Quote:
Originally posted by bard
When this ball was loose, it was indeed loose with no team control. The Purdue center got his big paw on the ball and tossed the ball towards his teammate as he was hitting the floor. In other words, it was more than a tap. I would say he "palmed" the ball.
It was great hussle, which was why Purdue finally won a Big 10 game. However, I still say the official got this one right.
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There are only two situations in which there is no team control, after shot or during inbounds (before a player establishes control over the ball). So the situation in which this occurred is very important, and the fact that you can't remember it means that you did not look at potentially the most important part of the play.
If Purdue had established team control (player driving to basket) and lost physical custody of the ball as it bounced around loose, it is not relevant whether or not they appeared to have control of ball. Until Illinois gains control or a shot goes up, Purdue retains team control, regardless of an apparent lack of control due to loose ball. Loose ball does not mean loss of team control, but merely loss of player control. Team control remains until the other team establishes control, the ball becomes dead, or a shot goes up.
If the player was indeeed driving and lost ball, we have Purdue team control, ball in Purdue's front court, Purdue last to touch front court, and Purdue first to touch after ball goes backcourt (because Purdue player still had backcourt position until landing frontcourt). Clear backcourt violation.
Now if team control had yet to be established after a shot, then it is a much more difficult call and the referee must have ruled that the Purdue player established control while tapping the ball backcourt. On a tapped ball, we have seen the amount of controversy this can cause among referees on other threads. It's not surprising to me that Keady would go nuts if they made this ruling, because it is a marginal call at best.
My bet is that the first incident occurred, and that Keady 1) did not know that on a loose ball his team retained team control, 2) did not believe his player was backcourt, or 3) just felt that it was a close enough call that he needed to ride the official (some coaches believe they plant that seed of doubt so that the next close call goes their way).