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

SubscribeGet emails when new questions are answered. Ask Me Anything!Show Bio +

Share:

Ask me anything!

Submit Your Question

651 Questions

Share:

Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

Can a defending player push on an offensive player with his body when he is not posting up. He appeared to be doing for the sole reason of aggravating the player into a foul. I do have a video clip.

Asked by docbar85@gmail.com about 9 years ago

Pushing an opponent is a foul. but the severity must be judged by the official. If it is immaterial to the play I would generally ignore (unless it is escalating into a potential pushing fight).

a player dribbles the ball, before going out of bound he releases (untouch) the ball, and get out of bound. After he gets back in court from out of bound, can he pick up the ball and continue the dribble?

Asked by Antuxity over 9 years ago

It is a violation for a player to leave the floor for an unauthorized reason. The ball is dead when the player goes out of bounds and is awarded to the opposite team.

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 over 9 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.

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 about 10 years ago

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

For NFHS, the new rule for the end of a free throw includes the ball striking the backboard. Can free throw shooters now bank the ball directly back to themselves?

Asked by Dunkster over 9 years ago

I believe that although the free throw ends when the ball hits the backboard, it is still a violation if the free thrower fails to hit the ring.

What does the score have to be when an official sees that the losing team has no chance of winning and just ends the game?

Asked by Solomon Green about 10 years ago

There is no provision in the NFHS rulebook for calling a game because of a lopsided score. The only reason I would call a game early is if continuing the game presented a safety issue to the players, fans or officials.

Can you remove all your players from the free throw lanes during the opposing teams free throw attempts, and huddle them together at the sideline for a huddle and strategies for final 15 seconds of the game?

Asked by Mrclutch about 10 years ago

see answer above.