Basket Interference play (Video)

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by billyu2

And, part of the ball is below the base of the cylinder. Basket interference situations involving the cylinder have two requirements: The ball must be in or partially within the cylinder and be above the basket. See any caseplay. It is to be understood the cylinder is only above the basket. So, when the case plays say "in the cylinder above the basket" they are talking about the ball not the cylinder (since there is no such thing as the cylinder below the basket). In the video, while part of the ball is in the cylinder, a portion of the ball is below the lower base of the cylinder so it cannot be said the ball is above the basket.

What you say is true for goaltending, however, it is not for basket interference.

The rules:

Basket interference occurs when a player: Art 2....Touches the ball while any part of the ball is within the imaginary cylinder which has the basket ring as its lower base.

It says absolutely nothing about the ball having to be above the rim. Over half of it must be for some of the ball to be in the cylinder (basic geometry), but that is all that is necessary.

Goaltending, on the other hand, does require the ball to be entirely above the rim....

Goaltending occurs when a player touches the ball during a field-goal try or tap while it is in its downward flight entirely above the basket ring level and has the possibility of entering the basket in flight, or an opponent of the free thrower touches the ball outside the cylinder during a freethrow attempt.

[billyu2]

After seeing the video, I checked all the case plays and illustrations I could find and every one (except one) always described or showed the ball being on or above the rim in cylinder-type violations. I guess that lead me to the conclusion the entire ball had to be above the lower base of the cylinder. The exception came from an old NFHS simplified and illustrated book showing the ball (not touching the cylinder but slightly below the rim) being legally blocked. The final comment did say if the touching had occurred with the ball in or touching the cylinder, it would have been basket interference. So thanks, Camron, for your input and thanks to JRut for posting all these great highlights. They are really tremendous!