Hey, I'm pretty new to the officiating world. I just started a few weeks ago and have refereed a few middle school games. I have a few questions.

Recently I made a call where a player jumped up for a shot but then came back down with the ball when a player blocked the shot. What is the ruling about this?

Also, if a player is shooting two free throws and does not hit rim on the first of two, does he still get to shoot the next shot? Is any type of penalty assessed?

Sorry if these are easy or stupid... please help.

Welcome to the board!
 

Glad to have you on! Hope you stay for a while. Everyone here is a student of the game, as far as I can tell. Except Bballcoach.

1) If you feel the block prevented the release, jump ball. If you think the kid just changed his mind, travel.

2) He still gets the next shot. No penalty except the embarrassment!

Welcome to the wonderful world of officiating. To answer your questions:

1) Jump ball. Travel is only called if the ball was never touched by the other player. I almost always give the benifit of the doubt that the player was trying to shoot and was prevented.

2) This is a violation. But since it is the first of two, that means the first free throw ended with a violation and we are ready for the second. We do it again then we give it to the other team. Are you confused. Good. The simple answer is to ignore it and go to the second free throw.

You may want to reconsider that statement, Tim. It's wrong. If the defender's touching prevented the shooter from releasing the ball on a pass or shot, you have a held ball. See casebook play 4.25.2. If you feel that the defender's touching did not prevent a pass or a shot, it is a travel- as per case book play 4.43.3SitA(c). Both calls are judgement calls by the official.

JR,
I had that case book play two nights ago.
The 6'3" kid that came back down with the ball was a varsity sophomore, or freshman. The look on his face, after my whistle blew, told me he just saw a light go on.
The good young ones will learn.
mick

Tim,

You really need to check out the casebook on this call. I have had that play twice this year. The first time, I blew my whistle, hesitated a split second to hash over in my brain what had just happened and called a travel. The funny thing is that the public address announcer goes "TRAVEL?". It sounded like Jim Mora when he said, "Playoffs?" Game management told me they went to the announcer and said, "I don't know if he can T you up, but I can remove you." I asked the announcer at half time and he just said he hasn't ever seen that call. I said, "you probably have never read a rule book, either." It is a strange play usually the ball is hit from the side rather than on top of the ball. If the player doesn't lose control of the ball, it is a travel.

How far back can we remember?
 

Many years ago, it was always a travel. A jump ball was only called if there was joint possession for 1 second or more. Can anybody rembember when this changed?

Re: How far back can we remember?
 

Butch,to be quite honest(in my 45 years), I can't ever remember there ever being an interpretation about held balls that involved any specified time period at all. As far as I know, it was always up to the individual official's judgement as to whether a player could do, or not do, something with the ball.

Of course, I've been wrong before too.

Re: Re: How far back can we remember?
 

Well, I could have an incorrect memory, and since I've got 13 years on you it's possible that my brain cells are messed up completely. On the other hand, my recollection of the 1 second interpretation dates back to 1960-61 in France when I played HS club ball while my father was in the Foreign Service there.

Uh, Butch ?
 

JR was talking years of officiatin'.
mick

Re: Uh, Butch ?
 

Dang, JR, you're the MAN! I will cease making self-deprecating remarks based on my my age - I don't want to offend my seniors ;).

Back on point, a little, does anybody know when the block of a shot release became an automatic jump (held) ball instead of a travel?

I still can't follow on what you are arguing or where I am wrong. If the player by blocking the shot prevents the releasing of a ball it is a held ball. I've read both cases mentioned above and that is exactly what I have been calling.

Jr's post (above) explains how the ball may be touched and a travel may still be adjudged.

Tim, your statement in your post concerned "touching" the ball, not "blocking" the ball.You can have a travel on an airborne shooter if the defender merely <b>touches</b> the ball, as per casebook play 4.43.3SitA(b). Your post above stated the you couldn't have a travel <b>ever</b> if the ball was just touched. That's obviously wrong, as per the cited case book play.

Picture this
 

A1 drives the lane. B1 is in LGP with hands straight up. A1 jumps, pump fakes, and the ball makes contact with the arm or hand of B1, who keeps his arms straight out because he has 4 fouls. A1 realizes his shot doesn't have a chance, panics, and pulls the ball back. Upon landing, there is no way you could call that a jump ball. It's a travel.