Guarding/Screening Equals Block/Charge Play.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

I) Let us first start by reviewing the Fundamentals of Guarding and Screening.

A) We shall assume than in any Situation, that unless noted, the Ball is Live.

B) We shall use standard notation of Team A and Team B and that when there is Team Control of the Ball it is Team A in Control of the Ball.

C) The Guarding Rule is in Effect only when there is Team Control of the Ball and applies to the Players on the Team which does not have Control of the Ball.

D) The Screening Rule is in Effect at all times whether or not there is
Team Control of the Ball and applies to all Players both Defensive (YES, Defensive Players can set Screens.) and Offensive Players when one Team does have Control of the Ball.


II) During any game an Official makes hundreds of YES (that is legal)-NO (that is not legal) Decisions. And many times the Official must process multiple Rules simultaneously to make his Decision.

A) It has been my experience that Officials (myself included as a young inexperienced Official), when officiating any situations between a Defensive Player and an Offensive Player who is in Control of the Ball, the Official's default setting is to apply the Guarding Rule. But in many cases the Screening Rule is the correct applicable Rule because the Official does not start to officiate the Play until possible contact is imminent; in otherwords the Official does not officiate the Play from Start to End.


III) Where did the Play actually start? To answer that question in our Play we need to to quote Warner Wolf: "Lets go to the videotape!" (Who is Warner Wolf: I am a bald old geezer for another time, !)

A) At approximately 0:01.9: W1, caught a Pass from W2 and gained Control of the Ball in Team W's Front Court between just inside the Division Line and the Top of the Key Extended along the Volleyball Court's Side Line and started Dribbling along a Line described by the VB Court's SL.

B) At approximately 0:02.1: B1 started running parallel to W1 along a line described as halfway between the FT Lane extended on the same side of the Court as W1 and the VB Court's SL.

C) At approximately 0:02.9: W1 changes directions and moves toward B1 who is still moving along his same path.

D) At approximately 0:03.1: W1 makes contact with B1 who has not changed his path.

E) Therefore the anwer to the question is found in III-B.


IV) Legal Position on the Court: It could be said that B1 did not set a legal Screen per NFHS R4-S40-A2c and A6 which both describe the Screener and the Opponent moving in the same Path and Direction. BUT:

A) Within NFHS R4-S23-A1 we find the sentence that is applicable to both Guarding and Screening Situations: "Every player is entitled to a spot on the playing court provided such player gets there first without illegally contacting an opponent."

B) B1 is running down the Court in a path that is parallel to the path in which W1 is Dribbling.

C) As long as both B1 and W1 continue to run on their parallel paths they are both entitled to any spot that they are instantaneously occupying on the Court.

D) Both B1 and W1 can deviate from their initial paths.

1) BUT, when either Player deviates from his initial path then the appropriate Guarding or Screening Rule apply and the Player that violates the appropriate Guarding or Screening Rule has committed a Blocking or Charging Foul.

E) From the videotape (III-C and III-D) we see that B1 never deviated from his path while W1 changed direction and moved into B1 causing Contact. B1 is has committed a Charging Foul.

1) B1 in the Play which we are discussing effected a legal moving Screen throughout the Play from the Start (III-B) of the Play until the End (III-D) of the Play.

2) At anytime between III-B and III-C if either Player deviated (which W1 did at III-C) from his Path and subsequently made contact (which W1 did at III-D) with his Opponent he would be guilty of Illegal Contact.

3) It should be noted that until III-C B1 was effecting a legal moving Screen against W1 and W1 was effecting a legal moving Screen against B1.


Because this Play had a BANG-BANG ending it is a great example of seeing the entire Play and how an Official must process multiple Rules simultaneously throughout the Play.

MTD, Sr.

Unfortunately, everything in this post is based upon a false premise and that makes the entire logical reasoning provided also render a false conclusion. Sorry, MTD, but you are incorrect.

Here is why the above is not true.
The two players involved in this play W1 and B1 are moving in PARALLEL paths in the same direction. They are like two cars driving side-by-side in two lanes of a freeway.
This action does NOT constitute screening according the the NFHS rules as MTD claims.

NFHS rule 4-40-2c is "The screener must be stationary, except when both the screener and the opponent are moving in the same path and same direction."

So per NFHS rules there are ONLY TWO types of legal screens: one in which the screener is stationary and the other in which both the screener and his opponent are moving in the SAME path and SAME direction.

Moving in the same path and same direction means that the players would be like two cars traveling along the freeway in the SAME lane with one in front of the other. We can determine that this is true and what the NFHS intends with the use of the word "same" by examining NFHS rule 4-40-6 "...When screening an opponent who is moving in the same path and direction as the screener, the player behind is responsible if contact is made because the player in front slows up or stops and the player behind overruns his/her opponent."

This rule tells us that the players are moving with one in front of the other, not side-by-side in parallel paths. That is the necessary movement and configuration (same path and same direction) for a legal moving screen. MTD's parallel paths scenario does not qualify.

Therefore, B1 and W1 are NOT simultaneously setting moving screens on each other as they run down the court in parallel paths as MTD claims and this situation cannot be ajudicated according the the screening rules.

As W1 changes his path and heads toward the basket the two paths are no longer parallel and they begin to converge. The point at which they will converge is where the contact will occur. As an official we can observe this and deduce what is about to happen. What an official must use to determine the proper ruling of the impending contact is the guarding rules detailed in 4-23. As the two paths converge B1 will either obtain initial LGP before the time of contact (reaching the point of convergence) or not. The official must ajudge this and then use that information to rule on the contact. That is the determining factor for two players moving in different paths (but possibly the same direction or very nearly the same direction).