Solutions for Unannounced Rule Changes?

[OKREF]

I received this email today from our director of officials. The first part concerns the POE regarding the crossing of the free throw line.



From: Theresia Wynns [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 8:55 AM
To: Mike Whaley
Subject: RE: Basketball rules questions

Mike,

On the free throw, no one should be in the semi-circle until the free throw is made, missed or ends. This is not written in the rules book which is an oversight. It is a National interpretation. The Points of Emphasis stresses the point that should be made by officials.

Delete “or backboard.”

Theresia D. Wynns
Director of Sports and Officials
National Federation of State High School Associations
PO Box 690 l Indianapolis, IN 46206


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NFHS

Originally Posted by OKREF

On the free throw, no one should be in the semi-circle until the free throw is made, missed or ends.

How literally are we supposed to interpret "no one"?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by AremRed

How literally are we supposed to interpret "no one"?

Straight from the horse's mouth: "No one", not even the shooter.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by OKREF

From: Theresia Wynns
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 8:55 AM
Subject: Basketball rules questions

On the free throw, no one should be in the semi-circle until the free throw is made, missed or ends. This is not written in the rules book which is an oversight. It is a National interpretation. The Points of Emphasis stresses the point that should be made by officials.

Delete “or backboard.”

Theresia D. Wynns
Director of Sports and Officials
National Federation of State High School Associations
PO Box 690 l Indianapolis, IN 46206

Now the case is closed. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

Note: Everyone be sure to write down Ms. Wynns phone number, and email address, in case you need to contact her with a rule question during one of your games.

"Hey Coach, I got Ms. Wynns, the National Federation of State High School Associations basketball rules editor, here, on the phone. She wants to talk to you to explain a rule interpretation. No, she won't hold. She's a busy women."

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

"Hey Coach, I got Ms. Wynns, the National Federation of State High School Associations basketball rules editor, here, on the phone. She wants to talk to you to explain a rule interpretation. No, she won't hold. She's a busy women."

Why don't you take it off then Billy?

Peace

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by OKREF

On the free throw, no one should be in the semi-circle until the free throw is made, missed or ends.

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

It would be better if you thought of and spoke . . . from a rules standpoint instead of a layman's perspective.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by OKREF

On the free throw, no one should be in the semi-circle until the free throw is made, missed or ends. This is not written in the rules book which is an oversight. It is a National interpretation. The Points of Emphasis stresses the point that should be made by officials.

I just got an email from my local board IAABO interpreter. We were contacting each other to prepare for our "interpretation" (new rules) meeting in a couple of nights. I asked him about the lack of a rule, or a penalty, backup for the Point of Emphasis regarding a defender crossing the free throw line. He told me that he had been contacted by the NFHS, through IAABO International, that if free throw line plane is broken by defender, it is, indeed, a delayed violation, similar, in content, to OKREF's, and Freddy's, recent statements from the NFHS basketball rules editor, and IAABO.

Hopefully the word will spread throughout the land, and we can all enforce this NFHS Point of Emphasis, knowing that we will have the full backing of the NFHS.

It's just about time to put this issue to bed, and kiss it goodnight.

Wouldn't you all agree?

[Freddy]

Quote: "On the free throw, no one should be in the semi-circle until the free throw is made, missed or ends."

Does "...be in the semi-circle..." mean:
A) lane space player's foot may not break the plane of the free throw line until the ball strikes the ring or the backboard, similar to what applies to the shooter?
B) lane space player may not touch the floor inside the semi-circle (cf. "you are where you were til you get where you're going")?
C) free throw plane is broken by any part of the body stuck out over the free throw line?

I think it's gotta be A).

No help from the POE. It's as blurry as the above explanation, "...the defender boxing out shall not cross the free-throw line into the semicircle until the ball contacts the ring or backboard."
"Cross" seems to imply breaking the plane. "...into the semicircle" seems to imply touching on the other side of the FT line.

Nowhere does it say what the penalty is. I guess because the POE cites 9-1-3g, we are to assume this is a violation. I wish they'd just have written a well-worded rule, then told us to insert it as 9-1-3h. How difficult would that have been?

After reviewing about 24 games from last season, this is significant.

BTW, this is almost exclusively a girls' thing. Boys games I studied didn't cross the FT line into the semi-circle. And it's typically the same girl the entire game--that over-eager player out to impress her coach with her aggressively paced entry into the lane across the FT line to box out the shooter. Is was what should be called a foul only three times times in those two dozen games. More often than not it's really borderline, which might merit a preventative mention early in the game, perhaps.
This might well turn out to be one of those "talk 'em out of it the first time you see it" or "get it early if it does happen and it won't happen again" things, it appears to me. At least based on the two dozen or so games and hundreds of free throws I analyzed.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Freddy

Quote: "On the free throw, no one should be in the semi-circle until the free throw is made, missed or ends."

Does "...be in the semi-circle..." mean:
A) lane space player's foot may not break the plane of the free throw line until the ball strikes the ring or the backboard, similar to what applies to the shooter?
B) lane space player may not touch the floor inside the semi-circle (cf. "you are where you were til you get where you're going")?
C) free throw plane is broken by any part of the body stuck out over the free throw line?

I think it's gotta be A).

A or B. Either action, with regards to FTs puts the player in the restricted space.