A short course in English grammar.

The actual text of rule 10-4-3 is: "A player shall not: ...Grasp either basket at any time during the game except to prevent injury; dunk or stuff, or attempt to dunk or stuff a dead ball."

The phrase starting with "except to..." ends at the semicolon. Nothing after the semicolon is part of the exception. A separate thought begins with "dunk or stuff, ..."

Here is how a semicolon is used in writing.

1. Semicolons | Punctuation Rules - GrammarBook.com
   
   www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/semicolons.asp
   
   Use a semicolon in place of a period to separate two sentences where the conjunction has been left out.
   
   

You are misreading the text. You are including "dunk or stuff" as part of the exception to the prohibition on grasping the basket (which includes the ring). That is not correct. Preventing injury is the only exception. You should be reading the rule as two separate prohibitions on players as follows.

1. A player shall not grasp either basket at any time during the game except to prevent injury.

2. A player shall not dunk or stuff, or attempt to dunk or stuff a dead ball.

NevadaRef:

Thank you. I could not have said it better or as concisely as you did.

MTD, Sr.

Garden Variety ...
 

Agree and agree. The video shows a garden variety dunk, and just a dunk, nothing more to see here folks, move along.

Yes, wholeheartedly agree and very happy to see someone point that out. Now, on the other foot, we are assuming that the NFHS writers/publishers/editors are indeed also aware of the proper usage of a semi-colon. The NFHS people may very well have meant something different. They have had and have plenty of other grammar errors.

So, everyone here, including myself, has not been issuing a T for dunking when threat of injury is absent. Hey, my tagline comes into play again.:rolleyes:

Unless of course a different rule/case/citation dictates otherwise.;)

I seriously had no idea that dunking in high school was illegal. My mind is blown. I always read it as an exception to grasping the rim. Luckily, I don't see a lot of dunks in my part of the country.

The Lollipop Guild ...
 

Munchkinland?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...hkins-film.jpg

Pretty much.

I assume this was supposed to be in blue font.

(To be clear -- it's only illegal to dunk (or attempt to dunk) a dead ball.)

Because it is not interpreted that tightly?

I think dunking in itself has a threat of injury just with the fact of what you are doing. No one in their right mind is going to penalize someone when their momentum is stopped out of the air because they grab something. I would want players to feel comfortable that they are not going to land wrong when they let go. That is a lot different than pulling up or swinging excessively.

Peace

What about Nevadaref's grammar lesson?

What about it? It said nothing about not being able to dunk. But, read literally, it says that while dunking you can't grasp the rim.

The interpretation used to be closer to literal than it is now. But even back when the hand wrapping and instantly letting go (as in the video) wasn't called. And I think it was in the 80s that the language was added about holding on for protection. When I watch HS games, it seems that the exception largely swallowed the rule--absent showboating few refs are going to say that a player stayed on the rim other than to protect himself. (I think the permissiveness pendulum has swung too far, but its hard to believe it will swing back--and if it does, calling a T on the dunk in the video is swinging way too far the other direction.)

"What you are doing"? You could say that about walking, running, jumping, etc.

Plus, as has been indicated in other threads, the player initiates the threat by grabbing. Here is an idea, mitigate the threat by not grabbing.

So who is misreading what?

You. I'm not sure why I'm responding, as it is pretty clear if you read what he wrote, or if you pay attention to what Bob already posted.

In Nevada Ref's well explained parsing, #1 does nothing to preclude dunking. But as I said, literally read, it prohibits grasping the rim while dunking--unless being done to prevent injury. And # 2 does not preclude dunking, it precludes dunking a dead ball.

1. A player shall not grasp either basket at any time during the game except to prevent injury.

2. A player shall not dunk or stuff, or attempt to dunk or stuff a dead ball.

Penalty = Technical foul.

1. This is rarely, and I mean rarely, ever called, especially as a percentage.

2. I have neither seen a T, nor anything else, called for that.

Let's face it, dunking and grasping the rim is a rule that is rarely enforced. I say eliminate it. Do not eliminate excessive grabbing, hanging, pulling, etc. but merely a grasp should be allowed by rule.