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

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.

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.

As a referee, is there a code of conduct in place that would disqualify a parent from refereeing his own sons AAU championship game? The opposing team attempted to have a parent ref his sons game. Isn't there rules against this?

Asked by Kaylee over 10 years ago

I am not an expert on AAU rules but common sense would tell anyone to avoid officiating your son's game in competitive play. It would be different if it was a "house" league, but this is inappropriate for traveling basketball.

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.

Under what circumstances can an official award a team 4 free throws for a technical foul?

Asked by Brandon Jackson about 10 years ago

In NFHS rules each technical is 2 free throws and the ball. If the official awarded 4 free throws then I assume 2 technicals were called.

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 almost 11 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.

I have a question. Say a player jumps to attempt a 3 pointer. He is fouled and then decided to dribble or pass after the foul instead of finish the shot attempt. Are 3 free throws awarded? Or is it side out of bounds?

Asked by Travis almost 10 years ago

If, in the opinion of the referee the player started the "habitual movement to shoot at the basket" and is fouled it is a shooting foul even if the player cannot complete the shot or dumps the ball off.