Errant pass from A1 to A2 bounds towards sideline directly towards coach of team B who is legally standing and coaching his players. A2 has a play to save the ball, but Coach B instinctively grabs the ball as it is coming towards him.

1) In your judgment, Coach B actually touched the ball while it was still over the playing court.

2) In your judgment, Coach B touched the ball while it was over the out-of-bounds area.

What do you have?

Thanks,

Z

Both cases are an easy T if a player from Team A has a chance to play the ball.

Sitch 1 is a T, regardless. Just my 2 cents

Sitch 1 --Technical Foul.

Sitch 2 -- No clue.

AAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!! 20 seconds!! And you're not even on IM. Absolutely.....

I would have to be very confident that Team A was going to make a play before I would "see" the coach interfering with an errant pass and call anything besides OOB off Team A.

A techinical is a pretty severe penalty if the coach is legally standing there coaching when Team A throws the ball at him and he instictively protects himself...

I'm thinking tough luck, bad pass A1, you loose, B's ball.

Where in the rules is the justification for a Technical Foul? even if the ball was over the playing court. It obviously isn't right that bench personnel can interfere with play on the court but where in the rules? 10-4-1?

# 1 he gets a T for touching the ball inbounds. I know he's going to yell but so will the other coach if you don't. Also he should know better than to touch a live ball.

# 2 out of bounds on A1, B's ball. Then tell the other coach as he's screaming at me about it. Teach your kids to make better passes coach.

Just my two cents

I've always been taught that a "T" is used to make the game better. In this sitch, I don't see the justification for Ting the coach unless it was a blatant attempt to interfere with the pass.

If an A team player has the chance to play the ball, then that player is right there in the picture. Coach B has no excuse to touch the ball, no matter whether it's over the court or not. If the ball is over the playing court, this can't be just a reaction -- the coach has got to know he's interfering. If it's over the OOB area, and the coach sort of puts up his hands and the ball falls into the hands, well, that's one thing. But if there's a player that has a chance to get the ball, or if the coach reaches out to touch it, it's interference, isn't it?

The official has to judge the actions of the coach in both cases.

The pertinent rules are 10-4-1, 4-19-13, and 7-1-2b.

The first says that bench personnel shall not commit an unsporting foul. The second defines an unsporting foul as consisting of unfair, unethical or dishonorable conduct.

I believe that this is the proper justification for a technical foul against the coach, if the official feels that he purposely interfered with play to disadvantage the opponents.

The last rule cited simply tells us that the ball becomes dead when it touches any person other than a player who is on or outside the boundary line.

I was doing some thinking about this rule after another thread on this board and noticed that there is very little in the rules book about outside interference! I can only find 2-8-1 Note: "The home management or game committee is responsible for spectator behavior, insofar as it can reasonably be expected to control the spectators. The officials may call fouls on either team if its supporters act in such a way as to interfere with the proper conduct of the game. Discretion must be used in calling such fouls, however, lest a team be unjustly penalized."
As well as the related comments in the casebook.

Of course, a problem arises if the outside interference does not warrant a technical foul.
For example, if fans are seated very close to a boundary line, as they are in some of the smaller HS gyms, and a play occurs where a player has a very good opportunity of saving a ball from going OOB and a fan simply reaches up and catches or blocks it to protect himself. It doesn't really matter what side of the boundary plane the ball was on; the official has a tough decision to make: Follow 7-1-2b to the letter and call the OOB violation, or maybe use 2-3 and decide what to do about the fan interference.

What do you think?

Although I agree with you, this statement to a coach could get you in trouble.

Coach interference
 

Bottom line? ----> I think you really have to sell it! Regardless of what you call; however, If in sit. 1, the coach "intentionally" grabbed the ball T him, and tell him, "shame on him!" Or as was mentioned, in judgment if A1 cannot get the ball ignore it and take the heat from A coach.

If it's a tight game in the clutch, you'd better be smoothh about it, too. Tuff, job, eh? lol

goodluck...nice one, though.

Chuck,
I can agree with throw-in to A in situation 1, but not a "T" unless the ball was intentionally grabbed in an unsporting act.

In situation B, even with A having a chance to save, if we replace legally placed Coach B with Fan A, Fan B or Fan E, I can see <u>ball to B</u>.
What way could we possibly rationalize a difference between a bench participant and a fan, all legally located? In baseball, we can penalize a base coach for not moving, but I see no corresponding rule in hoops.

mick

Hmmmm. Maybe I'm having a flashback to my USBL games. . .

I just looked through Rule 10 and the only reference to interference is after a made basket.

If the ball hits a legally located coach, so that s/he can't get out of the way, then fine; it's like the ball went into the stands. But if the coach "grabs" the ball, especially if it's still over the playing court, s/he has taken away a chance for a player to make a play on the ball. That doesn't seem like a mere OOB situation to me.

Ok, I am no longer happy with my initial answer. But I'm hoping somebody will give some rationale to show that it was right, anyway (other than the NBA case book).

Nevadaref,

A player twisting an falling to avoid a 2-year-old on the court....
A player traveling after being bumped by a fan close to the line....
A player's pass being affected by a teenager strolling by and looking into the stands....

I can easily go with POI with inadvertent interference.

mick

Hate when this happens
 

Had almost this exact play happen. I was standing in my legally appointed box and the ball flew into me. I didn't catch it but it hit me square. No time to avoid, and really no reason - I didn't prevent the closest player from making a play, even though she was pursuing the ball.

The opposing bench screamed, the ref got that cartoonish wide-eyed oh "shoot" expression on his face, then opted to call if off the "black" coach, white ball (this is a color of uniform description, not a racail commentary by the ref :) ). I tried to explain that I was not a player and the ball can only be oob off a player, and he told me that I had to avoid the ball - if I got hit, it was off me. Must be one of the new rule changes I didn't read yet.