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

Same scenario as before (backcourt violation) Player B does not touch the ball until his feet are established in the front court. Is this legal or is it still a back court violation? Thank you for your response.

Asked by Coaching Youth over 10 years ago

Once both of the player's feet land in the front court and then he receives the ball there is no violation.

5th grade boys basketball. Running clock 20 minutes first half, 9 minutes left and realized teams going to wrong goal. Should we have kept going or made them correct?

Asked by Don Pritchett about 11 years ago

Stop the game. Turn the teams around. All points fouls time outs which occurred stand.

An offensive player stopped the dribble. he then dropped the ball, and could not pick it up. As the defensive player was going to get the ball, the offensive player was "boxing" him out, preventing the player from getting to the ball. Illegal?

Asked by Ed over 10 years ago

Why couldn't he pick up the ball? Even after a dribble, a player can fumble the ball and recover it as long as it is accidental and there is no purposeful dribble. Having said that:

A player can box out anywhere on the court as long as he moves to a spot before the opposite team player moves toward that spot.

Hi Ref, In street ball games you may see player A toss the ball off of the defenders forehead (player B) then it bounces back to player A. I know you can bounce the ball off of the defender in general but is it ever considered a foul?

Asked by P. Johnston almost 11 years ago

There is no prohibition against bouncing a ball off an opponent. EXCEPT if the ball is thrown maliciously and then it would be an unsportsmanlike technical foul. Referee's judgement as to what severity would cross the line.

An offensive player is next to basket knees bent ready to jump. Defensive player has his arms and hands over guy/girl with ball. offensive player jumps and pushes ball through defenders arms with his hands and arms. who is or if the foul on?

Asked by dahszil almost 10 years ago

Foul is on defensive player. Principle of vertical space.

A dribbling player loose control of the ball and hits the referee. He catches the ball with two hands and continues to dribble. Is this a traveling violation?

Asked by Max about 11 years ago

The referee is considered part of the floor, so if the player catches the ball with 2 hands after dribbling and bouncing off a referee, it is double dribble.  

If this was not the rule then the following could happen:

if a player was trapped with an official nearby, he could bounce the ball off the official and get a new dribble. This is not the intention, so the referee is part of the floor, and a player DOES NOT get a new dribble after bouncing off the ref.

Guy gets post up pass, with both hands bounces ball once,fakes, then dribbles...double dribble every time. But did first offense occur on the two handed single bounce, or dribble after his fake?

Asked by rimbreaker over 11 years ago

A two handed bounce is double dribble.  So is dribbling a second time after holding the ball.  Both are violations.