[ChuckElias]

My contribution here was going to be the Point of Emphasis, but Tony already posted it. How can you palm the ball even with your hand on top or on the side of the ball? Think about Iverson's famous "crossover" move a few years ago. His hand was generally on the side of the ball, or at worst slightly below (which is usually ignored). But he controlled the ball all the way back and forth across his body between dribbles. He was "controlling" the ball to the floor instead of pushing or batting it to the floor.

Having said that, there's not too many HS players I've seen who can do Iverson's move. So in my HS games, I generally use smokeater's guidelines; but I try not to be surprised when somebody tries to pull it off.