[BillyMac]

If you're only interested in practical threads, then stop right now, and move onto the next thread, because this is one of those strictly by the book situations.

Last free throw attempt. Two person crew (it's Connecticut, what can I say?). I'm trail, opposite table, of course. My partner is lead, tableside, of course. Shooter misses everything, to the right side of the rim, which happened to be opposite the table, and the ball hits the floor on the side of the lane opposite the table. I blow my whistle for the violation, and stay in my position ready to become the new lead after the throwin for the free throw violation, when I notice that my partner, who was tableside, is moving to the side of the lane opposite tableside. So I rotate over to tableside, to become the new lead, as he hands the ball to the throw in player opposite table side on the endline.

At halftime, I ask him why he forced me to rotate, and he replied that the violation was on that side of the lane. My question is, was he right? I might add that I am not a lazy official. I don't mind rotating when I'm supposed to. When I'm the lead, putting the ball in play after a foul, or violation, in the lane, and if the foul, or violation, is more than a few inches one side, or the other, of the basket line, I'm putting the ball in play on that side of the lane, and I expect my partner, as trail, to rotate, if need be; and I would expect my partner, as the lead, to do the same thing, and I would rotate as the trail.

Here's the relevant part of the rule:

RULE 9 VIOLATIONS
SECTION 1 FREE-THROW PROVISIONS
ART. 3 . . . After the ball is placed at the disposal of a free thrower:
a. He/she shall throw within 10 seconds to cause the ball to enter the basket
or touch the ring before the free throw ends.
PENALTIES: (Section 1)
1. If the first or only violation is by the free thrower or a teammate, the ball
becomes dead when the violation occurs and no point can be scored by
that throw. The following out-of-bounds provisions apply if no further free
throws are to be administered:
a. If the violation occurs during a free throw for a personal foul, other
than intentional or flagrant, the ball is awarded to the opponents for a
throw-in from the designated out-of-bounds spot nearest the violation.

In my mind, the violation is for not touching the ring, which is exactly on the basket line, so the throwin can be made from any side of the lane, so the officials can just stay where they were.

In my partner's mind, the violation was where the ball hit the floor, instead of the ring, so the throwin would be on the side where the ball hit the floor, which could force a rotation.

Also, if the violation was for an offensive player entering the lane too early, I, as the lead, would make the throwin from the side of the lane on which the violation occurred, which could cause a rotation.

The same philosophy might apply to a three second violation, which is also "awarded to the opponents for a throw-in from the designated out-of-bounds spot nearest the violation". Where is the violation? Was the violation that the player was inside the lane rather than being outside the lane, in which case the throwin could be from either side of the lane, or was the violation that the player was in a particular spot in the lane after three seconds, which could be closer to one side of the lane than the other, which could initiate a rotation?