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

1 pt game, ref gives ball to inbound with 7.6-7.9 secs left and running clock. team does not get ball in until less than 1.5 seconds, so clearly five seconds, but no call. Coach shows ref 6 seconds ran, but no call. What would you do?

Asked by Michael almost 10 years ago

According to NFHS rules, a referee can alter the scoreboard if, and only if he has direct knowledge of the error and correction. So, in this case you start with 7.6 minutes. The throw-in team has 5 seconds to avoid a violation. So theoretically the violation should have been called with 2.6 seconds. You might think that this is the end of it. However, it takes longer to administer a throw in than 2.6 seconds, allowing both teams to set up. So unfortunately I think the game ended. This is why I dislike running clocks in close games.

Can I email you a video and can you tell me if it is travelling? I have an ongoing argument and I need to put it to rest. Thank you.

Asked by Mike over 9 years ago

Sure. put in your email address and I will contact you.

If a game start at 9:45AM. Team B do not have 5 players show up at 9:45AM. At what point you will consider team B lose?

Asked by Lawrence over 10 years ago

I never had to call a game a forfeit.  If a team was late, I tried to work with the athletic director to understand why the visitors are late, and what a reasonable start time might be.  The rule book calls for a technical foul toul to be called if the coach has not submitted the roster and designated the starters no later than 10 minutes before start time. Again, I recommend that no official invokes this rule.  Once a team was stuck in Chicago traffic and my partner told the coach when they arrived 45 minutes late that the game would start with a T.  Horrible mistake.

What happens when a player shooting a free throw dribbles the ball off their foot and it rolls under the basket? In my daughters game they called it a turn over.

Asked by Don almost 9 years ago

You cannot travel or double dribble on a free throw. Likewise, a player is allowed to dribble in the paint will standing behind the free throw line. Unless the count was closing in on 10 seconds, I would return the ball to the free throw shooter and start a new 10 second count.

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 9 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.

Can you explain how a charging violation is determined when player A leaves his feet for a shot attempt and lands on player B before touching the ground. Is this a charge? Does it matter if the defense if moving? Thanks.

Asked by PJohnston - Chicago almost 10 years ago

The defender must legally obtain the vertical space BEFORE the offensive player alights for a shot. So, if player B legally obtains a place on the floor and Player A crashes into him while coming down from a shot, player control foul on A.

The defensive player can be moving, but the rulebook says he must be moving obliquely, which means the defender cannot move directly into the path of the offensive player. For example a player who is backpedaling and is run over by the offensive player would draw a player control foul on the dribbler. You can also move sideways and backwards as a defender and still draw a charge.

While in the air, grabbing a rebound, in one motion I land on both feet and the ball touches the ground with it in both my hands, never letting it go, what can't I do?

Asked by Audelio over 8 years ago

If your hands are on top of the ball pushing it to the floor it is double dribble. If the ball drops and you pick it up it could be a muff, and if you lift one foot the other will be the pivot. Then you can dribble.