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

Would you call this a foul or a block when a player goes for a simple underhand layup and the defender puts his arms across your body and cups the ball on top preventing you from extending your hand up and going forward.

Asked by RonanC about 9 years ago

Assuming the arm across did not cause contact, then when 2 oppposing players push the ball simultaneously in opposite directions it is a jump ball.

Is it acceptable to hand the ball to an inbounder rather than passing the ball to an inbounder?

Asked by Cholly over 10 years ago

yes, unless the mechanics have changed in the past couple years, we were required to hand the ball to the in bounders on end line throw-ins. There is an advantage of bouncing the call to the in bounder on the sidelines because it allows the on-ball referee administering the throw in to step back and take a wider view (while he counts the 5 seconds).

should i still catch or fallow it up the ball after i take a shot without touching it on the ring or board?but i still cannot dribbling it.

Asked by marvz over 10 years ago

In NFHS rules a shooter can be the first to retrieve an "air ball shot" as long as it was a legitimate try for a basket (in the opinion of the officials).

A ball is thrown from one endline down court. It hits the far rim player grabs ball and scores. What is the call

Asked by maz about 10 years ago

The front of the backboard and ring are in bounds, so the basket is good.

Are players allowed to disagree with calls if they are not directing their comments to the ref but to players on their own team?

Asked by Riley over 10 years ago

Yes as long as they do it without trying to show up the ref. For example, the player turns to his bench and says loudly, "that fat a$$ is the worst ref we've ever had". That would be a t.

Would it be legal if i were going for a rebound and touched the ball inbounds to save it from going out of bounds, then stepped out and back in bounds, and then got possession of the ball?

Asked by Frank Grillo about 10 years ago

It is a violation for a player to leave the floor for an unauthorized reason. So if you step out of bounds purposely then a violation occurred and the ball is awarded to the other team. But if, in the judgement of the official you did not purposely step out of bounds, then no violation.

I see too many arguments over camping out in the lane. I think lack of calling three second is the cause. Advantage in my experience has always been to the camper because I have to work harder to prevent entry passes in front of rim.

Asked by rimbreaker about 10 years ago

I respect your position but in my experience coaches mark down the refs who call a lot of 3 second violations - it just feels like a cheap call that interupts the game too often