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

after a made basket player A is allowed to run the baseline after attempting a throw in the ball was deflected back out of bounds doe player A retain the ability to run the baseline?

Asked by wayne over 10 years ago

No. After a ball is deflected out of bounds the throw in should be a spot throw in. If there is a throw in after a basket, and a team calls time out, then the offense can still run the end line.

Can any set of circumstances in a school game besides a foul on a three point attempt result in an award of 3 free throws? I saw it in a HS game and did not understand what happened. Thanks.

Asked by rodk almost 10 years ago

How about a common foul after a dead ball technical? Or, a 2 shot free throw sequence where there is a violation by the defense on one of the free throws which is missed and awarded a do over?

If a player stops his or her dribble and is off balance and ready to fall on the floor which would traveling and puts his or hers hand on the floor to prevent from flooring on the floor is that traveling

Asked by ernie liggett, sr almost 10 years ago

It is not traveling if a hand touches the floor as long as your feet have not violated the traveling rules. Any other part of your body (beside hands and feet) touching the floor while in control of the ball constitutes traveling.

The player catches the ball under the basket with both feet planted. He then hops backwards landing on both feet and shoots the layup. is this a travel?

Asked by Coach Joe almost 10 years ago

As you describe it, it is traveling. If you catch the ball with both feet on the ground, when you lift one of the feet the other becomes the pivot. But if a player hops, neither foot is a pivot and it is traveling.

When a player gets fouled but the coach sends another player to shoot the free throw?

Asked by Dave almost 10 years ago

Yes, the referees are in charge of designating who is entitled to shoot bonus or shooting fouls. Coaches designate who will shoot technicals.

As a best practice, when the foul calling official calls the foul, the nearest other official should come in and point to the shooter and verbalize, "I got the shooter". This is better than the other official saying, " the shooter is number XX" because to reporting official can get tangled up with the shooter and fouler's numbers.

When does an assist begin & end. ex. If a player inbounds the ball to another player & the second player dribbles down court & scores does the first player still get an assist?

Asked by Jim over 10 years ago

This is a tough question. There was a Wall Street Journal article which addressed the grey areas of what an assist is. Here is a quote from that article:

"The NBA statistician's manual says an assist should be "credited to a player tossing the last pass leading directly to a field goal, only if the player scoring the goal responds by demonstrating immediate reaction to the basket." It sounds simple enough. As assist is a pass made to a shooter who scores. But when you try to apply this definition during a game, it gets murky. There are no details about how many steps shooters can take after receiving a pass; nothing about shot-fakes, head-fakes or pivot moves and no hard guidelines on how much time can elapse between the pass and the shot.

Team A shoots the ball. A long rebound to the 3pt line. Both teams trying for possession, Team A tips the ball into backcourt. Team A secures rebound in backcourt. Is this over and back? There was no possession in front court after shot.

Asked by Rmwttn almost 10 years ago

If team A controlled the tap, then they established team control, and it would be a backcourt violation. If in the judgement of the officials team A did not control the tap, then no violation.