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

Is it legal for the official to remove a player from the game after a flagrant foul:
There was about 5 secs left, our point guard intentionally(harshly) fouls opponent, is ejected, the ref attempts to scoot him off, our player shoves off, legal?J.H.

Asked by Casey about 10 years ago

A single flagrant foul results in a disqualification in NFHS rules.

Follow-up: Is this the correct call to make? Calling the technical % wise giving the advantage to the offending team. Free lay-up is guaranteed 2 points. Assume FT% is 80% and avg team fg % .3-.4. Calling the tech seems to remove there advantage.

Asked by Ryan about 10 years ago

True. It is the same halt in advantage as an intentional foul which stops a breakaway. The rules try to take care of this by awarding 2 free throws plus the ball. However, I agree. Although I never ran into an intentional T to stop a breakaway, it would be good practice to let the player finish the layup or jump shot and then call the T.

Is there a rule in Indiana High School re: Can a coach play a freshman player who is not on JV roster in some games / not all games whch takes out a JV player who is on JV roster, he isn,t even able to dress in uniform and sit on bench with team.

Asked by Jackiejdp almost 10 years ago

I do not know. Each state association sets rules for eligibility so you will have to check with Indiana's high school association.

can i box out an opponent before their offensive player takes a shot ?

Asked by Kobe54 about 10 years ago

Boxing out is the process of legally getting to a spot on the floor before an opponent gets to the same spot. Most people think of this when you achieve inside rebounding position, and you are able to anticipate your opponent's movement in such a way that you prevent him from moving around you by "blocking" his way. Note this definition is without specification regarding a shot or no shot.

In my experience, the player blocking out is tagged with a foul when he blatantly backs up and dislodges his opponent when making contact, but not usually when both players move laterally.

Is Carrying still a foul. I see it at every level of basketball.

Asked by Jim over 10 years ago

"Carrying the ball" is not a foul. It is a violation that used to be called an "illegal dribble" but several years ago NFHS added the carrying signal as its own violation.

Team A rebounds the ball and tries a long pass to player in front court. Team B player with both feet in Team A's back court jumps and intercepts the pass but lands with one foot on each side of the half line. Is this a back court violation

Asked by John F about 10 years ago

No violation. Normally, an airborne player is considered to be from the court position where he was when he jumped. So, in your example, Player B jumps from his front court, catches the ball and lands in his backcourt (partially), This would normally be a violation. However there are two situations where this principle does not apply. 1) either team on a throw in, and 2) a defensive player intercepting a pass (exactly your scenario). No violation because of exception # 2. Play on.

Hi, so nowhere in the college rule book does it mention throwing/slamming the ball down is a technical foul, yet it gets called a tech regularly. Seems it could be used very arbitrarily against a team. Why is it a tech when it's not in the rule book?

Asked by Laura almost 10 years ago

The rule book does not prohibit tossing the ball to the ref, nor does it prohibit a player from talking to the ref...yet if either is done in an unsportsnanlike way it could be a technical. If you slam the ball to protest a call most refs will call a t. So it goes to the judgemeny of the ref as to whether an action is unsportsmanlike.