I know it's not -- the clock at the table seems to indicate 4:11 or thereabouts -- but pretend this is an AP throw-in at the beginning of a quarter.
Given that situation, note where the official puts the ball at the thrower's disposal.
(Forget for now the obvious fact that he hands and does not bounce the ball to the thrower. No sense hijacking this thread twice in one post.
)
In that scenerio, something I've recently noticed is this:
when the official does not give the ball for a designated spot/AP throw-in at the division line, when it's just done casually "somewhere around there",
it invites more plays like this than if it were given at the properly prescribed location. Especially when it's administered toward the thrower's frontcourt and defensive pressure ensues.
Debatable, perhaps. But a study of close backcourt violation calls and no-calls on video this summer bears this out.
Now, we return to our regularly scheduled debate regarding whether it was a backcourt violation or not.
