Rip Through

[jakeas2]

Curious what the contingent here thinks about the "Rip through" foul that goes on in the NBA. The play I am referencing is where the offense is outside the 3 point arc and the defender has a hand out guarding. The offense then "rips through" and acts as though they were attempting a shot. It is called in the NBA just about every time. I had this situation come up in a high school game the other day and I passed on it. My main reason was that the offense was out by the volleyball line and it was clear that the defense did nothing wrong, in my opinion. I'm just curious if anyone else has seen this in high school/college and what your take on calling a foul is.

[Jay R]

My feeling is that it depends on the level. At the lower levels, it happens infrequently and when it does occur a foul is not necessarily expected.

The NBA has evolved in terms of how it referees rip throughs, it used to be it was always a shooting foul. Now if the rip through goes side to side, the foul is called non-shooting. When I call a foul, I use the NBA philosophy since FIBA (in Canada) has never specified how it should be interpreted.

[LRZ]

I do not know this term. Perhaps someone can post a video?

[Jay R]

Originally Posted by LRZ

I do not know this term. Perhaps someone can post a video?

A good source is the NBA Video Rulebook. Check under "Other Fouls" and you will see "Rip Throughs and Lunge Aways"

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by jakeas2

My main reason was that the offense was out by the volleyball line and it was clear that the defense did nothing wrong, in my opinion.

The defender having their arms other than vertical when contact occurs is what the defender did wrong. If it causes the ball handler to lose the ball, you can't not have a foul. If the ball handler doesn't lose the ball, you can possibly pass on it.

I would not be likely to go with a shooting foul, however, unless the motion really looked like a shot leading up to the contact.

[bucky]

The NBA addresses it on their own with specific rulings/mechanics. The NBA allows more hand-on defender stuff so it occurs with regularity. For college and HS, I like it for calling fouls on the defense with the hands/arms horizontal into the offensive player's space. It cuts down on hand-checking, arm bars, swinging elbows, etc. I like the college rule regarding personal cylinders. It just makes for a cleaner game and less on-ball garbage. Usually at the MS/HS level, a verbal "easy" is enough to get those horizontal arms out of there.