Quote:
Originally posted by kamflam
I'm lead and the shooter is low in the paint right in front of me on the strong side. Shooter goes up, I dont see a foul, but my partner in trail, deep and weakside, calls the foul.
At halftime he explains that he is responsible for any contact high on the shooter... even when its only 4 feet in front of me. I should be looking below chest level for contact and not concern myself with anything above that (that's his job, he says).
I ask whether this (trail chest and up, lead chest and down) rule applies to every shot taken in 'my zone'. He indicates that this is the way it has been for all his 7 years.
Please clarify for me. When should 2 sets of eyes be on the shooter ? Does it matter if the key is crowded versus relatively empty when it contains the shooter ? I was wondering who would be watching the other 8 guys on the court when he was also watching the shooters arms in my zone.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
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The answer to your question is "Pre-game, pre-game, pre-game." If you look in the NFHS Officials Manual, you'll see a 39-page pre-game that would take 4 hours if you really covered it all. But coverage areas, primary and secondary, is a subject that definitely should not be excluded. By the book, you're probably both partly right.
In reality, think about the sitch from a practical point of view. If you are only four feet from the shooter, there's absolutely no way you are going to see all the contact -- It's just not possible. Your partner sure can't see what's low, so you must. Let him get what's high. If someone came to me with the sitch you described, I'd say the lead (you) should have been farther away from the play, and taken the call. But once you're so close, I think trail is doing you a favor to cover. His rule of thumb, though, I think is for rebounding action, not shooting.
I don't have my manual right here, but I"m pretty sure the textbook way to cover this play is for lead to be six feet off the endline, and maybe out from the paint by two or three steps. THis way you get a much better angle on any possible contact. Trail should have his hands full with six or eight other players.