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651 Questions

Last Answer on September 20, 2019

If a person has the ball with two hands and keeps their pivot foot...can u touch the ball on the floor to abstain from falling? Does the ball touching the floor count as a dribble even though it never leaves your hands?

Asked by Ty over 12 years ago

Actually, a dribble ends when you put two hands on the ball. But even if you have not dribbled already, putting two hands on the ball on the floor is normally called double dribble.

1075 Votes

While the ball is in flight for free throw the horn sounds incorrectly. What happens if the shot: a) is made; b) is missed?

Asked by Zephyr almost 12 years ago

The buzzer does not make the ball dead. Players should play on until they hear a whistle. Once possession has been established or the basket made the refs should blow the whistle, stop play and check with the timer to find out why the horn sounded.

1075 Votes

I am a registered official with two other USOC sports and have officiated on a National and World level. At a recent AAU State tourney I watched a ref behave in a way that would be an Ethics or Code of conduct Violation. Where do you report this?

Asked by AAU Basketball Dad almost 12 years ago

I certainly encourage you to report this. Most people officiate because they love the game, and if you love the game you have a duty to do anything in your power to advance the avocation of refereeing. I suggest you find out who ran the AAU tournament and voice your concerns. Because of your background, meaning you have training and experience and do not appear to be simply a biased, ticked off untrained parent, the AAU tournament director should be willing to tell you who the assigner of the officials was for the tournament and you should contact him/her directly.

I think most states would not allow an official complaint at the state licensing level because AAU tournaments are not normally state sanctioned contests even though they only hire "patched state officials".

1075 Votes

Ref,
In our city league. A team hit a game winning three but the clock never started so it is not clear if he had enough time to shoot. The ref counted the basket and said it "looked" like it took less than two seconds. Should the shot count?

Asked by Typhoon over 11 years ago

The referee (as opposed to the other officials) has the responsibility to decide matters upon which the timer and scorekeeper disagree. Furthermore, "the referee shall make decisions on any points not specifically covered in the rulebook."

There is no explicit provision in the rule book to address the situation you describe. So, the referee has to decide what would be consistent with the intent of the rulebook.

1074 Votes

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You are wise beyond your years. Thanks for the quick responses!

Asked by dhatch almost 13 years ago

Thanks for the kind words!

1073 Votes

But that's not basketball-why not have the two coaches arm wrestle-only the player holding the ball should be able to call a timeout-coaches should not be able to stand except during timeouts-tech foul otherwise- game is the players not coaches!

Asked by daveb over 12 years ago

I understand your point. In nearly all sports, coaches make moves that help determine the outcome of games; time outs, call in plays etc. I think the NFHS needs to decide if they want to completely eliminate the "everyone in the gym knows it is an intentional foul" being ignored or called as a common, or leave it unevenly called as it is. In the past they have tried to issue guidelines, but the gray area for interpretation is a mile wide. Don't know how much noise they hear about this issue, but NFHS has not settled on a good solution yet.

1071 Votes

If a player receives his fifth foul which results in free throws can the first free throw be shot before the player that has fouled out is removed from the game

Asked by Rick over 12 years ago

No. The correct protocol when a player fouls out is this: the scorer normally informs the ref that the player assessed with the last foul has fouled out. The ref lets the coach know that the player has fouled out and he has 30 seconds to send in a substitute. Once the fouled out player leaves the court and the substitute is beckoned in, then the free throws can start. By the way, if there are other subs at the time the player is being replaced, then all of them should be beckoned in. Normally you would wait until there is only one free throw left (or a one and one) before sending subs in.

1071 Votes

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Basketball Referee

Ask me anything!

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If a person has the ball with two hands and keeps their pivot foot...can u touch the ball on the floor to abstain from falling? Does the ball touching the floor count as a dribble even though it never leaves your hands?

While the ball is in flight for free throw the horn sounds incorrectly. What happens if the shot: a) is made; b) is missed?

I am a registered official with two other USOC sports and have officiated on a National and World level. At a recent AAU State tourney I watched a ref behave in a way that would be an Ethics or Code of conduct Violation. Where do you report this?

Ref,
In our city league. A team hit a game winning three but the clock never started so it is not clear if he had enough time to shoot. The ref counted the basket and said it "looked" like it took less than two seconds. Should the shot count?

Also on Jobstr...

You are wise beyond your years. Thanks for the quick responses!

But that's not basketball-why not have the two coaches arm wrestle-only the player holding the ball should be able to call a timeout-coaches should not be able to stand except during timeouts-tech foul otherwise- game is the players not coaches!

If a player receives his fifth foul which results in free throws can the first free throw be shot before the player that has fouled out is removed from the game

Basketball Referee

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

If a person has the ball with two hands and keeps their pivot foot...can u touch the ball on the floor to abstain from falling? Does the ball touching the floor count as a dribble even though it never leaves your hands?

While the ball is in flight for free throw the horn sounds incorrectly. What happens if the shot: a) is made; b) is missed?

I am a registered official with two other USOC sports and have officiated on a National and World level. At a recent AAU State tourney I watched a ref behave in a way that would be an Ethics or Code of conduct Violation. Where do you report this?

Ref,In our city league. A team hit a game winning three but the clock never started so it is not clear if he had enough time to shoot. The ref counted the basket and said it "looked" like it took less than two seconds. Should the shot count?

Also on Jobstr...

You are wise beyond your years. Thanks for the quick responses!

But that's not basketball-why not have the two coaches arm wrestle-only the player holding the ball should be able to call a timeout-coaches should not be able to stand except during timeouts-tech foul otherwise- game is the players not coaches!

If a player receives his fifth foul which results in free throws can the first free throw be shot before the player that has fouled out is removed from the game

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Ref,
In our city league. A team hit a game winning three but the clock never started so it is not clear if he had enough time to shoot. The ref counted the basket and said it "looked" like it took less than two seconds. Should the shot count?