Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
How can the lead have a decent view if he's not even looking over there because it's outside his primary coverage area? He's watching post players, and defenders, banging around in the paint, maybe watching for three seconds. He's not watching the point guard about to step on the sideline boundary above the free throw line extended, maybe near the division line. That would be ball watching.
Granted, this is a challenge for the trail, especially after a skip pass, but at least it's in the trail's primary coverage area.
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2-person is a game of compromises. When the player gets that close to the sideline, the lead just has to give up the post momentarily and look up the sideline. That line itself is also the leads PCA. There is no way a T, even one who has great movement, will have the angle to see a player stepping OOB unless it is far OOB. A ball that is knocked out and lands in the first row, sure, but not one that goes 1" OOB.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
Then IAABO changed to IAABO mechanics and ended the lead's out of bounds responsibility at the free throw line extended. A lot of old timers, including myself, resisted the change. It required the lead, and the trail, to decide if the ball went out above, or below, the free throw line extended, definitely more complex then the old, simple, out of bounds responsibilities. Occasionally there would be no immediate whistle when the ball went out of bounds above the free the line extended, with both the trail, and the lead, thinking that the other was going to sound the whistle for the ball going out of bounds.
It took some time, but we're all starting to get use to the new out of bounds responsibilities. The topic is broached in almost every pregame conference. It's not a perfect guideline, but in the grand scheme of things, regarding primary coverage responsibilities, it makes a lot of sense.
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I think it only makes sense when the ball is knocked OOB. I think it makes no sense when the actual question is whether the player stepped on the line or dribbled the ball on the line. The trail just can't see those things. There is no amount of responsibility shifting and understanding that will allow the trail to see something that isn't visible from any normal trail position. The only way that "might" work is if the trail came all the way across to get in line with the far sideline, effectively forcing a cross court rotation.
The only person who can reliably make determinations on whether a player has stepped on a line or not is the official who is looking down that line.