[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by jentzd
Well, the Tower philosophy may be fine and dandy...but I don't buy it.

Good thing you're not playing HS or NCAA ball then! The Tower Philosophy is how HS and college games are officiated.

The purpose of officials is to enforce the rulebook of the game in play. Making a rule more or less vague does not in any way affect the officials' job or autonomy.

But the rules are written in such a way as to allow (to require) the officials to exercise judgment in whether or not the contact in a given play violates a rule. There is always contact. The official's job is to determine if either player gains an unfair advantage from that contact.

and it is the official's job to enforce them as written(within a reasonable limit of interpretation and personal judgement), just as in basketball. Martial Law= Bad Officiating.

Hey, I just said that!! I guess we agree!

I would condend that the 'Tower Philosophy' post is actually INapproriate for this thread. . . Nowhere is it described in detail in any rulebook what displacement or defensive position mean.

Those two sentences are incompatible. The second sentence is exactly why the Tower Philosophy is appropriate for this thread. The HS and NCAA rulebooks do not give a detailed description of which body parts may touch for how long before a foul is called. The official must decide, on the spot, whether somebody has gained an unfair advantage by making that contact.

In reality, small details in wording of what is legal can make huge differences in the end score.

The problem is, as you've noticed, the wording is very vague at the HS and NCAA (men's) level. Unless you play by NCAA women's rules, you're not going to get the detailed kind of explanation that you're looking for. Even at the NBA level, there is (intentionally) room for official's judgment.

This thread has nothing to do with the officials role, other than asking officials (some of whom are very wise), who would know best on the minutia of rules, what is the best way within a set of rules to play a game. I think the question still stands.

Well, I gave a slightly silly answer at the beginning, so I'll take another crack at it. The best way to play basketball is to keep your hands off your opponent, period. Play defense with your feet. Move your feet fast enough to keep your body between the player and the basket. That's it. That's the best way. If you do that, you will almost NEVER be called for the foul as the defender. I'm absolutely sure that's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth.