2015/16 NFHS Rule Interpretations

[OKREF]

Originally Posted by so cal lurker

And what else to you cover in your pre-game rules clinic for the coaches?

OK, that was overly snarky, but IMO this is a bit of pandora's box -- I don't see this rule as so significant that it warrants singling out more than any other relatively unusual situation.

If it isn't significant why has there been such a debate over it? This is a fairly big change. I'm not in the habit of having a rules meeting when meeting with coaches, but covering this, especially at the beginning of the season will help when it has to be called in a game.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by OKREF

If it isn't significant why has there been such a debate over it? This is a fairly big change.

This is not a "big change". There's been a lot of debate because the NFHS, with a little help from IAABO, "made the easy look difficult". IAABO broached this issue last season by stepping out of it's role of educating officials and, instead, made up interpretations that didn't match the rules that existed at the time. This year, the NFHS made it worse by publishing a point of emphasis without backing it with a rule, or a penalty.

“If you left a hundred monkeys in front of a hundred typewriters for a hundred years eventually you’d manage to get a Shakespearean sonnet.” (Thomas Henry Huxley)

.. and give them another 100 years and they could do a better job of writing basketball rules than the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee.