[Rich]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
I think that a bump off-ball is ignored much more than the same bump on-ball, in my experience. There is a lot more contact off-ball than on-ball, and very little of it is called. Most of it is technically illegal (e.g., screener not legally set, moves during screen slightly), but the standard for advantage - disadvantage off-ball is usually higher. I frequently see screeners move through the players they screen, at all levels, with no call. I'm not saying they are plowing someone over, but there is clear displacement. That same displacement by a defender against the ball would almost always merit a whistle. Refs usually look for more to happen off-ball before they call it.

That said, on-ball you may hold your whistle longer, because off-ball you need to make a quick judgment as to whether or not the advantage gained is such that you need to make a call. That was the point of my previous post. You can't wait til the pass is made to the screener who came off an illegal screen before calling that illegal screen. On-ball, you can hold the whistle a little longer to see if the contact impacted play.

I agree completely. An illegal screen off-ball doesn't get much advantage/disadvantage thought. It's impossible to put all the variables together and determine whether an advantage was gained. So don't screen illegally and I won't have to send it the other way.

Rich