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

While the shot clock is winding down a player throws a pass and it hits the rim. After it hits the rim the shot clock goes off. His teammates catches the ball. Is this a shot clock violation or a new shot clock?

Asked by Max over 10 years ago

There is no shot clock in NFHS rules. In NCAA men's rules it is a violation for a team to fail to make a try for a basket AND have the ball touch the ring or flange before 35 seconds.

Notice the rule states "a try …" which means that a pass would not qualify even if touched the ring. Not sure what pro rules state.

When you dribble and the defender goes for the steal, are you allowed to use the non dribbling hand to block or even swap/push his hand away

Asked by Tamudawson over 9 years ago

You are entitled to your vertical space. If you use your forearm out of your vertical space to seperate the defender it is an offensive player control foul.On the other hand, if your forearm is within your vertical space and the defender pushes your arm away to get closer to you it is a common foul on the defender.

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 about 10 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.

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 over 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.

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 almost 10 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.

A1 is shooting the front end of a 1 and. B.1 enters the lane before the release. Before the shot goes in the basket, A4 enters the lane from behind the 3 point line. The free throw is made. Does this constitute a simultaneous lane violation

Asked by Rob over 10 years ago

If there are two violations by players in lane spaces the 2nd is ignored.

If the 2nd violation is from beyond the arc both are penalized and you go to the possession arrow.

can an official Basketball match start with 1 referee on the court?

Asked by Samer Taha over 10 years ago

While it is not ideal, a game can begin with 1 referee. It seems that it happens occasionally at the lower levels but rarely at the Varsity level because if the Varsity crew is short a ref, they will invite a ref from the pre-lim (usually sophomore) game to stay and work the game with them.

When I have had to ref myself, I find that play under the basket gets rough because the players know that you can only follow the ball. You also miss a lot of line calls.