Quote:
Originally posted by Nevadaref
Therefore, my advice for ruling on these contact situations is to strive to be fair to both players involved and not to give preference to the player with the ball just because they do have the ball. Whether you call fouls on the player who initates the contact or not is up to you, but having firmness in your convictions on these situations, which is of paramount importance, will allow you to apply a consistent standard and be seen as a quality official.
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I think you need to be a little careful here on what you consider "fair" to both players. I agree that both players have equal right to a spot on the floor, etc. However, whether the player has the ball or not makes a HUGE difference in assessing the advantage or disadvantage that comes from the contact. For example: moving a player's arm slightly can cause a player who has the ball to miss while having no impact on a player without the ball.
This is why in many cases a foul is not called on a player who is successfully screened and who may cause some contact on the screener. The goal of the screener was to screen the defender and so when they are successful there may very likely be some contact which is the "fault" of the defender. The same amount of contact if it occurred on a ball carrier would constitute a foul.
So while all players need to be treated equally you have to look at what their goals and what advantage/disadvantage is caused by the contact. The player with the ball will have decidedly different goals and the A/D will be different with the same contact.