Guys - the rule about putting the ball down and then standing up deals with a player on the floor who has lost his dribble. He sets the ball down, then stands up, then picks up the ball. The call is a travel, because it is ruled that he tried to circumvent the rule that if he would have stood up while holding the ball, it's a travel.
In the case described here, there is no violation, even if her knee touched while she was down, as long as she didn't dribble again. It would be ruled the same as an interrupted dribble. If during an interrupted dribble, a player's knee happens to hit the ground, then they grab the ball and pass it, you don't call a violation, do you? (I must admit, I have never seen this)
BTW - in similar situations, when a player asks if they can have play stopped to tie their shoe, I reply that they have to use a timeout (if the situation lets me have that much time to respond). If it doesn't, I ignore them so there is no doubt on their part that they cannot.
At the next dead ball, I tell all players to check their shoes (and, of course, tuck in their jerseys)
[Edited by Mark Padgett on Jan 27th, 2002 at 03:02 PM]