You are correct in saying it's not required per the closely guarded rule, but when applying the definition of guarding, it is required, otherwise, you could have a defender who's back is facing the dribbler and start a count. By rule, that can't happen because the defender does not have a guarding position as defined by the rule.

4-10 says: A closely guarded situation occurs when a player in control of the ball is in his/her team's frontcourt, is continously guarded by any opponent who is within six feet of the player who is holding or dribbling the ball. The distance shall be measured from the forward foot/feet of the defender to the forward foot/feet of the ball handler. A closely guarded count shall be terminated when the offensive player in control of the ball gets his/her head and shoulder past the defensive player.


4-23-1 says: Guarding is the act of legally placing the body in the path of an offensive opponent. There is no minimum distance required between the guard and opponent, but the maximum is 6 feet when closely guarded.

4-23-2-b says: The front of the guard's torso must be facing the opponent.

Before you read me the riot act that I'm reading too much into it, I had a D3/NAIA/JUCO official read me the riot act for not applying the above 3 citations correctly in a closely guarded situation in a HS JV game he was watching me work a few years ago. To top it off, said official is also an attorney, so I didn't question his cross-referencing, etc.

Yes, Snaqwells, you are correct the rule does not require LGP, but the applications of the definitions does. Sorry if I sounded like a snot or something, but just wanted to point out why I used LGP in my posting.