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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 over 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.

843 Votes

If the offensive player with the ball is in the post and the man that is guarding him has his forearm on the players back and has his knees bent positioned as if hes trying to keep a door closed. Is this a foul ?

Asked by Omar over 11 years ago

I was taught in this scenario to call a foul as soon as the post player starts a dribble or makes a move toward the basket (or shoots) . If the post player gives up the ball, pass on the foul call.

842 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 over 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.

841 Votes

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.

841 Votes

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is there a rule about which referee gives the ball to the foul shooter - does it have to be the ref under the basket throwing it to him or can it be one of the outside refs handing it to him?

Asked by seth about 12 years ago

It is not a rule, but rather it is a mechanic perscribed in the NFHS Handbook. It used to be that the trailing referee would hand the ball to the free throw shooter for the first attempt and the lead (on the endline) would administer the rest of the free throws. Maybe ten years ago, it was changed so that the proper mechanic is for the lead official administer all free throws from the baseline. Most referees cannot advance if they do not follow the perscribed mechanics. Most importantly, mechanics set a consistent way of working a game, so that you can easily work with people you have never been assigned with, and secondly, following perscribed mechanics sets a professional expectation for coaches and assignment chairpersons to evaluate (in addition to judgement, hustle, and rules knowledge).

841 Votes

But that's not basketball-why not have the two coaches arm wrestle-only the player holding the ball should be able to call a timeout-coaches should not be able to stand except during timeouts-tech foul otherwise- game is the players not coaches!

Asked by daveb over 11 years ago

I understand your point. In nearly all sports, coaches make moves that help determine the outcome of games; time outs, call in plays etc. I think the NFHS needs to decide if they want to completely eliminate the "everyone in the gym knows it is an intentional foul" being ignored or called as a common, or leave it unevenly called as it is. In the past they have tried to issue guidelines, but the gray area for interpretation is a mile wide. Don't know how much noise they hear about this issue, but NFHS has not settled on a good solution yet.

840 Votes

How do you check a ball for proper inflation at game time?

Asked by rimbreaker almost 11 years ago

Some officials carry a small gauge, but most referees hold the ball head-high (about 5 3/4 feet high) and let it drop. It should bounce up to the official's elbow when the upper arm is held parallel to the floor. Higher bounce than the elbow means over-inflated, bouncing under the elbow means it needs more inflation. The referee usually checks the game ball after making sure the book contains at least the number of players who are warming up (and the starters are designated), around 10 minutes before gametime. Try it sometime when you are on a wooden floor. Note, if the game is being played on an indoor soft rubberized floor (as in underclass games in the fieldhouse), the ball will need more air than on a wooden floor.

839 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?

If the offensive player with the ball is in the post and the man that is guarding him has his forearm on the players back and has his knees bent positioned as if hes trying to keep a door closed. Is this a foul ?

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.

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?

Also on Jobstr...

is there a rule about which referee gives the ball to the foul shooter - does it have to be the ref under the basket throwing it to him or can it be one of the outside refs handing it to him?

But that's not basketball-why not have the two coaches arm wrestle-only the player holding the ball should be able to call a timeout-coaches should not be able to stand except during timeouts-tech foul otherwise- game is the players not coaches!

How do you check a ball for proper inflation at game time?

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?

If the offensive player with the ball is in the post and the man that is guarding him has his forearm on the players back and has his knees bent positioned as if hes trying to keep a door closed. Is this a foul ?

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.

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?

Also on Jobstr...

is there a rule about which referee gives the ball to the foul shooter - does it have to be the ref under the basket throwing it to him or can it be one of the outside refs handing it to him?

But that's not basketball-why not have the two coaches arm wrestle-only the player holding the ball should be able to call a timeout-coaches should not be able to stand except during timeouts-tech foul otherwise- game is the players not coaches!

How do you check a ball for proper inflation at game time?

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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?