Over the Back

[BSBAL18]

So "over the back" is not a foul, or even a rule. I know this...

So watching my daughters 8th grade game (illinois), the ref blows his whistle and when he makes the hand motion to the desk, he puts both hands up and bends his hands downward as if "over the back" was called.

Is that even a real gesture to the scoring bench? I about lost my cookies when the REFEREE is stating over-the-back???

[BillyMac]

Over the back is not a foul. There must be illegal contact to have a foul. A taller player may often be able to get a rebound over a shorter player, even if the shorter player has good rebounding position. If the shorter player is displaced, then a pushing foul must be called. A rebounding player, with an inside position, while boxing out, is not allowed to push back, or displace, an opponent, which is a pushing foul.

Things Officials Should Probably Not Be Saying In A Game

Calvin Coolidge once said, "The things I did not say never hurt me." Of course, he was not talking about basketball, but many officials would be smart to heed his sage advice as they communicate with coaches, and players.

Good communication skills are important tools to have on any official’s tool belt. Good communication with a partner, with a player, or with a coach, can go a long way to maintaining control of the game, having good game management, and having a smooth game. Sometimes this communication takes place in oral form, talking to players, or coaches, in some cases to explain a ruling, or in other cases to prevent a violation, or a foul. However, probably for reasons of tradition, there have been things that officials often, or sometimes, say during a game that do not have any basis in the rules, and should probably not be said in a game. This article will cover some of those “best left unsaid” statements.

"Over the back", reported by an official to the table on a rebounding foul, is, in reality, probably a pushing foul. Over the back is not necessarily a foul. There must be illegal contact to have a foul. A taller player may often be able to get a rebound over a shorter player, even if the shorter player has good rebounding position. If the shorter player is displaced, then a pushing foul must be called, and this should be reported to the table as such.

Finally, a thought by social commentator Will Rogers, “Never miss a good chance to shut up.”

[Nevadaref]

Welcome to middle school basketball. The refs who handle those games generally are not the top people in the area. Of course, some are excellent, but many are whoever is available in the early afternoon.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Welcome to middle school basketball. The refs who handle those games generally are not the top people in the area. Of course, some are excellent, but many are whoever is available in the early afternoon.

On behalf of the many excellent old-timer experienced veteran officials, retired-from-day-jobs, available in the mid-afternoon, some challenged with chronic old-age orthopedic problems, but who march-on because they love basketball officiating, and are needed by their local assigner to fill those difficult-to-fill mid-afternoon middle school assignments, I thank Nevadaref for his recognition.

I worked a middle school game this past season with a fifty-plus-year officiating veteran who is still doing some varsity games. Those middle school kids got a total of more than ninety years of basketball officiating experience working their game that afternoon. Not too shabby for a middle school game.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BSBAL18

... he puts both hands up and bends his hands downward as if "over the back" was called.

Was this the signal?

[JRutledge]

There is a signal at the college ranks that allows for you to put your arms out to explain a foul, so it is possible the official observed that and used in incorrectly. But there is nothing that suggests "over the back" as a foul. Even the signal I described is not for any such foul.

Peace

[WhistlesAndStripes]

Originally Posted by BSBAL18

Is that even a real gesture to the scoring bench?

And what in the hell is “the scoring bench”??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by WhistlesAndStripes

And what in the hell is “the scoring bench”?

My best guess: In some (not many) high school gyms here in my little corner of Connecticut, the removable table is actually joined to the bleachers, and the scorekeepers and timekeepers actually sit on long bleacher benches rather than individual chairs.