I can't believe......

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

There are many things officials do not know, even the most obvious things to us.

Last year I called a kicked ball on team A (offense) as T, point to the throw-in spot for Team B, and my partner gives me that look. He tells me that I am wrong, it is Team A ball, only kicked ball violations on the defense are penalized!!

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

... only kicked ball violations on the defense are penalized!!

Maybe in practice, but not in theory. Any intentional kick is a violation, the way that James Naismith and God intended. A defensive player often kicks the ball intentionally as a defensive move to stop a pass (picture guards at the front of a zone defense doing jumping jacks). One has to ask themselves why would an offensive player intentionally kick a ball when it would seldom be a good offensive move (there are often more efficient ways of moving the ball from one location to another). A general rule of thumb (utilized incorrectly by ChuckS's partner) is that many, though certainly not all, defensive kicks are intentional, and thus, violations; and that many, though certainly not all, offensive kicks are unintentional, and play on.

Back in ancient times, when I was working boys high school recreation, I had a ball handler lose the handle on the ball as he was on a fast break with a teammate ahead of him wide open. The ball handler kicked the loose ball from the floor to his teammate for a wide open layup. I called the violation and the coach complained that it wasn't a defensive kick. I replied that I believed that it was kicked intentionally. I later discovered that the ball handler was an All State soccer player.