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

In high school basketball is the ref a part of the court and who gains possession of the ball?

Asked by Janet over 10 years ago

Yes. The ref is part of the floor where he is standing. If the ref is out of bounds and the ball hits him then the ball is out of bounds. If the ref is inbounds and the ball hits him play on.

If a intentional foul is called on team A and then a technical foul is called on team B. Who shoots free throws and who gets the ball?

Asked by catcher62 over 10 years ago

The free throws offset. Go to the possession arrow for a half court throw in.

If when shooting at the basket, the ball is tipped , but hits the rim and goes directly out of bounds, whose ball is it?

Asked by MacDaddy over 10 years ago

If player A1 is shooting and B1 blocks the shot and is last to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds, the throw in is awarded to team A.

That seems to be the generic answer to the slamming/spiking the ball issue. So shouldn't it state this in the rule book? Otherwise, I agree, it could be used arbitrarily by some less than idea ref to punish one team over another.

Asked by Daniel over 10 years ago

The rule book does not spell out all the ways of committing a technical foul. I believe that working your way up through ranks sifts out most referees with poor judgement and thin skin, not always but at most levels it is so competitive that the better officials tend to move forward and ref the better games. That is how the system cultivates good judgement - and I'll admit there are officials who come in with a chip on their shoulders and stretch their judgement unfairly against a team or player, but it is the assignment chairman's job to weed out these kind of officials.

Toward the end of the basketball game there was a foul called. The ref came over and said it was either on #20 or #21, he asked who had the most fouls. #21 did so he called the foul on #21 and it fouled him out. Was this the right procedure?

Asked by Heidi over 10 years ago

As of about 10 years ago, NFHS refs are allowed to consult with the scorer's table if they are unsure of who the foul is on, or who the shooter should be. However, it is sloppy officiating in a 3 man crew when none of the officials know who was involved in a foul. In my opinion, it is inappropriate to levy a foul based on personal foul counts. If the table knows with confidence who committed a foul then they can help. Otherwise, the official must determine who fouled, or else don't blow your whistle.

Do you think 3 second rule should be abandoned like palming and traveling? Would it change the game?

Asked by srkaren10587@msn.com over 10 years ago

No, it should be called only when it affects the outcome. By the way, travelling and palming (carrying the ball) are still violations.

With the new rule in high school basketball with free throws, it is a violation to break the plane of the freethrow line before the ball makes contact, if you also foul the shooter at the same time do you enforce both the lane violation and the foul

Asked by Bob over 10 years ago

I believe the new rule (added in 2014-2015) allows players lined up along the free throw lane to break the plane as soon as the ball is released (like the NBA). If a defender violates it is a delayed violation (live ball) and so you would enforce the subsequent foul. However, if a lane violation is committed by a teammate of the shooter, the ball is dead and any subsequent unintentional fouls are not enforced.