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

I was officiating a game and was on the sideline when I turned to run up court and I collided with the coach.. The coach fell to the court I and I immediately issued a technical foul. The coach was borderline in the black area when when we collided.

Asked by Rick over 11 years ago

The coach (assuming he has not been seatbelted with a technical foul prior to this) is entitled to stand inside the coach's box, which is out of bounds.  If the coach was out of bounds or his foot was on the line the collusion, though unfortunate, is not a technical foul.  If the coach was squarely in bounds which casued the collision then it should be called a T.  Borderline, I would pass.

Seems to me that a foul on a tip in should be a loose ball since by definition no team has possession. If it gets tipped in and the team is in the bonus its no different than a player making a shot while his teammate gets fouled under the basket.

Asked by dhatch almost 12 years ago

In NFHS there is no such thing as a loose ball foul,  This is very simple... in the judgement of the officials is the batted ball a legitimate "try" for a goal?  I would never call a batted ball anywhere other than in the paint a legitimate try.  So, a half court tip, batted ball would earn a common foul, not a shooting foul. You are correct in that you must have player control established to be in the act of shooting. But it is not the same as a fellow player being fouled to shoot a one and one on a made shot while in the air, because it is a foul on one player - either he is in the act of shooting, *which ends when an airborne shooter hits the floor, or he isn't in the act of shooting.

Is there a rule about the amount of time that should occur between two consecutive Technical fouls on one player? (Like ref calls technical, waits, calls another technical on the same player. ie. time for coach to get player to cool off)

Asked by Jojo over 11 years ago

Yes there is a time limit because the player has been disqualified on the 2nd technical which is treated no differently than a player being assesed his 5th foul - the coach has 30 seconds to replace the player.  A cohesive ref crew should handle it ideally like this:  1) the ref who calls the 2nd T should be a different official than the one who calls the 1st T, 2) the ref calling the 2nd T should report the foul and inform the coach that the player has been disqualified, 3) a different official should escort the disqualified player to the bench, and 3) inform the coach that he has 30 seconds to replace the player, and 4) ask the timer to begin a 30 second count.  If the coach is so mad that he refuses to send a replacement player in, then one the official should warn the coach of delay of game, and if necessary assess a technical on the coach.  Hopefully it never gets to this level, but it could.

Can a defender check an offensive player by putting aforearm or elbow in his gut?

Asked by rodk almost 12 years ago

The simple answer is that if the contact you are describing is material it should definitely be called a foul. A defender can use such contact to hold an opponent or to indicate which way a play will go (which is why handchecks need to be called more often).

please settle a bar argument, In college basketball can you ever take 2 steps that would not be considered traveling?

Asked by java over 11 years ago

Traveling in college is defined the same way as in high school.  So the answer to your question depends on how the player caught the ball and if he is entitled to a pivot foot.

1) if you catch the ball with both feet on the floor, either foot can be the pivot.

2) if you catch the ball in the air and land simultaneously on both feet, either can be the pivot.  If one foot hits the floor first it must be the pivot.  However, if you catch the ball in the air hop on one foot then land on both feet, neither can be a pivot.

3) once you have established your pivot foot you can lift the pivot but must pass or shoot before the pivot returns to the floor. (and of course you cannot hop on your non-pivot foot if the pivot foot is in the air).

So to answer your question with an illustration, imagine catching the ball midair (or ending a dribble) your right foot lands first (that is your pivot) then you step forward with your left foot lifting up your right, and before your right hits the floor you shoot a layup.  This is a legal basketball move.

People want to say that you get 1 & 1/2 steps or you get 2 steps.  Neither of these are correct.  It depends on whether you are entitled to a pivot or not, and then you can lift up the pivot and onto your non pivot but you must shoot or pass before the pivot hits the floor.

Can I lift the pivot foot as I jump of nonpivot foot to shoot and during the motion my pivot foot actually goes past/infront of the nonpivot foot-before touching the floor?

http://youtu.be/MNRXBJOWpQk?t=5m41s
and
http://youtu.be/7WvtjP1TQw4?t=27s

Asked by Blaze over 11 years ago

The direction of the pivot foot vis a vis the nonpivot makes no difference as you can pivot 360 degrees on your pivot.  If your right foot is the pivot you can step with your left and then jump picking up your right foot off the floor and it is legal.  I think of it this way -  if you were not allowed to ever lift your pivot foot how could you shoot a layup?  Direction does not matter, you can make this move as a fadeaway and it is still not travelling (but your coach might bench you!).

Honestly,I think I was ejected from the game because there was a break in game play a T.O was called. So when play was about to resume I told my daughter and our other pg to just keep driving hard and make the ref blow his whistle and do his job

Asked by Ronald Poke almost 11 years ago

In a local baseball league, they implemented a rule that if a player or parent was tossed from a game, the player was ruled ineligible until the parent umpired a game at his/her level of choice. The league has a handful of letters of apology from parents who tried (quite unsuccessfully) to umpire games.

If I might be so bold as to suggest that you become patched for basketball in your state, attend summer camp to get trained, and work some games next year. You will gain a better understanding of the game, probably help your daughter's game and you will watch her play a little calmer.