Quote:
Originally Posted by M&M Guy
Actually, there is something on that - 4-23-5: "When guarding an opponent without the ball, if the opponent is airborne, the guard must have obtained legal position before the opponent left the floor." So it is very similar language to the airborne shooter. Picture A1 going airborne coming in for a rebound, then B1 slides underneath while A1 is in the air, causing contact.
In the OP's question though, we are talking about an opponent with the ball. In that case, 4-23-3(a) says, "After the initial LGP is obtained, the guard may have one or both feet on the court, or be airbourne, provided he/she has inbound status." In (c), it states the guard may move laterally or obliquely, provided it is not towards the opponent when contact occurs. So, if the fake caused the defender to jump towards the shooter, the defender will be more responsible for the contact, even if there's a chance the defender could have landed without contact if the shooter stayed still.
|
Nice, but that is all about guarding. But as we all know, the offensive player is not guarding the defender.
That said, I don't call a defensive foul if the defender jumps in a direction not towards the shooter and the shooter goes out of the way to make contact. If the shooter's path was already in that direction, then it may or may not be a foul....it may be that the defender had lost LGP and had to jump sideways in an attempt to get back into the path of the offensive player.