Remaining players
 

Settle a debate: how many players must a team have to finish a game? My cohort says at least two (throw ins etc) but I maintain one if you reasonably believe that team can win the game.

I tried searching but the function is screwy on my phone.

Has anyone ever gotten to less than 3 or 4 on five? I've had 3v 5 in wreck ball but not in NFHS sanctioned ball.

You are right, your buddy is wrong.

My vote for post o'the week

We finished a GV game with 4 last week.

6 players fouled out. I'm not making that up.

Interesting thought...I am pretty sure you could finish with one player but that does pose the question of the team with only one player inbounding the ball if it came to that.

I guess they'd have to throw it pretty high in the air toward half court and hope the individual throwing it in could get it after a muff or tip by the defensive team :confused:

Before I started officiating once I retired from coaching, we finished a game with 2 players .. and won:eek:

I think a team down to two would realize they better not foul cuz one is going to be hard to play with. And the team with 5 is going to pass the ball and hold it cuz they can easily avoid 2 guys on the floor..haha

It would take a very specific situation where a team would be allowed to continue with one player.

The inbounder could throw it off an opponent -- that's about it.

Or not throw it in at all and just take the violation.

If the other team doesn't touch the inbound "pass" it's essentially the same thing.

We did a JUCO game with 5 on each team a few weeks ago. All these horrible scenarios crossed my mind, but then nobody fouled out (a player got a 4th with about a minute left).

I worked a game one time where we got down to 2 left on one team(one with 4 fouls) with about 2 minutes left. This team was leading by 6 points at the time. I had this conversation in my mind, and while I don't have my books with me, I recall there being a phrase in there something to the effect of, "if a team gets down to 1 player remaining, it's a forfeit, unless the referee believes they have a reasonable opportunity to win the game." I did remember this at the time, and I was prepared to let the game continue to see if the team with only 2 left was smart enough to run out the clock somehow if they got down to 1 player left.

The team with 2 DID end up winning the game.

Here's how I always envisioned it:
Team A (with one player remaining), up by 8-10 points with only a minute or two left in the game.
Team B with 2-3 players remaining, and no timeouts.

Team B shoots, scores. Team A player simply doesn't move to inbound the ball... let the official decide when the throw-in count starts, and whistle the 5-second violation accordingly. Best guess, Team A could run 7-9 seconds off the clock after every made basket by Team B. Assuming Team B takes 2 seconds to score after inbounding, Team A could run off 40ish seconds with 4 possessions, which might be enough to secure the win.

Once Team B takes the lead, of course, the game is over.

My argument was that if the team with one player was ahead by a lot, they would just have to take the violation each time they were to inbound the ball. Nightmare scenario to watch but I knew that's what the rule said. Anyone have the rule specific handy? My book is........well.....is somewhere but I don't recall where at the moment

If the Team A player was smart, they would wait for the official to begin the 5 second count. Then, when the count gets to 4, throw the ball toward the other end of the court with some serious backspin on it, hoping it wouldn't go out of bounds. This would increase the amount of runoff after each basket made by their opponent.

I found the casebook play with the verbage that discusses this.

3.1.1 SITUATION:

After six players have been disqualified, Team A has only four who are eligible to continue in the game as players. In a gesture of fair play, the coach of Team B indicates a desire to withdraw a player so that each team will have four players on the court.

RULING: This is not permissible. Team B must have five players participating as long as it has that number available. If no substitute is available, a team must continue with fewer than five players. When only one player remains to participate, that team shall forfeit the game unless the referee believes this team still has an opportunity to win the game.

Ah, yes... I call it the "Hoosiers" ruling...
What the casebook doesn't say, of course, is that there's no requirement for the 5th player to actually have to participate in the game beyond being on the court.
"Coach, you have to have 5 players on the court, but you could just tell one of them to stand in the corner and not do anything"

In addition to the casebook, the rule book has the same note


RULE 3, SECTION 1, ART. 1

Each team consists of five players, one of whom is the captain.

NOTE: A team must begin the game with five players, but if it has no substitutes to replace disqualified or injured players, it must continue with fewer than five. When there is only one player participating for a team, the team shall forfeit the game, unless the referee believes that team has an opportunity to win the game.

Had a JuCo game where one team only dressed 6 or 7 . They got down to 4 players with a minute left and trailing by 3. They sent the game to OT and continued to keep pace before another player fouled out. 5 v. 3 was too much to overcome.

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I guess if the team with more than one player gets foul shots, they keep on shooting until they make them or violate.

In the mid-1960s I saw an undefeated boy's VAR team come from 6 points down with 2:30 left in the 4th quarter to win by 2 points, and it did it on the road.

In the mid-1970s I had two women's college games end with one team having only 3 players left on the court.

MTD, Sr.

Not correct. I suggest that you consult the past interps archive.

One Is The Loneliest Number That You'll Ever Do (1969, Three Dog Night)...
 

2003-04 NFHS BASKETBALL RULES INTERPRETATIONS

SITUATION 2: Team A started the game with seven team members in the scorebook. All team members foul out but one, A1. Team A is leading by eight points with 38 seconds left in the game with a chance to win. A1 fouls B2 with Team B in the bonus. A1 occupies one of the first marked lane spaces for the free throw, with no teammate to occupy the other required space. RULING: By rule, a team may continue to play with one player if that team has an opportunity to win the game. Accordingly, since Team A can only put one player in the required free-throw marked lane space, it cannot be penalized. Further, Team B may not occupy the first marked lane space left vacant by Team A. (3-1-1 Note, 8-1-3)

Which is posted on the NFHS website?

You know, for the thousands of basketball officials who do not utilize this or any other social media for officiating guidance.

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