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

Technical foul or not? Team B down by 3. Team B scores with 1.2 seconds left and calls a timeout. Team A and B come onto the court after the timeout. Team A has 6 players on the floor. Ref has yet to signal play to resume nor hands the ball to Team A for inbounding. Team B's coach yells to Ref that Team A has 6 players on the court. Team A calls timeout with ball never being put into play. Ref calls a technical foul on Team A for having 6 players on the court.

Asked by DaveFromPA about 13 years ago

Based on your scenario this should not have been called a "T". Remember it is a technical foul to have more than 5 players on the floor DURING A LIVE BALL. In your description the ball never changed status to live because on a throw in the ball is only considered live when "it is put at the disposal of the team who will execute the throw in". Your ref made an error.

After a made basket, can the player throwing in the ball dribble the ball?

Asked by JC about 13 years ago

A player throwing the ball in on a spot throw in is restricted to a 3 foot wide, and unlimited deep area. At least one foot must be in or on this area. There is no travelling possible on a throw in. Now, to your question, a throw in player is allowed to dribble as long as the dribbling is out of bounds. Hypothetically if the throw in player dribles in bounds and then touches the ball it is a turnover because the throw in player was out of bounds and touched the ball which was put in bounds when the dribble hit the playing floor. If the throw in is after a basket, of course there is no 3 foot wide area.

A player is pressured at mid court, the defender hits the ball, it goes off the offensives player and then into the backcourt. The O player runs back and grabs it. The ref calls over and back, claiming the ball went off the O player. Is that right?

Asked by Minnesota Coach about 13 years ago

Since the defender hit the ball, the offensive team no longer has control of the ball, nor did they gain control when it grazed the offensive player. So, no possession right before the ball entered the backcourt, no backcourt violation . Bad call, ref.

I'm having trouble with offensive fouls. If a defender is stationery, a dribbler will be called if they collide, fair enough. But can a dribbler deliberately take a turn into a defender guarding him on the run in man coverage to draw a foul?

Asked by RodK about 13 years ago

A defender has the right to a vertical space if he gets there before the offensive leaves his space to move.  Therefore, a defender can be moving and still take a charge.  The rule book calls this moving obliquely - that is away or angled. If an offensive player turns into a space the defender is entitled to, it is a charge.

What I was asking is if my team was awarded the one and one then on the next foul they said weren't in the one and one shouldn't they be awarded the one and one because they got it on the last foul

Asked by Jamie about 13 years ago

The answer to your question is no. If the previous award was in error, it was either correctable or uncorrectable depending on when it was discovered. If the second foul still does not put you in the bonus you should not be awarded any free throws. The fact that a mistake was made on the previous free foul does not mandate a second mistake (assuming both of these fouls occurred with less than 7 team fouls).

A player is fouled in the act of shooting or when their team in in the bonus. After the foul is called the player who was fouled commits a technical foul which is their fifth foul. Are they allowed to shoot their foul shots or is another player?

Asked by Don about 13 years ago

I have never seen that, but I would administer as follows: I would not allow a disqualified player to shoot the free throws. Since free throws are administered in the order the fouls were committed, 1) bring in the sub, 2) the sub shoots the free throws awarded o the fouled out player, 3) team b shoots the technical fouls, 4) team b gets the ball at half court.

What”s the most respectful way to interact with ref on an issue I feel might not be correctly officiated. Eg. player repeatedly in violation of 3 seconds or a ref is clearly not implementing a rule correctly - calls traveling on an inbound throw in.

Asked by Randy S almost 13 years ago

You might not understand what the ref is doing.  Many refs will not call 3 seconds unless it materially affects a play.  This philosophy is called advantage / disadvantage, and is particularly useful at lower levels.  Don't be the parent or coach who wants a turnover because a low skilled player is camped out in 3 seconds (or an unguarded dribbler carries the ball in the backcourt).  They will call it if the ball gets dumped in there, but if it is not material forget it.  If you find a ref at a lower level who calls everything in the rule book, everytime, you have a ref who will ruin every game