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Originally Posted by Camron Rust
I finally saw the play last night...not on YouTube but on ESPNHD Sportcenter.
That ball definitely went over the backboard. You could see the ball through the glass on it's upward flight. The only path that could carry a ball into the basket from a position where you could see it through the glass is over the backboard....unless he somehow shot a curve ball.
The purpose of the rule goes back to an inbounds play where the thrower would toss the ball up over the board and a teammate would catch it and dunk it. The board effectively prevented a defender for making a play on the ball between the throw and the catch....a guaranteed score. In this case, the shooter was sufficiently away from the board (to the side) and the defenders had a legitimate chance to defend the shot. The path the ball took was not relevant to the defense of the score.
Conclusion:
Letter of the rule: violation
Spirt of the rule: no violation
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If the spirit of the rule is only to deny the inbounds pass over the backboard (and I agree that is where the rule originated) then why did the rules committee make it an OOB violation and not just a throw-in violation?