[BillyMac]

Jurassic Referee:

The Intent And Purpose Of The Rules states "it is important to know the intent and purpose of a rule so that it may be intelligently applied in each play situation". This can be found on page 10 of the 2005-06 NFHS Basketball Rules Book. No where in this section does it state that this only applies to fouls. No where in this section does it state that this does not apply to violations. In fact, the word "foul" and the word "violation", do not even appear in this section.

Our Board teaches us to apply all the NFHS rules, in an intelligent manner, knowing the intent and purpose of the rules, and the principle of advantage and disadvantage, to each play situation.

Please "make the call" in each of these play situations:

1) Player A-1 is standing out of bounds, ready to make a throwin after a score by Team B. In this hotly contested game, Team B has pressed after each score, creating several turnovers by Team A. In attempting to inbound the ball, player A-1 clearly steps over the line, onto the court, by at least one inch, before passing the ball to a player A-2. "You make the call".

2) Player A-1 is standing out of bounds, ready to make a throwin after a score by Team B. Team B is ahead by twenty points with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and all five of Team B's players are in Team A's frontcourt in a 2-1-2 zone defense. In attempting to inbound the ball, player A-1 slightly steps over the line, onto the court, by about one-half of one inch, before passing the ball to player A-2. "You make the call".

3) Team A players, in their own frontcourt, are passing and dribbling the ball around the three point line, setting up their offense. Post player A-5, Team A's top scorer in the game, is standing down low on the block, trying to seal off player B-5. Post player A-5 backs into the lane so that two inches of his sneaker is in the lane. Due to aggressive defense, Team A is having difficulty getting the ball to player A-5, who is in the lane for more than three seconds. "You make the call".

4) Team A players, in their own frontcourt, are passing and dribbling the ball around the three point line, setting up their offense. Post player A-5 is standing near the elbow, with her back to the basket. About one-half of one inch of the back of one of her sneakers is on the free throw line. The other four players on Team A are not attempting to get the ball to player A-5, but seem to be trying to set up an open outside shot. Player A-5 maintains this position for more than three seconds. "You make the call".

5) Point guard A-1, dribbling near the top of the key is aggressively guarded by player B-1. Using a hesitiation move, the ball comes to rest for a moment in A-1's left hand, before she makes a cross-over dribble to her right and dribbles past player B-1 for an easy layup. "You make the call".

6) Backup point guard A-1, with Team A behind by twenty points with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, is dribbling the ball in his backcourt. All five of Team B's players are in Team A's frontcourt, playing a 2-1-2 zone defense. Team A's coach calls out a play to A-1, who while looking at his coach, has the ball come to rest for a moment in his right hand before continuing to dribble with his right hand. "You make the call".

Members of Board #6 have been taught to use the intent and purpose of the rules, and the principle of advantage and disadvantage, to make the following calls:

1) Throwin violation.
2) No violation.
3) Three second violation.
4) No violation (or communicate to A-5 to get out of the lane).
5) Carrying (palming) violation (double dribble, travelling).
6) No violation.

Jurassic Referee, please make your call on each of these six play situations. After you do that, please, once and for all, show me, if possible, in writing, where it states that The Intent And Purpose Of The Rules, including the principle of advantage and disadvantage, only applies to fouls and never applies to violations. Then we can compare what is written on page ten of the 2005-06 NFHS Rules book to your written documentation.

By the way, it would not bother me at all if you could prove your point. It would give me the proper background for my new Board #6 committee assignment this season, the New Member Training Committee. I would have no problem admitting that our Board #6 application of The Intent And Purpose Of The Rules, including the principle of advantage and disadvantage, has been wrong, if you can back up your application of this principle with something other than your personal opinion. After following your posts on this Forum for the past two years, I can tell that you are very knowledgeable about the rules, and I am tempted to side with your opinion, but I would like further documentation.