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Originally Posted by Camron Rust
On 1 and 2 I would have thought so but this question has me thinking. I think we've always called them that way but I'm not so sure that the rules actually support that. Hmmm.
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My thoughts....
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Rule 9, SECTION 9, BACKCOURT ART. 1 . . . A player shall not be the first to touch the ball after it has been in team control in the frontcourt, if he/she or a teammate last touched or was touched by the ball in the frontcourt before it went to the backcourt.
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According to rule 9, to have a backcourt violation, the ball must return to the backcourt. The other articles in this section talk about throwin or transitioning to the frontcourt, so they're not relevant. So, did the ball return to the backcourt?
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Rule 4, SECTION 4 BALL LOCATION, AT DISPOSAL
ART. 1 . . . A ball which is in contact with a player or with the court is in the backcourt if either the ball or the player (either player if the ball is touching more than one) is touching the backcourt.
ART. 2 . . . A ball which is in contact with a player or with the court is in the frontcourt if neither the ball nor the player is touching the backcourt.
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The definition of ball location says the ball is in the backcourt only when it touches the backcourt or a player who is touching the backcourt. If the dribbler doesn't touch the ball while on the line, does the ball ever return to the backcourt? By the above rule, it doesn't seem so.
You might be tempted to say yes based on the OOB rule...
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SECTION 3 OUT OF BOUNDS
ART. 1 . . . A player shall not cause the ball to go out of bounds.
NOTE: The dribbler has committed a violation if he/she steps on or outside a boundary, even though he/she is not touching the ball while he/she is out of bounds.
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But, I don't know of any rule that says this restriction on a dribbler and a boundary line extends to the division line.
I know I've always called this a violation, but it seems the rules do not consider the ball to have returned to the backcourt just because the dribbler steps on the line unless the dribbler is touching the ball while doing so.
Similarly, for a dribble that touches the line, it seems, unless I'm missing something, that touching the line is nothing. It would be come a backcourt violation as soon as the dribbler touches it again, however.
What am I missing?