legal guarding position

[Hawks Coach]

Originally posted by blindzebra
10-6-2 continues with if A1 gets head and shoulders past the 2 defenders or 1 defender and the boundary, WITHOUT causing contact any subsequent contact puts the greater responsibility on the defender(s).

Directly from 10-6-2
"If a dribbler, without contact, sufficiently passes an opponent to have head and shoulders in advance of that opponent, the greater responsibility for subsequent contact is on the opponent."

Nowhere does 10-6-2 talk about head and shoulders past two opponents, or past an opponent stationary next to the boundary. You are guilty of completely rewriting the rule.

Oh, but 10-6-2, in the immediate sentence before mentions the two opponent situation and the boundary situation, and give a ruling for those consistent with JR's - hence you want to tie that thought to the next sentence, which mentions head and shoulders. However, the sentence following the head and shoulders sentence talks about a dribbler moving in a straight line, which has nothing to do with the head and shoulders scenario, or the trap/boundary scenario. Three scenarios, three different rules related only by the fact that they all involve a dribbler.

In other words, 10-6-2 has within it apples, oranges, and bananas, and it is you who are mixing them and trying to blend two unrelated sentences. 10-6-2 has several unrelated provisions regarding dribblers and the responsibility for contact. I have always felt that the contact section could be better broken up with a), b) c) provisions, but it is not. So let common sense, the casebook, and a simple reading of the entire rule prevail here and admit that you have erred in your interpretation.