That just is not right. Once a player has established position on the floor, that player can then move sideways and backwards and be in legal guarding position to take an offensive foul on the dribbler. Even if a player jumps over and touches the floor right before a dribbler runs him over, it is still an offensive foul. And a defender once establishing legal guarding position, a player can even jump as long as they stay in their vertical plane. What rulebook are you reading you logic from?
quote:
Originally posted by Jim Dixon:
Thanks for reading, guys. To be frank, I was hoping this article would generate a little discussion--it has done so on basketball discussion boards for the last 3 years.
Notice what I said:
Quote:
"For B1 or any other defender, establishing legal defense on the dribbler means giving one step to allow A1 to stop or alter course. This assumes A1 is moving and not standing still. We also assume that B1 is already out in front of A1, and at the time of setting up in the path of A1 to draw the contact, that B1 is not jumping in at the last instant to prevent A1 from being allowed one step to alter course or stop.
That, guys, is a block. A defender cannot just jump in front of the dribbler. Jumping in that quickly has nothing to do with time and distance. It is just poor defense. If you have an illustrated version of the rules put out by NFHS, look in it for this illustration.
If you referee the defense, you realize that B1 is not legal when he/she does something like that. Thus, a block foul.
Jim Dixon
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