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

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 10 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!).

If a person has the ball with two hands and keeps their pivot foot...can u touch the ball on the floor to abstain from falling? Does the ball touching the floor count as a dribble even though it never leaves your hands?

Asked by Ty about 10 years ago

Actually, a dribble ends when you put two hands on the ball.  But even if you have not dribbled already, putting two hands on the ball on the floor is normally called double dribble.

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 over 10 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.

Saw this at Wis State Tourney..after basket guy takes ball out throws to teammate near halfcourt who takes off from frontcourt, catches ball, lands both feet in backcourt..no O&B was called which I thought was correct.

Asked by imaxfli about 10 years ago

When you catch a ball in the air you are considered to be in the court where you jumped from.  So you might think that this play is a violation, but there are two exceptions ... 1) by a defensive player intercepting the ball, and 2) by either team on a throw in.

Is a referee considered to be apart of the court

Asked by Zach riordan almost 10 years ago

Well, the referee is considered to be part of the floor where he is standing.  If he is out of bounds and the ball touches him, it is out of bounds.  If he is in bounds and the ball touches him, play on.

B-1 commits fifth foul and is disqualifies. after the warning horn, B-6 replaces. B-1. as B-6 is beckoned into the game A-6 reports to ener the game. the timer sounds the horn. official denies A-6 from enering the game since the warning horn had soun

Asked by Mbehart@aol.com over 10 years ago

OK, we need some common sense here.  Normally after a time out and the warning horn sounds, a player would be denied entering the game.  This is to eliminate delays due to substitution gamesmanship (in pro hockey for example the home team has "last substitute").  But in the case where a coach has 30 seconds to replace a fouled out player this rule should not, and does not apply to either team.  If common sense prevails, the officials should let  A-6 in the game. 

Can a coach be on the court during the game

Asked by Dean about 10 years ago

No, by rule a coach has only 2 places he/she can be: 1) standing (or squating) in a 14 foot area out of bounds, in front of his/her bench known as the "coach's box" in states that have adopted this optional provision, or 2) sitting on his/her bench.

In practice, unless a coach is over-bearing to the officials or is gaining advantage (for example standing near the endline and directing players) most referees are not going to focus on a coach outside the box.  The penalty is a direct technical foul and most refs do well to ask or warn the coach before calling a T.

If a coach is called for any direct technical foul, he/she is "seatbelted" to the bench and loses the ability to stand in the coach's box for the remainder of the game.