Fun With Dunking ...

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

What state was that about 18 months ago which had this issue during the state finals weekend? I seem to recall that a state interpreter issued a directive for all of the officials to enforce the rule in the manner described above by Billy in his IAABO missive.

Maine.

https://forum.officiating.com/basket...ml#post1018008

Just try naming the last great NBA talent to come straight out of Maine.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

The rule predates breakaway rims. The problem is that the rule does prohibit grasping the basket while dunking the ball. It needs to be updated. Touching the basket is permitted as noted in 4-6-2 Exception. That said, the game has evolved and players have been permitted to grasp the ring while dunking for several years now. Whoever is responsible for this madness taking place in Maine has earned the over-officious award for 2018.

When Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) (UCLA 1966-1969, NBA 1969-1989) started playing basketball for UCLA Bruins, NCAA officials felt that the seven foot, two inch All-American center, being especially tall and athletic, could place the ball over the rim and throw it through the hoop with ease. This feat of athleticism which we all know as the dunk, and seems so routine now, was not so routine back in the mid-1960’s. It was considered unfair that he could do it so easily. So the NCAA banned dunking in 1967. This was called the “Alcindor Rule”. Another reason dunking was outlawed was to prevent injury and equipment damage. A distorted rim could delay a game. As a result of the rule, Alcindor developed a great hook shot, the “Sky Hook”, which he used effectively during his playing days in college, and in the NBA. After multiple issues with the new rule and the invention of the breakaway rim the NCAA allowed the dunk to be legal again during 1976-1977 season which was shortly after UCLA Coach John Wooden's retirement. The “Alcindor Rule” eventually trickled down to NFHS rules. In 1967, the NFHS banned dunking in high school basketball games. In 1970, the NFHS also prohibited dunking during pregame warmups. Like the NCAA, the NFHS reversed itself in 1976 and a rule change allowed dunking during the game but not during pregame warmups, nor during intermissions, and with a later rule change in 1978 outlawing dunking a dead ball.

Darryl Dawkins (NBA 1975-1989), the Philadelphia 76ers six foot, eleven inch, 251 pound center, in a game against the Kansas City Kings at Municipal Auditorium on November 13, 1979 dunked and broke the backboard sending the King’s Bill Robinzine ducking away. Three weeks later he did it again, this time at home against the San Antonio Spurs at the Spectrum. Thus, Dawkins became famous for his backboard shattering dunks and is credited for being the player to cause the NBA to introduce breakaway rims. Breakaway rims are now an essential element of the game of basketball. A broken backboard or distorted rim could delay a game for hours. In 1981 the NFHS adopted specifications for breakaway rims.

Shaquille O'Neal (LSU 1989-1992, NBA 1992-2011) a seven foot, one inch, 325 pound center, was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA. O'Neal dunked with so much power that he broke the steel supports holding backboards during games against the New Jersey Nets and the Phoenix Suns while playing for the Orlando Magic during the 1992–93 NBA season. This prompted the NBA to increase the strength and stability of the backboard supports and change the stanchion design for the following 1993–94 season. The NFHS added backboard support specifications to the rules in 1996-97.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by so cal lurker

The interpretation used to be closer to literal than it is now. But even back when the hand wrapping and instantly letting go (as in the video) wasn't called. And I think it was in the 80s that the language was added about holding on for protection.

In the mid-eighties, I believe that the grasping rule's only exception was to prevent injury to the dunker and to players under the dunker if, and only if, there were players under the dunker.

Then it was changed to a grasp that prevents injury to any player, the dunker (with, or without, players below), or the players below.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

That said, the game has evolved and players have been permitted to grasp the ring while dunking for several years now. Whoever is responsible for this madness taking place in Maine has earned the over-officious award for 2018.

The most over-officious award involving a dunk of all-time goes to the college official who, back in the early 1980s, decided, on his way out of the gym to the locker room, to penalize a post game dead ball celebratory one-point victory dunk by a Southern Connecticut State College player. Springfield College tied the game with a technical foul free throw and went on to win the game in overtime. A sad day for the SCSC Owls.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

The most over-officious award involving a dunk of all-time goes to the college official who, back in the early 1980s, decided, on his way out of the gym to the locker room, to penalize a post game dead ball celebratory victory dunk by a Southern Connecticut State College player. Springfield College tied the game with a technical foul free throw and went on to win the game in overtime. A sad day for the SCSC Owls.

I thought that book was about the Cleveland Browns!

MTD, Sr.