his teammate thru him the ball. The ball hit the referee in the stomach and went out for bounds. The refs gave the ball to the opposite team. Was this right

Asked by Margaret over 8 years ago

Yes, it is correct. The ref is part of the floor where he stands. The last player to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds is responsible, and therefore the ball gets awarded to the other team.

Hi Ref, while watching my daughters high school games, lately I don't understand calls/not calls when shots are blocked. Assuming no body contact, can you explain the rule and when you might call/not call a foul on a blocked shot? Thx

Asked by P_Johnston almost 9 years ago

Assuming no body contact, the foul.no foul call would be because of illegal use of hands. That includes the follow through on a shot. One caveat is that if an offensive player has her hand on the ball it is not a foul for the defender to contact that hand (not the arm or wrist).

I am not sure I have answered your question, maybe you can spell out more specifically what kind of action you are concerned about?