The Official Forum - Backboard slap

The Official Forum (https://forum.officiating.com/)

- Basketball (https://forum.officiating.com/basketball/)

- - Backboard slap - BI? (https://forum.officiating.com/basketball/102276-backboard-slap-bi.html)

High School Rules ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoopologist (Post 1000929)

I now have come to understand the backboard can be slapped and unless the ring/backboard are moving such that they disrupt a try for goal, there's no call to be made, save for a T ...

If your referring to NFHS (high school) rules, this is an incorrect interpretation. In high school basketball, assuming there is nothing else illegal going on, slapping the backboard, even hard enough for the backboard/ring to move, or vibrate, will never result in a basket interference/goaltending call, and the basket can never be awarded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillyMac (Post 1000575)

A player cannot touch the ball, ring, or net while the ball is on the ring or within the basket. A player cannot touch the ball if it is in the imaginary cylinder above the ring. These are examples of basket interference. It is legal to touch the ring or the net if the ball is above the ring and not touching the ring, even if the ball is in the imaginary cylinder above the ring. It is legal to hang on the ring if a player is avoiding an injury to himself or herself or another player.

The backboard has nothing to do with goaltending. Goaltending is when a player touches the ball during a try, or tap, while it is in its downward flight, entirely above the basket ring level, outside the imaginary cylinder above the ring, and has the possibility of entering the basket. On most layups, the ball is going up immediately after it contacts the backboard. It is legal to pin the ball against the backboard if it still on the way up, and is not in the imaginary cylinder above the basket. Slapping the backboard is neither basket interference, nor is it goaltending, and points cannot be awarded. A player who strikes a backboard, during a tap, or a try, so forcefully that it cannot be ignored because it is an attempt to draw attention to the player, or a means of venting frustration, may be assessed a technical foul. When a player simply attempts to block a shot, and accidentally slaps the backboard, it is neither a violation, nor is it a technical foul.

College rules? I know more about brain surgery and rocket science, so I can't comment on the college interpretation.

Billy, you should have a limit on number of characters you are allowed to post per thread. There are bits of hard drive space out on the cloud that will never be the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoopologist (Post 1000929)

As a coach, I prefer the crew to get the call right. Flow of the game and the feelings of coaches/officials are, to say the least, secondary.

I do appreciate the insight into rules and the complexities in enforcing them. I've had this very conversation with a referee recently (HSBV) and I now have come to understand the backboard can be slapped and unless the ring/backboard are moving such that they disrupt a try for goal, there's no call to be made, save for a T which sounds like a very rare and perhaps tough call to make.

Even if the backboard swings like a pendulum, there's no call if it was a legitimate block attempt.
the default setting is that it was a legitimate block attempt.

I had this play happen a week or so ago and I, also, was the L. BI or goaltending was called.

I didn't stop play. Why? I was the lead and I wasn't looking up there. I had no idea if the ball was touched or not touched and whether there may have been goaltending involved. Goaltending and *most* BI plays belong to the outside officials. I officiated my part of the play and had no foul.

C made a call, nobody complained, and we continued on.

It was only during a later timeout I asked if he had contact with the ball. The C wasn't entirely sure and felt he might have missed it. So be it -- we all miss stuff -- and I stand by the notion that I had no business coming in there as I had no idea why he called what he called. I don't go on fishing expeditions when I officiate, after all.

Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by deecee (Post 1000938)

Billy, you should have a limit on number of characters you are allowed to post per thread.

This ain't Twitter.

I recently sent Forum Treasurer Mark Padgett my annual dues, $25.00 cash, in small unmarked bills, as he instructed, so I can use as many characters as I want.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillyMac (Post 1000990)

This ain't Twitter.

I recently sent Forum Treasurer Mark Padgett my annual dues, $25.00 cash, in small unmarked bills, as he instructed, so I can use as many characters as I want.

Wanna bet? :D

Slapped Backboard ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam (Post 1000940)

Even if the backboard swings like a pendulum, there's no call if it was a legitimate block attempt.

For the benefit of non-officials here on the Forum, I would like to add: Even if the ball is balancing on the ring, about to fall into the basket, and the backboard is "swinging like a pendulum" due to a legitimate block attempt, that resulted from an unbelievably hard slap on the backboard, causing the ball to bounce off the ring, preventing the ball from going in the basket, and everybody, and their mother, is screaming "Goaltending", or "Basket interference", the official cannot award the goal, and since it's a slap caused by a legitimate block attempt, the official can't even charge a technical foul.

And even if the official doesn't believe that it was a legitimate attempt to block the shot, the official still can't award the basket. All that can be done is to charge a technical foul, two free throws by any member of the offensive team, and the ball at the division line. The official can't award the basket, even if the backboard comes crashing to the floor.

Why do such incorrect myths regarding this situation exist. I believe that it's because, about thirty years ago, a legitimate attempt to block a shot that resulted in a slapped backboard could result in a technical foul if the backboard, or ring, vibrated during the shot attempt. That rule was removed from the rulebook a long, long time ago, yet the myth persists.

I only go back thirty-six years, but I believe that the official was never allowed to count the basket under any of these circumstances.

Twelve years ago, this situation was one of the first things that I wrote in my list of The Most Misunderstood Basketball Rules.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich (Post 1000996)

Wanna bet? :D

I almost lost it in a room full of coworkers and managers. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by deecee (Post 1000686)

This happened in a game for me last year. Partner calls the T as the T, and I thought it was a great block attempt. I asked him if he thought it was a legal block attempt, which is the threshold at the HS level. He said he did not, that ended the conversation and we adjudicated the penalty.

I thought he was wrong since the play was on a fast break and I had a pretty good angle, and quite frankly the kid barely missed the block (although the backboard was hit very hard, I think its the severity of the hit to the backboard that throws guys off). I'm not going to argue, he cited all I needed to hear for his call, he gets to defend it to the coach, and we move on with the game.

Big difference here. This is a judgment call (not that I agree with the call) and in the OP it's misapplication of a rule.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich (Post 1000946)

Move yourself to C, and T makes the call...do you still ignore it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MechanicGuy (Post 1001017)

Move yourself to C, and T makes the call...do you still ignore it?

Only if I'm 100% sure that the T knows that the ball didn't get hit (that we have legitimate GT or BI). And then I'm just offering information -- he's gotta be the one to change his own call.