Player out of bounds and returning

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Never. Had a partner (high school) call a "not leave the court for an unauthorized reason" (around a screen) violation (he beat me to the punch). I have never called this, but there are times I likely could have during games, but decided against it.

I considered calling a technical foul for a "deceitfully delay returning after legally being out of bounds" but decided to just warn to not do it again (middle school game, delayed after inbounding the ball). I agree with bucky. Please don't ever call this in a MS game. I would have a hard time making a case for my call if the player just stood their out of bounds that he deceitfully delayed in returning to the court. Yes he may have delayed, but just standing their alone doesn't meet the definition of deceitful in my book unless he is doing it right in front of his bench where he could be confused with a team mate on the bench.

I believe that a technical foul is too harsh a penalty for the act. Both acts involve going or staying out of bounds to gain an advantage and both should have the same penalty. I think the key issue is the word deceitful. I would have no problem with a violation being called for a player not returning to the court in a timely manner when legally being out of bounds because that could be they were just a spectator to what is going on. I think a T is appropriate for a player who is intentionally trying to deceive an opponent by being out of bounds. I think there is a reason this is worth a T, as it is an unsportsmanlike act.

If the kid delaying after inbounding the ball had only been a violation, I would have called it. A technical foul seemed too harsh, so I decided to just warn. I would agree with you on this, but at the same time, would a T have been deserved because of the word deceitful?

Certainly not a big deal, but every change for the good or to simplify in the rulebook helps a little.

Response in red