[daves]

Originally posted by Brian Watson
Bard- this somewhat a different play but let me try to help you see where we are coming from. We are jsut here to try and help you, and let you soak in our experience.

This happened last year to me:

Player A1 throws a long bomb to sprinting player A2 trying to beat the press. Ball goes a little off and B1 who is running with, then beating A2 up the floor, get a hand on it but it goes OOB. Now, I have blown my whistle and just as I start to signal, B stops on a dime and A2 trys to stop but runs him over. Now this is a freshman game, I call a personal foul on A2. Everyone saw it, no one said a word.

Now what is wrong with this picture? I should have called a T, because it technically was a dead ball period. I figure myself and my partner are the only two in the gym who know the rule, so why make life hard on ourselves by calling the T.

After the game a gentleman who is an "evaluator" for a local league, there to watch his grandson play, comes down from the bleachers and tears me a new one about ignoring rules. Now, he was right by the book, but I still think common sense wise I made the best decision. I am not one to tell someone to disregard a rule, but you need to make the call that is best for the situation. If I had called the T I would have had to explain it to a coach who still would think I am wrong, and had to deal with him the rest of the game. Eventhough the book says it was a T, I don't think it would not have been the best call. If this was Varsity would I have called it different, maybe. But, did that kid really need to be sanctioned with a technical foul on a bang-bang play because he couldn't stop as fast as the other kid?? No.

PS - Turns out there were three people in the gym who knew the right call...

My interpretation of this scenario is a no call. The ball going out of bounds causes it to become dead. The contact after the whistle should be ignored unless it is flagrant or intentional. It doesn't sound like either to me. Maybe I'm reading this wrong.