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I have to weigh in with Chuck and company. Jefftheref, the more you p[ost, the more you dri9ft from the facts at hand. In the two cases you cite, the principle is that B has a position on THE FLOOR and A is in the air, and in both cases A gets the foul. Neither establishes an inherent right to land anywhere that was open when you left the ground. The second case only points out that your right to land as an offensive player (A!) ends when your foot touches the floor and you have no right to further space in that same line that you jumped.
As many others have pointed out, airborne shooters have a right to land in space that was vacant when they jumped. No rule yet cited extends this right to the defense, and a jumping defender does not have legal guarding position. Defenders do own the right to their vertical plane, so defenders can jump staight up and draw an offensive foul by rule if the player steps into their landing area. The book is silent on the defender that jumps toward a spot that an offensive player occupies while the defender is airborne. But the book is clear that defenders don't have legal guarding position until they return to the floor, so it seems that they do not have a right to land in any unoccupied space. Rules for offense and defense clearly differ in this situation.
It seems that most refs, and this coach, think that the defender can be charged with the foul once they leave their vertical plane while jumping, with the obvious caveat that you have to see it to call it.
[Edited by Hawks Coach on Jun 14th, 2003 at 09:20 AM]
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