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Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Duke/Maryland game: Loose ball and two players on the floor. The Duke player is clearly touching the floor out of bounds when he ties up the Maryland player. Why is this a jump ball and not Maryland's ball b/c the Duke player is out of bounds?

Asked by gbauman43 about 11 years ago

I did not see the play, but you are quite right that if a player is out pf bounds (any part of his body is touching the line or beyond the line) and he touches the ball, it should be whistled out of bounds and a throw in awarded to the other team.

777 Votes

Do you feel refs are biased against teams with large student sections? my school has a huge one, and although never disrespectful to refs, I feel like we definitely get less calls for us at home games with the student section there.

Asked by Marcus Ravt over 10 years ago

I can honestly say I have never noticed that.

777 Votes

3 second rule question: do both feet have to clear the key entirely for the player to be good, or is it like out of bounds, where one foot touching the line is enough? Thanks.

Asked by RodK about 11 years ago

The 3 second area (the paint) is defined by the outer edge of the lines. Any part of your foot on the line puts you in the paint.

The outer line on the court is out of bounds, so on a throw in the player who is throwing the ball in could step on the line before throwing in as long as the foot does not step on the court.

776 Votes

When in the front court A2 passes to A1, the ball is deflected by a defensive player and just before crossing the division line...the ball touches A1's fingertips...can A1 get the ball legally in the backcourt?

Asked by new ref about 10 years ago

If team A loses possession because B tips the ball, but A does not reclaim possession (going thru fingertips does not establish possession) there would be no backcourt violation.

775 Votes

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Ref,
In our city league. A team hit a game winning three but the clock never started so it is not clear if he had enough time to shoot. The ref counted the basket and said it "looked" like it took less than two seconds. Should the shot count?

Asked by Typhoon over 10 years ago

The referee (as opposed to the other officials) has the responsibility to decide matters upon which the timer and scorekeeper disagree. Furthermore, "the referee shall make decisions on any points not specifically covered in the rulebook."

There is no explicit provision in the rule book to address the situation you describe. So, the referee has to decide what would be consistent with the intent of the rulebook.

775 Votes

Thanks for last answer. The coach taught the boys that when dribble driving, swat a defender's reaching arms upward and away with the free arm to have a clear shot. I heard that violated nfhs 4-24-7 but I didn't see the latest text. True? Thanks.

Asked by rodkovel@juno.com over 11 years ago

In theory, swatting a defender's arms is a violation. If a defender has the right to a space, swatting his arms is a foul. But if the defender is handchecking (or forearm checking) an experienced ref would either call a foul on the defender, or not call anything. Instead he could warn both players to keep their arms off each other. Unfortunately, often the offensive player gets caught swatting because the ref missed the initial armcheck.

773 Votes

Thanks for confirming my question on the out of bounds/jump ball. I have seen this call "blown" so many times and can't understand why. Seems like it happens a lot that calls are missed down on the baseline, such as stepping on the line, etc.

Asked by gbauman43 about 11 years ago

Out of bounds calls should not be missed because in a 3 man crew, every line has an official with primary responsibility. If this really is a trend it is not good.

773 Votes

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Duke/Maryland game: Loose ball and two players on the floor. The Duke player is clearly touching the floor out of bounds when he ties up the Maryland player. Why is this a jump ball and not Maryland's ball b/c the Duke player is out of bounds?

Do you feel refs are biased against teams with large student sections? my school has a huge one, and although never disrespectful to refs, I feel like we definitely get less calls for us at home games with the student section there.

3 second rule question: do both feet have to clear the key entirely for the player to be good, or is it like out of bounds, where one foot touching the line is enough? Thanks.

When in the front court A2 passes to A1, the ball is deflected by a defensive player and just before crossing the division line...the ball touches A1's fingertips...can A1 get the ball legally in the backcourt?

Also on Jobstr...

Ref,
In our city league. A team hit a game winning three but the clock never started so it is not clear if he had enough time to shoot. The ref counted the basket and said it "looked" like it took less than two seconds. Should the shot count?

Thanks for last answer. The coach taught the boys that when dribble driving, swat a defender's reaching arms upward and away with the free arm to have a clear shot. I heard that violated nfhs 4-24-7 but I didn't see the latest text. True? Thanks.

Thanks for confirming my question on the out of bounds/jump ball. I have seen this call "blown" so many times and can't understand why. Seems like it happens a lot that calls are missed down on the baseline, such as stepping on the line, etc.

Basketball Referee

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Duke/Maryland game: Loose ball and two players on the floor. The Duke player is clearly touching the floor out of bounds when he ties up the Maryland player. Why is this a jump ball and not Maryland's ball b/c the Duke player is out of bounds?

Do you feel refs are biased against teams with large student sections? my school has a huge one, and although never disrespectful to refs, I feel like we definitely get less calls for us at home games with the student section there.

3 second rule question: do both feet have to clear the key entirely for the player to be good, or is it like out of bounds, where one foot touching the line is enough? Thanks.

When in the front court A2 passes to A1, the ball is deflected by a defensive player and just before crossing the division line...the ball touches A1's fingertips...can A1 get the ball legally in the backcourt?

Also on Jobstr...

Ref,In our city league. A team hit a game winning three but the clock never started so it is not clear if he had enough time to shoot. The ref counted the basket and said it "looked" like it took less than two seconds. Should the shot count?

Thanks for last answer. The coach taught the boys that when dribble driving, swat a defender's reaching arms upward and away with the free arm to have a clear shot. I heard that violated nfhs 4-24-7 but I didn't see the latest text. True? Thanks.

Thanks for confirming my question on the out of bounds/jump ball. I have seen this call "blown" so many times and can't understand why. Seems like it happens a lot that calls are missed down on the baseline, such as stepping on the line, etc.

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Ref,
In our city league. A team hit a game winning three but the clock never started so it is not clear if he had enough time to shoot. The ref counted the basket and said it "looked" like it took less than two seconds. Should the shot count?