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

SubscribeGet emails when new questions are answered. Ask Me Anything!Show Bio +

Share:

Ask me anything!

Submit Your Question

651 Questions

Share:

Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

When a player is dunking or in the air to put the ball into the hoop; what are the rules the offensive player must follow about having contact with his legs/knees/thigh and the defensive players head/upper body? thx

Asked by Noahhunter almost 11 years ago

A player who establishes valid court position has the air rights vertically. In practice, if an offensive player clips his knee on the defenders chest, it normally will not be called.

If a team inbounds the ball and rolls the ball in order to not start the clock, can a 5-second "delay of game" call be made (e.g., on the inbounder)?

Asked by Naphie about 10 years ago

No. The 5 second count is independent of the game clock. On a thrown in, the team has 5 seconds to RELEASE the ball. Here's the rule:

"Once the throw in starts, the ball shall be released on a pass directly into the court before 5 seconds has elapsed."

NOTE: The throw in starts when the ball is at the disposal of throw in player. So when the throw in player lets go of the ball, the 5 count restriction is satisfied.

is it a foul to yell "STOP!" when you are playing on the court?

Asked by B-ball Gal :) about 10 years ago

There is no specific prohibition or wordlist which a player cannot use (except unsportsmanlike language such as profanity, racial slurs, etc.)/

In my High School game last night, with 12 seconds left and up by 2 ponts my team was at the free throw line shooting 2 shots. Can the opposing coach remove all players from the lane line, call them to the sideline, and coach them like a time out?

Asked by Mrclutch about 10 years ago

No, he should not be allowed to pull all of the players from the lane. The only requirement is that the opposing team of the free thrower must put a player on each of two lower blocks. This rule is in place because after the last free throw it takes two players to get the ball in play.

What should have happened is the coach should have been warned for a delay of game and if not responding then an indirect technical foul. The team opposite the free thrower must put two players on the lower block.

Defensive player A fouls Offensive player B on the way to the basket. Player B takes another step and charges hard into defensive player C standing under the basket. Is there an offensive foul as well?

Asked by Pittfall over 10 years ago

This is an unusual play with the foul on defensive player A being called. Normally, a second foul could is ignored as long as it is unintentional because the first foul made the ball dead. If the offensive player is on the ground and fouled, then steps into a charge the charge would be ignored.

But here is an interesting twist. What if Offensive player B is an airborne shooter fouled in the act of shooting by defender A but plows into defender B before touching the floor. The ball is not dead when an airborne shooter is fouled until they hit the floor so technically this could be called a simultaneous foul and go to the possession arrow. In practice, most officials will call the foul on defender A and ignore the subsequent player control foul (charge).

During a high school game, if the official book of the home team has recorded 5 fouls for a player, can the official overturn a foul based solely on the visiting coach complaining the player only had 4? Otherwise, there was no evidence it was wrong.

Asked by Cynthia about 11 years ago

A referee can order the scorer to change something in the book, if and only if the offical has direct knowledge that there is an error in the book.  For example, if the ref knows a shot was called a 2 point shot but the scoreboard and book have it as a 3, the ref can get it changed.  So in your question it depends on whether the coach brought something to official's attention that the ref knew without doubt was correct, he can change it.  But if the ref got bullied by the coach into changing something the ref is not 100% positive then the ref should not work any games anymore.

I have heard Refs tell players to get out of the lane before a three second violation is assessed. Isn't this giving the player an undue advantage? He should already know to get out of the lane.

Asked by Mike almost 11 years ago

Let me preface my answer by reminding you that I am an advocate of the Advantage Disadvantage philosophy of officiating basketball.  This philosophy advocates not stopping play to call a foul or a violation unless that action causes a change in the balance of the defense/offense posture.  

So, I tended to call very few 3 seconds in varsity basketball.  For me it was usually a late call, as in a player is camped in the lane and gets the rebound, I would call a late 3 seconds call.  If he didn't get the rebound play on.  But since play goes so fast, premptive officiating would suggest warning the player to get out of the lane before having to make an advantage/disadvantage decision.  

This is controversial in 2 ways: 1) you are right that at the varsity level players should not be "coached" by the ref's, and 2) not everyone believes in advantage/disadvantage.

I would warn a player once to stop him from camping out in there, but I am an advocate of advantage disadvantage officiating.