Quote:
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Originally Posted by just another ref
Why?
4-21: Afumble is the accidental loss of player control when the ball unintentionally slips from a players grasp.
Based on this definition, how can you have a fumble during a dribble?
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The ball that bounced off the defender's foot is merely a live and loose ball last touched by a defender.
We have all seen a bounce pass (
to a teammate) off a dribble.
If such a pass hits a defender's hand (legally), or other body part (
head, chest, forearm, knee, foot) legally, the dribbler may recover and start a new dribble of the ball. Why? It is legal because the rules do not say it is
illegal.
[A player, in control (holding, dribbling), who is trapped by two defenders for 4 seconds, bounces the ball off one of the defenders' foot, or leg, and retrieves the ball may dribble. Yes?]
Thus, the action of the dribbled ball accidentally, or intentionally, legally hitting an opponent's foot during the bounce pass and during the dribble are the same. The ball is loose, no player control, and the only way these actions could be adjudged to differ would be in the mind of the official.
mick