4-15-4: The dribble may be started by pushing, throwing, or batting the ball to the floor.......
Throwing and batting are interchangeable when it comes to a dribble.
4.15.4 SIT E b:since the ball did not touch the floor, the tossing and subsequent catch is an illegal dribble.
The argument that the OP is not a violation seems to be based on the idea that the catch ends the dribble. True enough: 4.15.4.a The dribble ends when the dribbler......catches the ball.
SO, why in the above situation did the catch, which ends the dribble,
prevent a violation?
I hereby join the camp which says that the OP is indeed a violation.
I believe even more firmly, however, that this is one of those that is in a somewhat gray area which slips through the cracks of the rules and is not definitively covered. I also am reasonably sure that this is a play that I have never witnessed in 20+ years as an official and more years than that as a spectator.
Bottom line, if we have a play in this category, be quick and emphatic with the call, and try to avoid pausing and scratching your head between the whistle and the signal. And really hope that it doesn't happen twice and you and your partner make opposite calls.
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I swear, Gus, you'd argue with a possum.
It'd be easier than arguing with you, Woodrow.
Lonesome Dove
Last edited by just another ref; Sat Sep 08, 2007 at 09:32pm.
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