Held ball hug?
 

Situation last night makes me want to ask: How do you respond when one player reaches with both arms around another (presumably smaller) player to get both hands on the ball and force a tie-up? (Think Heimlich Maneuver positions, if you will.)

At lower levels at least, this can happen from the back or side a few times a season with eager defenders. Awkward looking, but it doesn't necessarily involve a lot of banging or contact — right away at least.

Whistle it quicker than ever, with thumbs-up a-blazing, or be patient and see if original ball handler straightens up or turns, in essence forcing at least minimal contact by defender ... and a foul?

Curious about philosophies here. I'll hang up and listen for your answer. Thanks.

It's sort like the "over the back" non-call. It may look like a foul, but without contact there can not be one.

If there is contact that hinders the opponent, then I have a foul. But if the defender reaches and grabs the ball without making contact, like you describe, then I may just have a held ball.

BTW, I'd rather have a quick whistle on a held ball than a slow one. A quick one may lead to a bad call, but a slow one could lead to extra-curricular activities that go beyond basketball plays.

Its going to be a foul practically every time unless they have really long arms as they arent likely to avoid contact

Automatic foul, without any hesitation.

It sure cleans up the game when you call it. They understand there will be no wrestling on loose balls or jumping on each other.

You can argue that if there is no contact its not a foul, but in reality that's not practical. Certain behavior is almost expected to garner an infraction. This is one of them. It's probably "actually" a foul 98% of the time, unless its a 5' PG and a 7' center. I'm ok being technically wrong those other 2% of the time.

Similarly, I've had situations that started with a player holding the ball high above their head, and a defensive player grabs on to the ball while standing behind the player with the ball. Player holding the ball brings the ball down to belly level, resulting in this "held ball hug" as you call it.

I'm quick to call a held ball at this point, and this often results in the person who originally had the ball asking why it's not a foul. I tell them that any additional contact that occurred at that point was caused by THEM bringing the ball down.

Thats why there is no time requirement for a held ball. If the pulling down of the ball didnt break the other players hold, you had a held ball.

ART. 1

A held ball occurs when:

Opponents have their hands so firmly on the ball that control *cannot be obtained without undue roughness

Agreed.

If you call this a held ball you are encouraging it and expect to call a bunch more. No one wants that.