NBA Free Throw Mechanics Question
 

In NBA (and G-League) games, you see the Slot official (Center official in amateur mechanics) administering the 1st of multiple free throws or an only free throw. This practice is not found at any other level of basketball. Where did it originate from, and why do NBA-affiliated officials do that? Is there any advantage to having the Slot administer the 1st free throw in a sequence, or is it just another attempt to be different from other leagues?

In the NBA Officials Manual (2018-19 edition), the Free Throw Attempts (Responsibilities) section says: "Line up the players as soon as possible. The official in the lead position will administer all free throws. You must make certain that there are two offensive and two defensive players on the lane lines before passing the ball to the free throw shooter. A third defensive player on the lane line is optional." Does the manual say that because no one bothered to update that section, or is it because the NBA Operations Department actually wants officials to do that? I'm curious, because all officials from the G-League to NBA Finals officials have the Slot hand off the ball for the 1st free throw, with no apparent backlash for not following proper mechanics.

FED used to do something like that, but I think maybe it was only for two person.

Gets more officials involved in the communication adn to be sure all is set on the FT lane before administering.

That's an interesting idea. If that was the case, then the Slot would also hand the ball off for the 2nd and for other free throws that would go live, or this would be adopted by levels other than the NBA. Right now, this is is a standard, albeit officially unapproved, practice in the NBA and G-League.

You only need the communication on the first so all know (or confirm) that it's 1, or 2, or 3, or 1-for2, etc.

No one gets confused on the subsequent, and once players are in the required spaces, someone continues to fill that spot.

From what I understand it was implemented as a time-saving mechanic.

And obviously NBA officials didn't unilaterally just start doing it on their own.

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How does it save time?

Agreed.

It's something I read or heard directly from an NBA official.



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I am not questioning you. I am just curious as to how ti saves time. If it does, I'd be in favor of implementing it at all levels.

Kind of fuzzy on the conversation/details because I really didn't care, but I believe it's intended to get the players lined up quicker.

I want to say it was part of a package of changes that were made to speed up the game.

I work a Pro-Am every summer that uses NBA rules, and we are expected to know the rules and mechanics no matter what level we work normally.

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"at all levels"
 

If "at all levels," you mean sub-varsity, not just NCAA, NFHS and FIBA, I doubt it would save time in 2-ref sub-varsity games.

In the old days, with two officials, the T would step into the lane with the ball, announce the number of shots, turn and hand the ball to the shooter, then step out and back. If I recall correctly, it was precisely to speed things up that the mechanic was changed to have the L administer FTs.

Why must 2-ref and 3-ref systems have the same mechanic on FTs, besides some abstract notion of consistency? Refs can adapt easily enough. Besides, if you hustle, get players lined up quickly and keep the game moving, how much more time would actually be saved?

Ancient Times ...
 

LRZ has a good memory. That was a really long time ago.

And if I recall correctly, the trail official was always on the left side of the free throw shooter (Cadillac position).

https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.4...=0&w=311&h=208

I think your recollection is accurate, BillyMac. In those days, we always "worked right," I think we called it: ie, as we faced the basket, with the play ahead of us, we were on the left side of the court, with the action ahead and to our right. If we had to be on the other side of the court, for a TI, perhaps, the mechanic was for the T to swing back over to the left side when he/she could, and then the L would rotate in tandem.

Working Opposite In Ancient Times ...
 

Again, LRZ is correct.

We called this "working opposite". The trail dictated how long we would work opposite.

Different officials had different tolerances for how long they could work opposite. Some guys didn't mind it and we could go up and down the court a few times working opposite. Others, as the trail, swung around to working Cadillac position as soon as they could after the throwin, so fast it would make your head spin, even if it meant not covering the action from the best position.

Decades later, to this day, I'm still more comfortable as the new lead running up the court looking over my left shoulder (Cadillac position) than as the new lead running up the court looking over my right shoulder (working opposite).

And if I'm diagramming primary coverage areas to a rookie, I will always start the diagram with the Cadillac position.

A few years ago, after reporting a shooting foul to the table, as I became the new trail after a switch, I went to the left of the free throw shooter rather than opposite the table which was to the right of the free throw shooter (my partner, as lead, simply moved across the lane).

I swear that it was more than just a brain fart, but something that came up unconsciously from deep within the dark recesses of my mind.

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M...=0&w=220&h=166

Used to be in 3-Person too. The Center used to administer the first of multiple FTs. It was that way for the first few years of my career, then they made the lead administer everything.

Peace

The board/association I currently work for in Virginia still uses this old school mechanic for 2-person. They even still call it Cadillac. I’d bet we’re as rare as a multiple foul in that regard.


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Rip Van Winkle ......
 

Do you still have to climb up ladders to get the ball out of the peach baskets?

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.J...=0&w=253&h=191

So the NBA mechanic on free throws is a holdover from how 3-person mechanics used to be? Perhaps NBA just borrowed free throw mechanics from the old high school and college 3-person mechanics, since they didn't have their own 3-person mechanics until the 1988-89 season, aside from a 1-season experiment in 1978-79.

In that case, it might make sense why thr language in the manual is as it is. The manual seems to reflect more modern officiating practices. However, one of the more recent supervisors must have changed the free throw practices back, without editing the mechanics manual to reflect the new (old) changes.

Ed Rush said that the NBA "wanted the Slot to control the lane". Was that also the reasoning under old HS and college 3-person mechanics to having the Center administer the 1st free throw?

I really don't think anybody here is putting that much thought into it. We all do whatever the mechanic is for the level we're working.

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I do not remember exactly what the NBA was doing at that time. I know when I stared in 96, we were doing the mechanic with the C administering the first of multiple FTs. I do also remember that this must did not change until later in the early 2000s as I remember a friend of mine working the McDonald's All-American Game and he would talk about this mechanic as he would get in the camera view when a player was about to take a free throw attempt. I am pretty sure the mechanics were the same for both levels of college as well. What year that change took place, I cannot tell you off the bat of my head. But probably somewhere between 2000 and 2004.

As Raymond said, we did not think about it that much. When the change was made we changed. I thought it was a good change at the time but it took some getting used to for the first few games, after that it was like riding a bike.

Peace

Hurry up and wait...
 

As to speeding up the game. G-League has an experimental rule this season to only shoot 1 FT regardless. Slot administers.

In final 2 minutes it reverts to normal number of shots where slot administers first and trail handles any remaining.

Why would the trail handle the remaining? Wouldn't it be the lead? That would make more sense. (I don't watch any G-league, so I wouldn't actually know what they're doing)

Of course, you're correct. Let me correct it.

Since the NBA resumed play in the bubble, Lead now handles the ball on all free throws. This change has persisted into the 2020-21 NBA season as well. I don't know if it is a temporary thing due to the virus, or a permanent shift in the NBA mechanics.

I'm not that old and I remember when the T (in 2-person) handed the ball on EVERY free throw. That's how my career started. And then there were no games worked 3-person in HS basketball.

I *almost* had to work 2-person on Friday night. Oh, the horrors.

This did not change until the early 2000s. I did not understand why the NBA wanted to do this again in the first place.

Peace

Cadillac Position ...
 

And in ancient times the NFHS had the trail, on free throws (and most other times), always positioned on the left side of the free throw shooter.

https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.s...=0&w=227&h=171

Wimpy Bounce Pass ...
 

1999-2000. After the trail stated the number of free throws the lead bounced the ball to the trail.

It was supposed to be crisp, well timed bounce pass, or the lead heard about it later in the locker room.