6 on the Court -- unnoticed...

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by so cal lurker

Thanks all, that's what I thought -- but I'm biased as my son was playing.

In case anyone is interested in where the question came from, this was in the final minute of a 2 pt game in a tournament elimination bracket. The basket (which was erased) would have tied the game. (I don't know who they relied on to decide that there were 6 on the floor -- it might have been the scorer, it might have been the tournament official who came onto the floor. Or perhaps they saw that there were 6 walking off the court after the TO.)

While I thought that was the technical answer, it's hard to complain too much about the ultimate fairness, as my son's team did have 6 on the floor, and its hard to argue the steal was not aided by the extra player.

Even if they noticed the 6 players on the court before any time-out was granted, you still cannot erase the basket unless they are playing under NBA rules.