Disconcertion is to disturb the FT shooter. while the rule simply says you can't disconcert the FTer, I have always viewed it as having an effect on the current FT. If i'm the FT shooter, i release the ball and then you come and squat…the squat will bother me (disturb or disconcert) but it hasn't affected that FT. the ball is gone. It is more likely to affect the next FT because now I'm thinking about you coming at my knees.

I think this is the way the drafters view it also. If this were disconcertion then there wouldn't be a need for a separate rule about entering the FT semi circle early. You could just call it disconcertion.

If this is the worry then I'd imagine it would've been an issue ever since players could leave on release. If the contact was enough to make someone worry about the next shot then maybe there should have been a call. Although, I'm not entirely sure what your issue is with this whole squatting thing. If the contact isn't enough to warrant a foul why is it an issue?

I was... nevermind. I wasn't thinking clearly. The FT shooter has to release the ball first, so the scenario I was thinking of can't happen without there already being a violation.

I don't think you have read the entire thread. Maybe you have..The NFHS was worried enough to make a rule saying its a violation for a player to ENTER the FT semi circle before the ball hits etc. Contact or no contact with shooter. Violation. Adam raised the issue of did they really mean "enter" as in contact with the court in the semi circle or is simply breaking the FT plane enough? I pointed out that a player could cause the same types of problems the NFHS saw (which i don't see in my games) without actually "entering" the FT semi circle. Defender could/can actually contact the FT shooter by squatting and breaking the plane without "entering" the semi circle. That wouldn't be a violation under the rule as written now. If the contact was severe enough it would be a foul but still not a violation.

If the NFHS was worried enough about protecting the FT shooter to put in a violation they probably should have said it was a violation to break the plane. that's what i was saying...

I'm not seeing how this would bother the free throw shooter as the ball would be long gone prior to a defender being able to put himself in this position.

If it were an effective way to "bother" a shooter, it would also affect jump shooters. But I've yet to see anybody employ that tactic as a way to disturb jump shooters.

I understand the issue that was brought up I just don't understand how it's meaningful -- not that it isn't, I've just never had an issues with this sort of play. I don't mind either way while I'm calling the game. I suspect they'll eventually change it to the plane line, but that's only because we aren't calling the contact as a whole.

I havnt ever had issues with it either. i wouldn't have added it as a violation. I'm assuming it was a problem somewhere because they made it a rule…My point was if you are going to make it a rule you might as well make it breaking the plane.

Agreed, makes sense with the spirit of the new rule.

Ok...so by "entering" we are talking about a part of a player touching the playing floor in the semi circle...not an arm or rear end crossing the plane of the FT line?

I guess if we use the provision of the marked lane spaces/lines then yes...

it's not a violation for any lane players to put their arms out in front of them into the lane but if they step across and touch, we would have a delayed violation on the D and an immediate violation by the O in that case.

So the ball is in flight and the D player moves to box out position, their butt crosses over the FT line at shooters waist and does not contact, he hasn't "entered" the semi circle...Got it! :confused:

Do we dare ask the class to define enter? :p

I was telling Bryan that a player breaking the plane with his A.. before the ball hits can bother a FT shooter but it isn't disconcertion under the rules because the ball is gone.( He wanted to know if it could be disconcertion.) We know that many good Ft shooters will hold their follow through with a lean forward until ball hits. If you come into the lane and break the FT plane sitting/squatting on my knee before the ball hits that will likely piss me off aka disturb/bother me as i consider it cheap. It's not disconcertion because it has no effect on the FT going in or not. Ball long gone. That is what i was telling Bryan. If your heels were just pass the FT line in that example its a violation now under the new rule. Somebody decided that that bothered the FT shooter…even though the ball is also long gone when the player enters the FT semi circle. My point is simply that if it is enough of a problem to call it a violation for entering the FT semi circle they probably ought to make it a violation for breaking the plane. That can cause the same type of issues.
Again, i wouldn't have the rule because i don't ever see it. somebody must be though…maybe...

A. Difference between the two is that the definition of a free throw is "...an unhindered try...". If hindered on the shot by the prospect of something that lane player has done on a shot previous, then the try is not unhindered.
B. There are a variety of things a defender can do illegally to "bother" a jump shooter to alter his next shot (fingers in chest after release, displacement, hip check after landing, etc.).
(edited for clarity)

Exactly. If contact is made, call the foul and include the warning in the book. I've never settled for the DOG warning when contact was made on the swipe.

I disagree. I think it makes more sense to keep the restrictions the same as on the shooter.

Any contact is going to be long after the ball is in the air, so the shot remains unhindered. If there's a foul, call the foul. Otherwise, the FT shooter shouldn't be given any extra protection from a legal box out.

Personally, this is my line of thought and I won't have any problems deciding when to call a foul. In reality, I can see a decent portion of officials still not call contact when it's needed to be called. I think there is a good chance they change it to plane anyway if contact keeps being an issue in their minds.

That was one of the reasons they went to waiting til it hit the rim back in the 90s (I think it was the 90s). If officials aren't calling enough fouls when they're warranted, the coaches on the rule committee will make adjustments to the rules.