Quote:
Originally Posted by just another ref
4-23-1: "Every player is entitled to a spot on the playing court provided such player gets there first without illegally contacting an opponent."
In the play at hand, what I see is the defender leaning backward as he slides into the path of the dribbler. At contact, the defender's feet are straddling the offensive player. As far as I'm concerned, this defender did not "get there first,"
and this would have been a block whether the dribbler had gone airborne or not.
|
I'm still trying to figure out how the defender could be contacted in the torso if he didn't get there first? Is there a rule against leaning backwards? Is that when an offensive player puts his leg between a defensive players legs (hence, causing the defensive player to "straddle" the offensive player) that it constituted illegal activity on the defender's part?
He got there first. The problem was that he wasn't there when A1 went airborne.