Watched the NBA finals last night, love those Pistons for playing basketball the way it is supposed to be played. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am from Detroit). Anyway the offensive goaltending got me thinking...

Anyway, is there a good reason for offensive goaltending? If an offensive player can get himself in position to guide a shot into the rim, why not? It doesn't make sense to me to punish them?

Am willing to listen to why the rule exists.

Why give the offense the right to do something we don't let the defense do? By your reasoning, if the defensive player works hard enough to get position to go up and tip the ball OUT of the basket, that should be a good play...if we aren't going to let the d touch the ball in the cylinder, we shouldn't let the o touch it in the cylinder...

On a side note, I thought it was interesting that the offensive goaltending by Ben Wallace was called, while the earlier ones by Shaq weren't...altho Wallace's was a lot less "sneaky"...

I believe the rule is consistent in the NBA for the offense and the defense-neither can touch the ball above the cylinder. At least that is the rule in HS. To be fair if you allow the offense to do it you would have to allow the defense to grab the ball that is about to go in and pull it down for a rebound. (and to pick nits-it is technically called basket interference not goaltending-but the penalty is the same)

--however your post got me thinking since the NBA loves scoring it is surprising the NBA doesn't tweek the rules to allow the offense to do it and not the defense.

Incidently I believe under FIBA rules that is legal for both offense and defense-once the ball has hit the rim.

(and after posting this I see rockyroad beat me to it and said basically the same thing)

Which just shows how smart you are. Now if you were agreeing with MTD, every post from now on would be suspect!

The Offensive Goaltending rule was put into the NCAA in 1957 following Kansas' championship season with Wilt Chamberlain. Kansas didn't even qualify for the NCAA tournament in 1958, losing to Tex Winter's Kansas State team.

The Defensive Goaltending rule is attributed to Joe Fortenberry, a 6'7" 1936 Olympian from Texas who was an outstanding jumber.

Goaltending, wider lanes, and no dunking rules were put into effect to hinder domination by big men at various times in NCAA history. These rules often migrate to the NBA when they are useful.

I thought that shot last night still had a chance to go in, so I was surprised Wallace finished it off. Sometimes you wonder what these guys are thinking.

Why thank you Juulie...I knew you were one of the smarter ones on this board!!!

Here are some of the other contenders for the title:

http://www.psych.uleth.ca/Links/Evol...ll/baboons.jpg

Not smarter, more obsequious!

I can only HOPE to be that smart, someday!

Yep...one small step above Yankees fans on the evolutionary scale!! :)

If you're looking for equity between how the rules treat the offense and the defense, look no further than the NF rule on technical fouls.

If called on the offense, they lose two shots and possession of the ball. If called on the defense, they lose two shots.

As the immortal Dave once said, "Fair? Fair? This is basketball. You want fair, call Judge Judy".

Actually, Wallace committed BI.

Shaq committed GT, which wasn't called.

Quite honestly, I think they just didn't see the GT well enough to call it. When the play happened, I wasn't sure it was GT, until I saw the replay.

Got news for ya partner!

Kansas didn't win the 1957 National Championship.

The National Champions were the UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA TARHEELS!! :D

Yep, beat Kansas for the championship. Watch out for Carolina in next 2 years. They'll be back. Theyt had a great recruiting year. I saw one of their frosh play a couple of years ago in Greensboro. JamesOn Curry. I believe he averaged close to 50 ppg his Junior year in HS.

Spoken by a true fan of a LAST place team. :D