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

Can you set a screen on both sides of a player at the top of the key? (Pin them from both sides so the guard can pick whichever way they want to go) they looked at me crazy when i told them it seemed wrong in 3rd grade.

Asked by Brad Yarnall about 8 years ago

Yes you can. The same blocking and picking rules apply.

player A gets fouled. player B steps to line and hits front end of 1&1. ref notices the wrong player shot the free throw. does free throw from player B count? what should happen?

Asked by midd44 about 8 years ago

The made free throw is canceled. Put the correct player on the line for a one and one

If a player was shooting a 3, and another defender flies by and touches the ball but ball goes in the basket then is it counted or not ?

Asked by HS over 8 years ago

It would count as a three point shot. It does not matter where the defender is standing.

player is directly under the hoop as shot clock is expiring. player throws the ball & hits the rim from directly under the hoop. the ball never had a real chance to go in & is not "really" a shot. does the shot clock get reset? thanks

Asked by midd44 about 8 years ago

There is no shot clock in nfhs except by state authorization. But yes, where a shot clock.is used any contact between ball and ring resets the shot timer.

Hello, if a high school player dribbles the ball above his head is that called a violation? I am told no... But what if the player maintains control of that said ball by having his forearm also pressed against the ball?

Asked by Jason Konopisos over 7 years ago

There is no specification of the height for dribbling. If your hand is above the ball play on, unless the dribbler cups the hand to pull the ball back.

What would cause you to call fouls for 5-7 year olds. My son was fouled out tonight . He was only trying to go after the ball. The ref never explained to him what he was doing wrong. It caused a big argument and the ref tried to fight our coach.

Asked by Brittany about 7 years ago

5-7 year olds should not be playing traditional full court basketball (in my opinion). They would learn the game better in half court, 3 on 3, with supervision stopping plays on fouls but not shooting free throws. Just my opinion.

By the way, I have always maintained that lower level high school, and grade school games are harder to officiate than Varsity games. The reason is that in Varsity games, a ref calls what they see - in lower level games you have to decide what NOT to call, otherwise you ruin the game.

A team is in the double bonus, we commit a foul and a technical foul is also called. Does the team get to shoot the bonus, technical foul and receive the ball?

Asked by Cedrick about 7 years ago

Yes, the rule of thumb is that fouls are administered in the order they occurred. In your example, the offended player shoots 2 shots, then the technical foul is shot, then the ball is given to offended team at half court.

The only way technical fouls are not shot is if both teams commit an equal number of technicals and then they are not awarded, they offset each other.