Illegal Dribble

[Hawks Coach]

Originally posted by theboys
I think an even more difficult call to make is the pass that bounces off the receiver's hand, hits the floor, then is caught by the receiver. The difficult part is whether to call a double dribble when the ball handler then puts the ball on the floor and takes off.

This should be an easy call, but many refs use the "when in doubt, it's a dribble" mentality. It's always important to remember that a ball hitting the floor is not the same thing as a dribble. And most offensive players try to catch then dribble, so a pass going off hands and to the floor is almost always a fumble - it should clearly be a dribble to be ruled as such.