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

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.

Follow up to the block/charge question 2 down. For screens, when a defender is blind to a screen they may take a huge hit. I see this called a foul on the screener ~75% of the time. Is that call correct? Is the screener flexing his shoulder illegal?

Asked by Bball Right over 10 years ago

Here are the screening rules:1) when screening a stationary opponent from the front or side, the screener may be anywhere short of contact.2) when screening a stationary opponent from behind the screener must allow the opponent one normal step backward3) when screening a moving opponent the screener must allow the opponent time and distance to avoid contact. The speed of the player to be screened will determine where the screener may set up. This may vary and may be one to two normal steps.4) when screening a player moving in the same direction, the player behind is responsible for all contact.

During a dribble from backorder from court the ball is an A's front court if one of dribblers a one's feet is on the division line and the other foot and the ball are touching and A's front court true or false

Asked by Brad about 9 years ago

To move from the backcourt to frontcourt all three points have to advance to the frontcourt...2 feet and the ball. So if a dribbler moves from the backcourt with one foot advancing as well as the ball into the frontcourt, BUT the other foot is stepping on the half court line he is considered to be backcourt.

I'm not sure if there is another page where I can ask this question or not, if there is just let me know... I'm currently in the military and we run an intramural league and we follow the NFHS rules, we are trying to clarify a proper call to further help educate our league/ refs/ and coaches..... We had an instance where a shooting foul occurred, so the Shooter went to the line, however before the first FT the opposing team made an illegal substitution which resulted in a technical foul. So dead ball, technical foul the team gets to shoot whoever they choose to shoot those technical FTs. After those FTs, what should the refs do? They had a shooting foul before the Technical, does the shooter still get their FTs? To they get their FTs and the ball? Or do they get the tech FTs and the ball out of bounds? We tubal you for your time and any help clarifying a rule in a situation like this would be greatly helpful

Asked by Paul about 10 years ago

Sir, thank you for your service! The answer to your question lies in a simple rule of thumb: administer fouls in the order they occurred. So, clear the lane, let the original player shoot his free throws or one and one. Then, the same team can choose any player on the floor to shoot the technicals, then award the ball at half court for the same team.

O1 is standing in his lane and is about to get a three second count when his teammate takes a shot that never touches the rim or backboard. O1 catches the ball and then dribbles in the lane before passing. Is this a three second violation?

Asked by Alfredo over 10 years ago

In NFHS rules, the three second restriction is lifted when a legitimate try for the basket goes up. Note that it does not say "when the ball hits the ring". So the first part of your question's answer is no, there is no three second violation because once a try goes up there is no team possession anymore. Secondly, in NFHS rules any player can retrieve an air ball shot as long as it was deemed a legitimate try. Once retrieved, team and player possession are reestablished, and he gets a new 3 second count if he is still in the lane.

Player A dribbles into front court, passes to Player B who has not established position in frontcourt. After the pass, Player B jumps into front court before the ball gets to him to not get called for backcourt violation. What is the right call?

Asked by Coaching Youth over 10 years ago

Backcourt violation is the correct call because a player who catches the ball while in the air is considered to be in the court position from where they last touched the court. For example, if a player is out of bounds and leaps up, as soon as the player touches the ball it should be whistled dead on an out of bounds violation.

In your question if an offense player leaps from the backcourt to touch a ball which has been established in his team's front court it is a backcourt violation. Two exceptions to this rule: 1) on a throw-in, a player can jump from either side of the centerline, catch the throw in and land on the opposite side, and 2) a defensive player who leaps from his backcourt to intercept a ball which came from his front court (which was in possession of the offense before the interception).

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.