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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651 Questions

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Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

Can a team "Stack 4 players together" during a throw in without letting the defense get a legal guarding position during a throw in? What's the call if the defense tries to get in between the offensive players?

Asked by K.C. over 9 years ago

You can stack perpendicular to the throw in boundary line, but if the defense wants to step into a parallel stack room must be made.

Why doesn't traveling get called for jump stops when prior to the jump stop move the player has ball in hand, two feet down and no dribble. Just saw again in KY vs Louisville game.

Asked by madtownjumper about 11 years ago

I do not have an answer for you, just a possible excuse. NCAA players are so quick and crafty that even veteran officials make errors on traveling calls.

When shooting a hook shot I go up with two hands on the ball. when I release my off hand and it moves away from the ball but stays between the ball and defenders hand that is trying to block the shot. Is it an offensive foul if contact is made?

Asked by Post player almost 11 years ago

Usually this would be incidental and not called, UNLESS your arms flailing whack the defender.

A player commits 5th foul. Ref confirms with official. Replacement player enters game. 4 mins. later, the player who fouled out re-enters the game. The official scorer now says he only has 4 fouls. Wasn't the player ineligible to return?

Asked by Brooks almost 10 years ago

The table official's book is the final word unless the referee has certain, personal knowledge. So assuming the official has not kept track of how many fouls a player has, if the scorer discovers a counting error of a player;s foul, he should conference with the referee (head of the game officials), explain what happened, and if a player really had 4 fouls it should be explained to both coaches and the player should be allowed to reenter the game.

Are lane violations on free throws the least-whistled calls in the NBA? I honestly don't even know what the rule is anymore, given that it seems like ONE team is in the lane before the ball leaves the shooter's hand on like 80% of 2nd free throws.

Asked by NBA-wut almost 11 years ago

The NBA is different than NFHS because in high school players are supposed to wait until the ball hits the ring or backboard. In the NBA they can move on the release.

A player jumps from outside the court line, catches the ball mid air and lands inside, is it still out of bounds? And with backcourt violation?

Asked by Max about 10 years ago

A player who alights in the air is considered to have court position from where his feet last touched the court. If the player jumps from out of bounds and touches the ball before he touches the court inbounds, it is a violation. There are 2 exceptions to this rule: 1) a defender who leaps from his front court to intercept a pass and lands in his backcourt, and 2) a defender who leaps from his front court to intercept a throw in and lands in his backcourt.

In District play offs can the referee call a foul in the last 4 seconds ? Example A player from the opposite team fell and the other teams player jumped over him and didn't even touch him but they got to shoot because they said he touched him !

Asked by LouLou almost 10 years ago

A referee can call a foul anytime during the game, as long as a foul has been committed. If there was no contact and no unsportsmanlike behavior then no foul should be called.