Possible Rule Change on the Horizon

In College and Professional basketball the rules during foul shots are pretty much the same, once the shooter lets go of the ball the players lined up in the lane are allowed to enter the lane to go after the rebound. For High School players and below that rule has always been different. The rule has always been once the foul shooter shot the ball the players must wait until the ball hit the rim of the basket before they could enter the lane to go after the rebound.

But according to the NFHS website, it seems as if the High School rule might be changing. During a meeting back in April by the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee, they decided to look at Rule 9 Section 1 Article 4. Stating a few reasons for changing the rule having to do with challenged for the officials:

"1) Attempting to watch the ball strike the ring or backboard while simultaneously attempting to observe if any players/free thrower violate the lane-restrictions, and 2) insufficient time for the perimeter official(s) to obtain optimum angles on the players involved in rebounding a missed try."(2014)

--
The committee also added to the rule of "contact" in the rule book, which can be found under Rule 10 Section 6 and this addition will be Article 12. "The following acts will constitute a foul when committed against a ball-handler/dribbler: 1) placing two hands on the player, 2) placing an extended arm bar on the player, 3) placing and keeping a hand on the player and 4) contacting the player more than once with same hand or alternating hands." (2014)

This rule addition comes on the heels of an NCAA basketball season where the officials were calling a lot more hand checking fouls. At the beginning of the season many people were skeptical of the change because the offense would be gaining to much of an advantage, but that was not the only issue. Teams at the beginning of the season were getting into foul trouble a lot earlier in the games because of all the hand checking fouls when the offensive players were driving to the basket. 

Although by the end of the season it seemed like teams were adjusting to the way the officials were calling the games so that might be the reason the NFHS Rules Committee decided to add Article 12 to Rule 10 section 6.


Sources
Lane Players Can Release When Free Throw is Attempted in High School Basketball. (2014, May 5). NFHS. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=10737

It's Not Just a Game to Everyone

Not many people realize that officiating is a career for a lot of people. When you get to the professional levels for many referee's that is what they do. At the High School level people are under the assumption that the referee's show up at game time do the game and leave, but it actually is a lot more than that.

After getting certified to be a High School basketball official in the state of Pennsylvania you are required to attend six basketball meetings a year and also required to attend one rules interpretation meeting. If an official does not meet this requirement then they are suspended from officiating for a year until they can make the seven total meetings.

During the meetings we discuss game situations, plays, rules changes, and  pre-game and post- game responsibilities. When we go over game situations we rely heavily on videos. We watch plays and break them down, watching the play over and over again to see whether a call should be made and usually we then have a discussion about why the call should be made.

Every year the NFHS Rule Book comes out with new rule changes or new rule clarifications. This year the only real rule change that had to do with the game as it's being played is that the Head Coach of a team is allowed to come onto a court to break up a fight that is going on between the two teams on the court. Previously the coach had to be beckoned on by an official before he/she could enter. One rule clarification that was added this past season had to do with the use of leg sleeves, the rule now states that players are allowed to wear the leg sleeves for medical reasons and must be white, beige, black, or any single solid school color and must be the same color as any arm sleeves being worn. One other important note is that all the players on a team must be wearing the same color arm sleeves and leg sleeves.

An official's pregame responsibility starts the day before his/her game. It is important to confirm with your partners on what time they will be arriving to the game. It is also important to check with school to confirm the game time. After arriving and getting dressed in your uniform it is important to go over a few things with your partners about the game everyone is about to work.

Here is a list of some things that are usually discussed before a game:

The letter "L" stands for the Lead official, "C" stands for the Center official, and "T" stands for the trail official. Below you can see the areas of responsibility for officials on the court with two-person coverage on the left and three-person coverage on the right.

I find it really amazing how coaches always seem to complain to the nearest official when majority of the time the closest official to them is not making the call. Every official has an area that they are concerned with and sometimes those areas collide, specifically the middle of the lane. Usually in the middle of the lane by the foul line is where officials usually have "double whistles," this is when two officials blow their whistle at the same time.

As you can see the area's of responsibility are very different between the two and the three official game. In a two official game there is a lot of pressure on the trail official to cover more of the court with the lead official spending most of his/her time looking at the lane. In the three official game lead still pays attention to lane but can focus more on certain match-ups because the center official is on the opposite side looking at the backside of the lane.

An important note in the three official game is that the officials rotate around the court depending where the ball settles and where the key match-ups are, and all of the rotations are initialized by the lead official.

The Difference Between Fouls

Many people believe that there is only one kind of foul in a basketball game, but in actuality there are a few different types of fouls and not all fouls mean the same thing.

A foul is an infraction of the rules which is charged and is penalized.

A Personal foul is a player foul which has to do with illegal contact with an opponent while the ball in play, which prevents the opponent from making normal defensive and offensive movements.

Contact on or by an airborne shooter after the ball has become dead is considered a personal foul.

A Common foul is a personal foul which is neither flagrant nor intentional nor committed against a player trying or tapping for a field goal nor a part of a double, simultaneous, or multiple foul.

The fouls mentioned above are the regular fouls you see called throughout a game. Some examples of common fouls are player-control fouls, which is an offensive foul called on the ball handler, a team-control foul, which is a foul on the team with possession of the ball but not on the specific player with the ball. The reason common fouls are a separate classification within personal fouls is because common fouls do not occur on the player in the act of shooting.

An Intentional Foul is a personal or technical foul that does not necessarily have to be premeditated and does not always have to do with the viciousness of the act. Intentional fouls can include but are limited to:

            - Contact that neutralizes an opponent’s obvious advantageous position.

            - Contact with an opponent who is clearly away from the ball and not involved with a play.

- Contact that is specifically designed to stop the clock or to prevent the clock from running and is not a legitimate attempt to play the ball/player.

- Contact that is deemed excessive with an opponent while playing the ball.

- Contact with a thrower-in

 A Flagrant foul can be a personal or technical foul of a violent or savage nature , or a foul that displays unacceptable conduct which is considered a technical noncontact foul . Contact does not necassarily have to be intentional.  If it is personal, it would involve  striking, kicking, and kneeing but it is not limited to those specific cases. If  dead-ball contact or noncontact at any time which is extreme or persistent, vulgar or abusive conduct, it would be considered technical. Fighting is a flagrant act.

Here are some examples when a Technical foul should be called:

            - A foul by a nonplayer.

            - A noncontact foul by a player (Example= taunting)

- An intentional or flagrant contact foul while the ball is dead, except a foul by an airborne shooter.

- A direct technical, which  is charged to the head coach because of his/her actions.

- An indirect technical foul, which is charged to the head coach as a result of a bench technical foul given to team bench personnel, an example being a player on the bench taunting.

 More information can be found in the NFHS Rule Book, Rule 4 Section 19

Getting into intentional, technical, and flagrant fouls gets interesting. Reading the rules gets kind of difficult but I am going to do my best to explain it.

The intentional foul explanation is actually really good and should be easy to understand. The most import thing to remember is that it does not have to be premeditated to be deemed an intentional foul. When an intentional foul is called the player who was fouled is given two shots and the ball is awarded to his/her team at the nearest out-of-bounds location to where the foul occurred. An interesting part of this rule that no one knows is letter “e.” Contact with the inbounder is an intentional foul, which means even if a player is going to try and block the inbounder and accidentally gets hit by the defender that should result in an intentional foul.

Intentional Foul Examples

The best way to look at a flagrant foul is unsportsmanlike conduct or an attempt to injure another player although it is not just limited to that. An important thing to remember is any player given a flagrant foul is ejected and may not return to the game. An important thing to note is players who leave the bench during a fight are assessed flagrant fouls and disqualified. It does not matter if the join in the fight or not. Look at this video and you be the judge. How many flagrant fouls should be called? (If you do not like the squeamish and do not like the site of blood you might want to avoid this video). 

Flagrant Foul Situation

Technical fouls are most commonly called when dealing with coaches or players arguing calls or non-calls made by the officials. Any foul language used on the court or directed at an official always results with at least one technical foul. Two direct technicals given to a player or coach will result in an ejection. For coaches however, they can be given indirect technicals which usually have to do with issues players on his/her bench. So if a coach is given an indirect technical after receiving a technical earlier in the game he/she is allowed to remain in the game. If he/she receives another technical in any way he/she will be ejected.

Technical Foul Video Clip

Alternating possession and Arrow

Alternating possession is a way of putting the ball in play by a throw-in at the start of the second, third, and fourth quarter.

The possession arrow is a device located at the scorers’ table and is used to indicate the direction of a teams’ basket for the alternating-possession procedure. It is used in held ball situations and as mentioned before the beginning of the second, third, and fourth quarter.

Once a team gains control of the ball to start the game, after the jump ball, alternating-possession control is established and the possession arrow is set toward the opponent’s basket. 

Jump Ball

A jump ball is a way of putting the ball into play to start the game and each overtime period by throwing the ball up between two opponents in the center restraining circle.

 The jump ball starts when the ball leaves the official’s hand(s) and ends when the touched ball touches a nonjumper, the floor, a basket, or backboard.

                                                              

This rule can be found in the NFHS Rule Book under Rule 4 Section 2, 3, 28  

Jump Ball Violation

An important thing to note that the two players involved in the jump ball are not allowed to come down with possession of the ball. They are supposed to tap the ball to their teammates, so that they can gain possession of the ball. If the ball were to contact a nonjumper, the floor, the basket, or the backboard then the jumper can posses the ball, because the ball never touched any of those it makes the video example above a jump ball violation and the ball is given to Toronto and the arrow would then be given to Chicago.

The jump ball is supposed to the way every basketball game is started; however there are some situations where the jump ball process is skipped. If for an official were to give a technical foul to a player or a team before the game, then the game would start with opposing team shooting two foul shots and beginning the game with possession of the ball. The alternating-possession arrow would then be directed to the team that was given the technical foul.

The alternating-possession not only changes at the start of every quarter, it also changes on situations when there is a held ball.

Held Ball

A held ball occurs when:

          Opponents have their hands so firmly on the ball that no one can gain control without "undue roughness."

            

            A defender places his/her hand(s) on the ball and prevents an airborne player from throwing the ball or releasing it on a try.

People commonly forget that the alternating-possession arrow changes on a held ball so when the quarter begins teams believe that they should be entitled to possession of the ball even though there was a held ball situation causing the arrow to change during the course of the quarter.

It seems at least five times a year I have to spend a minute or two explaining to either the coaches or players the reason they are not beginning the quarter with possession even though they lost the jump ball at the beginning of the game.

Common misconceptions Pt. 3

Continuous Motion

A problem fans, players, coaches, and officials get into is differentiating between the common foul. Is it a foul where a player was in the act of shooting and deserves foul shots or is it a foul while a player was just in possession of the ball and the ball should be given back to the team who was in possession of the ball at the closest designated throw-in spot.

Point 1- Continuous motion applies to a try or tap for field goals and free throws, but it does not apply unless a defensive player fouls the offensive player who has begun his "habitual throwing movement" which begins when the offensive players starts his/her normal shooting motion and ends when the ball has left his/her hand.

Point 2-  If a defensive player fouls after the offensive player has started a try for goal, the offensive player is allowed to finish his/her habitual arm movement, and the player pivoting or stepping when fouled, he/she finish the usual foot or body movement while holding the ball. 

These privileges are only given when the habitual shooting motion is started before the foul occurs and before the ball is in released from the offensive player's hands.

Point 3: If an teammate fouls after the ball handler has started his/her try for the basket but before the ball is in flight it is not considered continuous motion. The ball becomes dead immediately.

For more information the rule can be found in the NFHS Rule Book, Rule 4 Section 11

Point 1 makes it clear that for continuous motion to have significance there must be a foul called on the defensive team. In Point 1 and Point 2, the rule book makes it clear that if a player is fouled he/she is allowed to finish the habitual throwing motion or allowed to continue through the contact with the usual foot or body movement.

Here are some examples of when continuous motion should apply.

Video- Continuous Motion Plays

As you can see in the clips, when a player makes a drive to the basket and he/she picks up his/her dribble before contact occurs, the player should be allowed to finish the play. In “play 1” you can see that the girl was hit on the arm while she picked up her dribble and although she made an attempt to shoot the ball even though she no longer had the ball in her hands she was awarded two free throws because had started her habitual shooting motion.

In “play 3,” you can clearly see that the girl picked up her dribble and then made contact with the defensive player. The official in this instance ruled incorrectly when he waved off the basket; because the girl gathered the ball before the contact she has the right to legally finish the play.

“Play 4” is a little tougher to determine, from our angle we see that number 11 on black commits a foul on white number 34. If the official is calling the foul on black number 11 then it should be considered a shooting foul because when the contact occurs white is starting his habitual shooting motion. However, if the official under the basket is calling the foul on black number 14 then an argument can be made that the foul could have occurred before the shooting motion was started.

Since we do not know who the official called the foul on we will just focus on what we see, and that is number 11 black fouling 34 white who was in the act of shooting.

Here’s one final video. The quality is a little bad but I like because really drives home the importance of knowing what continuous motion really is.

Video- "The Answer" and Continuous Motion

Common Misconceptions Pt. 2

Backcourt Violation

During games this situation always seems to come up. A player moving from his/her defensive end to his/her offensive end with the ball wants to pass the ball back to a teammate. That teammate however, needs to be established in the team’s offensive half of the court, also known as the “frontcourt.”

Once the ball has been brought into the frontcourt it cannot go back to the defensive end, the “backcourt,” without being touched by an opponent.

- If team control has been established in the offensive end of the court and the ball goes back into the defensive half of the court a player on the offense cannot be the first to touch the ball if a teammate was the last person to touch the ball. If the offensive team touches the ball it will be ruled a backcourt violation.

- While in player control and team control in its backcourt, a player is not allowed to cause the ball to go from his/her team's backcourt to frontcourt and then return to the backcourt, unless the ball was touched by the opposing team last before return to the backcourt.

A common situation that always seems to come up during a game is when an offensive player establishes position in the frontcourt with the ball and then the player passes the ball to his/her teammate. The teammate jumps in the air in hopes of gaining position in the frontcourt, but because he/she jumped in the air with his/her previous position being in the backcourt they still are considered to have backcourt status. This means as soon as the player touches the ball it will be ruled a backcourt violation.

For more information refer to the NFHS Rule Book, Rule 9 Section 9

Here is an example

A1 is dribbling is his/her backcourt and throws a pass to the frontcourt. While standing in A’s frontcourt: (a) A2 (A1’s teammate) or (b) B3 (A1’s opponent) touches the ball and deflects it back to A’s backcourt where it touches the floor. A2 recovers the ball in the backcourt. Ruling: In (a), it is a violation. The ball was in control of A1 and Team A, and a player from A was the last to touch the ball in the frontcourt and a player of A was the first to touch it after it returned to the back court. In (b), legal play. A Team A player was not the last to touch the ball in the frontcourt. Team A is entitled to a new 10-second count.

-- As an official we are taught to look for “first touch, last touch.” This means we are looking for who had possession of the ball first and who was the last person to touch the ball before the ball makes its way back into the backcourt.

Self-Pass

Something common I find from the games that I ref in and play in are fans and players yelling for something called a self-pass. The situation where this is most common is off an attempted shot.

A player attempts a shot and the that player realizes the ball is not going to hit the rim so he/she goes and catches the own rebound. Many people believe that this is illegal. This situation, however, is not.

- An attempted shot is throwing the ball into a team's own basket to score two or three points. It is considered a try for goal when the player has the ball and in the official’s judgment is throwing or attempting to throw for goal. The ball does not necessarily have to leave the player’s hand as a foul could prevent release of the ball. Also the ball does not have to hit the rim to be consider a shot.

- The shot attempt begins when the player starts the motion before the release of the ball.  

For more information refer to the NFHS Rule Book, Rule 4 Section 41

So, really, a self-pass is rarely called when there is an attempted shot. But the self-pass does exist in different context.  An example of that could be when a player throws the ball over an opponent in an attempt to gain an advantage and pretty much passing it to himself/herself, this is a violation.

Common Misconceptions Pt. 1

As an official, I often hear coaches or parents giving instructions to players that is often wrong. This was one of the reasons I wanted to start this blog, to dispel some of these misconceptions about the rules of basketball.

Foot on the baseline

Here is a common example. A coach instructs a player on defense to put his/her foot on the baseline to prevent the offensive player from driving the baseline.

But let’s think back to what makes a legal defender:

Remember in the NFHS Rule Book it's Rule 4 Section 23

 To obtain an initial legal guarding position:

            a. Both of the guard's feet must be touching the court

            

 After initial legal guarding position is obtained:

           a. As long as the guard has inbound status the guard may have one or both feet on the court or be in the air.

By putting a foot on the line the defensive player is now standing out of bounds.

So now looking at it, the coach is directing his/her player to become an illegal defender so if any contact is made between the ball handler and the defender, regardless if the offensive player is initiating the contact, the foul will be called on the defensive player because the defender cannot establish legal guarding position.

Kick Ball

This is a rule that can get complicated for some people, including officials. A lot of the time when an offensive player goes to pass the ball and it accidentally goes off of a defensive player’s leg, the official will call a kick ball. Or the coaches from the bench will be yelling that it should be ruled a kick ball.

The rule:

Intentionally striking the ball with any part of your leg or your foot. Again, kicking the ball is a violation only when it is considered intentional. If contacting the ball with your foot or leg is accidental it is not considered a violation. 

The kick ball rule can be found in the NFHS Rule Book under Rule 4 Section 29 and Rule 9 Section 4

So if the ball just so happens to hit someone’s leg the play should not be stopped, but if the defensive player makes an attempt to purposely use his leg or foot to stop the ball then it should be called as a kick ball violation.

Another important thing to note is the words used in the rule. The use of “leg or foot” means that if the ball goes off the player’s thigh when they are intentionally trying to stop the ball it should be called as a kick ball violation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dORMJbNE7C8

You Make the Call- Block or Charge?

Now that you know what a legal defender is, it is time to look at some block/charge plays. You be the judge whether or not the official gets the call correct. Is it a BLOCKING Foul or is it an Offensive CHARGE Foul.

Just remember that is the defender is a legal defender and there is contact than the it should be called a charge. But when you are watching the defender make sure they guidelines of a legal defender and they are not stepping into the contact.

Let's start out with an easy one...

What do you think? Did the official make the right call? Feel free to watch it a few times before making a decision.

Okay here's the next one.

Go ahead watch it a couple more times. I'll wait...

What are your thoughts? Was it the right call?

Now take a look at these next two.

What are thoughts on those two? As officials we are taught, when a body hits the floor we are supposed to have a whistle. In this first one although it looks like the gold player falls easily there is still enough contact to justify the call.

Now in this next one pay attention to the defender on the ball. He establishes legal guarding position and he is moving with the offensive player.

Finally, in this last one pay extra close attention to the official's call under the basket. This call only applies to college and professional basketball.

The player was standing in the Restricted Area ( the semi-circle in the lane). The rule is if you are a defensive player and any part of your body is touching that area then the foul will be on the defense.

Now go back and watch this play and disregard the Restricted Area. What would your call be? Does the defender establish legal guarding position before the offensive player leaves the floor?

Feel free to share this with your friends to see if they can tell what the difference!!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Legal Defenders

Before getting into what is a block and what is a charge I would like to take some time to get into what it means to be a legal defender.

When you watch a basketball game you might think that everyone on defense is a legal defender … but you would not be totally correct.

Legal Defenders

- Guarding - legally having your body in the path of the offensive player.

There guideline on how close you can get to the offensive player but the maximum distance is 6 feet to be considered in "closely guarded position." 

Everyone on the court is allowed to stand anywhere on the court as long as they established position first and they are not making illegal contact with the other team.

A player is not considered to be in legal guarding position if he/she extends an arm, shoulder, hip, or leg into the path of an opponent.

- To obtain an initial legal guarding position:

a. Both of the guard's feet must be touching the court

b. The guard must have his/her torso facing the opponent

- After initial legal guarding position is obtained:

a. As long as the guard has inbound status the guard may have one or both feet on the court or be in the air.

b. The guard no longer has to face his/her opponent.

c. The guard may move side-to-side or obliquely to maintain position, as long as he/she does not move into toward the ball handler creating contact.

d. The guard is allowed to have his/her hands up and can jump as long as he/she remains in his/her own vertical plane.

e. The guard is allowed to turn or duck to defend against incoming contact.

-

a. If the offensive player with the ball is airborne, the defensive player must have reached legal position before the offensive player left the floor.

For more information refer to the NFHS Rule Book, Rule 4- Section 23

My Thoughts

When it comes to legal guarding, an official has a lot to pay attention to. Besides looking for legal guarding position you are also looking for all violations like traveling. What we also have to pay attention to is the primary and secondary defender.

The primary defender is the player guarding the person with the ball. If the offensive player beats his defender and another defender comes over to cover him, he/she becomes the secondary defender. That person would then need to establish legal guarding position on that offensive player by using those same guidelines listed above.

Block/Charge plays are mostly always based on whether or not the defender is in legal guarding position. So with the information provided above get ready to test your knowledge.

Be on the look out for my next post to test your new skills in determining a block (defensive foul) versus a charge (offensive foul).

Preventative officiating

During a basketball game situations come up and things can easily go wrong. The biggest thing as an official is to prevent any type of issue that could interrupt a game. Most of the time officials prevent problems from occurring and those measures go unseen, and that is the way we like it. However, when an official or an officiating crew make a mistake, it is front and center for everyone to see and replay over and over again.

NBA Ref tries to block the shot

An example of good preventative officiating could be everything that takes place before the game for the referees.

When the officials take the court their jurisdiction begins, so anything happening while the officials are in sight of the court will affect the game. Before the game, the head official will check the scorebook right around the 10-minute mark on the warm-up clock because by this time the coaches should have the rosters in the book and the starters should be marked.

Most officials like to get to the scorers’ table a little before the 10-minute mark to make sure that this is actually getting taken care of. If anything in the book is wrong after that time the team is assessed a technical foul and the opposing team begins the game with two foul shots and will start with possession of the ball. We as officials always try to stress to each other that we never want to start a game with a technical foul unless we really have to.

Another aspect of the game that goes unseen is the captains’ meeting before the we start play. The officials meet the captains and coaches for both teams at center court and the officials will go over the sportsmanship message and they will ask the coaches if everyone on the team is legally equipped. Meanwhile, the officials have already done a quick inspection of the players to see if they are wearing anything they shouldn't, one example would be leg sleeves or arm sleeves (see guideline below) that are not matching colors. So before the coaches answers if his players are “legally equipped according the NFHS rules and PIAA adoptions,” the officials point out to them the players they noticed that are wearing illegal equipment so that it can be fixed before the start of the game.

Arm and leg compression sleeves must:

-Be white, black, beige, or a single solid school color.

-Be the same color for each team member.

-Meet the logo requirements in 3-6.

-Be worn for medical reasons.

Again, if something like illegal equipment is not caught before the game and the coach certifies that all his/her players are legally equipped and it is found later in the game that the players on the court are wearing illegal equipment it will result in a technical foul. As I said previously we hope to avoid that.

You Make the Call

Note: The videos do not work on mobile devices.

Using the information I have provided you so far, it's your turn to be the official. You make the call with these next three plays.

I will start you off with an easy one.

For this next one you are going to have to look closely for it. The officials on the play did not have a call, do you? Feel free to watch it a few time, just remember the officials on the court do not have that luxury.

In this last video pay attention to the offense and the players in the lane. 

As an official it is important to know time and place. Also it is important to know previous calls. If you have not called a "Three seconds in the lane" all game then it is very difficult to make that call in the last minute of a close game. However, if a player is really gaining an advantage by his positioning in the lane then the player is forcing your hand and you will have to call it. In this case, the player is not gaining an advantage because the play he is running has him moving to the top of key not catching the ball in the paint.