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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651 Questions

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Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

What's the call when a shot is taken, hits the rim, bounces into or lands in the back court and is first touched by someone from the team that made the shot? Free ball or violation?

Asked by lrwindy about 11 years ago

Team control ends when the ball is in flight on a try or tap for a goal. Since there is no team control, there is no backcourt violation. Play on...

Guy gets post up pass, with both hands bounces ball once,fakes, then dribbles...double dribble every time. But did first offense occur on the two handed single bounce, or dribble after his fake?

Asked by rimbreaker over 11 years ago

A two handed bounce is double dribble.  So is dribbling a second time after holding the ball.  Both are violations.

Ball inbounded under offensive basket - thrown towards the backcourt where an offensive player touches (doesnt control) before going over half court line - is this backcourt violation?

Asked by webstone almost 11 years ago

You need to establish front court possession before you can have a back court violation. Answer is no.

A dribbling player loose control of the ball and hits the referee. He catches the ball with two hands and continues to dribble. Is this a traveling violation?

Asked by Max about 11 years ago

The referee is considered part of the floor, so if the player catches the ball with 2 hands after dribbling and bouncing off a referee, it is double dribble.  

If this was not the rule then the following could happen:

if a player was trapped with an official nearby, he could bounce the ball off the official and get a new dribble. This is not the intention, so the referee is part of the floor, and a player DOES NOT get a new dribble after bouncing off the ref.

Is there a point where yelling ball, ball, ball becomes unsportsmanlike conduct or some other foul? For instance they seem to be yelling it as loud as they possibly can.

Asked by Grahmm about 11 years ago

There is no specific provision in the rule book as to how loud players are allowed to be. It is a judgement call. If I thought it was excessive I would stop the game, warn the coach and warn the players and then start issuing technical fouls. Unfortunately, this behavior might intimidate young players, but at the high school level it probably will not work very well.

If a player rebounds the ball and comes down with the ball and loses balance so that he touches the ground with the ball but does not dribble - is that considered a dribble so that he cannot dribble after that?

Asked by Coach Hoops almost 11 years ago

If the player comes down with both hands on the ball it is double dribble. If the player has only one hand on top of the ball it is a dribble and he cannot dribble again.

When I was in college in the early 80s we played some games in Norway. At that time did international rules allow the in-bounding player to shoot from out of bounds or do I remember that incorrectly?

Asked by old school about 10 years ago

I am not sure about international rules and it does not seem like an in bounder can shoot from out of bounds. I have seen international basketball where the in bounder can retrieve the ball and throw it in without the referee touching the ball. I actually like that way for inbounding after violations because it makes the defense hustle (kind of like a throw in in soccer).