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I don't think you have to call a foul on a player when a legal move causes contact that dislodges the ball. I don't know if legal guarding position is the most appropriate place to go (because article 1 applies it to establishing position on an offensive opponent), but I can find no other rule that easily applies. Lets assume that the front player is on defense and the back player is on offense when the shot is released.
4-23
"ART. 2 . . . To obtain an initial legal guarding position:
a. The guard must have both feet touching the floor.
b. The front of the guard's torso must be facing the opponent.
ART. 3 . . . After the initial legal guarding position is obtained:
a. The guard is not required to have either or both feet on the floor or continue facing the opponent.
b. The guard may move laterally or obliquely to maintain position, provided it is not toward the opponent when contact occurs.
c. The guard may raise hands or jump within his/her own vertical plane."
We can easily write this scenario where F faces B, establishes position, reacts to a shot and turns (still legal under 3a), B jumps above F (remember F is already in legal guarding position before B leaves floor so 4-23-5d does not apply), and F jumps vertically into B (which is still fine by 3c).
If you write this situation as an alley oop pass instead of a rebound, the foul is clearly on B because F established and maintained legal guarding position throughout the play. B is clearly an offensive opponent because B's team had possession and there was no shot. Lacking any other guidance to the contrary, it seems that the same logic should apply on a rebound. F established and maintained legal guarding position. Any contact is the fault of B, so you either have no call or a foul on B.
If you hate this way of analyzing it, we could go to 4-27, incidental contact.
"ART. 5 . . . If, however, a player approaches an opponent from behind or from a position from which he/she has no reasonable chance to play the ball without making contact with the opponent, the responsibility is on the player in the unfavorable position. "
IMO, being able to jump vertically represents a reasonable chance to play the ball. If B jumps over F so that F cannot jump vertically to get the rebound without contacting B, the fault is with B for having placed himself in an unfavorable position. You now decide whether you have incidental contact (and a no-call) or a foul on B. It may seem like you are penalizing B for a great play, but you are really penalizing B for attempting a risky great play and commiting a foul in the process.
[Edited by Hawks Coach on Jan 5th, 2001 at 07:59 AM]
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