[APG]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

Rule 4-24 Art.5.a, in reference to guarding a moving opponent without the ball, says "time and distance are factors required to obtain initial legal guarding position". In Art.5.b it says "The guard must give the opponent the time and/or distance to avoid contact".

If the guard did not move, and the offensive player ran into him, then a PC foul would be justified thanks to Art.5.a. However, there was movement, so we move to Art.5.b, in which case a foul against the defender would be justified.

The rule you cite (I'm think you meant 4-23-5a.) says that guarding a moving opponent without the ball:

Time and distance is required to obtain an INITIAL legal position.

Go to 4-23-3 and it tells you what can occur after an initial legal position is obtained. You'll find absolutely nothing that says anything about time or distance. You'll even see that it says once that initial legal guarding position is obtained, that a guard may move laterally or obliquely to maintain that position...provided it is not toward the opponent when contact occurs. Time and distance is only relevant in first obtaining that initial guarding position on a moving opponent.