Unannounced Rules Book Revisions

[bucky]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

The oldest rulebook that I've kept is 1996-97, and that rulebook, and more recent rulebooks, do not show a 28 foot hash mark on the playing court diagram. All of my IAABO Mechanics Manuals do not show a 28 foot hash mark on the playing court according to the "The Court As Officials See It" diagrams.

I'm guessing that the 28 foot hashmark disappeared in the early 1990's, around the same time that the NFHS did away with the reset of the closely guarded dribble count (midcourt to forecourt), and got rid of the lack of action rule.

We can talk about a distance 28 feet from the endline, but we can't talk about a 28 foot hashmark. By rule it's not there any more (we no longer divide the midcourt from the forecourt). It may still be painted on some high school, and middle school, courts, but, by rule, it's no longer there.

Now, would somebody please get out their protractor, yardstick, pencil, scissors, and floor tape, and please tell me exactly what the hell this means (below):

1-13-2: A line, perpendicular to the 28-foot line and placed at each end, with a minimum length of 2 feet, shall be extended toward the team bench so that the coaching box boundary is evident.

Stat-Man's diagram came close, but there should be no lines extending onto the playing court. There should just be lines on the out of bounds side of the sideline. The 28 foot hashmark can't be there, because the rules say it it no longer exists (even if it's still painted on the playing court of your local gym).

It just says "...the 28-foot line.." and does not mention the word "hashmark."