I have been told two different stories about this one by two different officials and i want to find out what is right. On a throw that is NOT after a basket i know that the person taking it out cannot run the baseline but how far can they move? Can they just establish a pivot either way or can they take two steps or what?

Another question is the such a thing as a technical foul on a player in the game while the game is goin on or do you just call that an intentional foul?

A spot throw in has a spot 3 feet wide with no restrictions in depth. The thrower must keep one foot on or over that 3 foot area, and there is no piviot foot. A travel is not an option if they leave the area, it's a violation of the throw in.

For the second question you can call an unsporting technical during any live ball, clock running situation. Contact during a live ball is either a common,personal, intentional, or flagrant foul. If it happens during a dead ball it is either a technical or a flagrant technical.

blindzebra is right in both cases, but to answer your second question more simply:

A CONTACT foul during a LIVE ball CANNOT be a technical foul.

I must clarify this small point though.
Live ball or dead ball has nothing to do with whether or not the clock is running.
You can have a live ball while the clock is not running. Free throws and throw-ins are good examples.
And if you really want to get picky about it you can even have a dead ball while the clock is running, though most people don't recognize it.
According to Basketball Rules Fundamental #16, "The official's whistle seldom causes the ball to become dead (it is already dead)."

This means that there are many times during a game when the ball is already dead and the clock is still running before an official can blow a whistle to signify the foul or violation.

The bottom line is don't associate live ball/dead ball with clock running/clock stopped.

A more common example of dead ball, running clock is after a made basket.

Excellent, BITS! That is a far less esoteric and therefore much better example.

Still Somewhat Confused
 

So a person may move 3 ft. in either direction? Can they also jump up and down while they are holding the ball as well? What do you used to judge 3 feet?

as long as one foot is still in the 3 ft "imaginary boundry" they can hop, skip, jump, whatever, but if both feet leave that area you have a violation! and to judge, well i guess you just use experience with it to call it...get an idea of what 3 feet really is and go from there....but remember the 3 feet doesn't count backing up...they can back up as far as they want to, to get away from pressure from the defense

Re: Still Somewhat Confused
 

It might make it easier if you just remember that the travel & dribble rules do NOT apply during a throw-in. Just like during a free throw.

Re: Still Somewhat Confused
 

A person could conceivable cover a lot of ground while keeping a foot over the required area.

Imagine a throwin right centered on the division line. The thrower has the left foot 1' on one side of the line and the right foot 1' on the other side. They could legally move left such that their left foot was 5, 6 or 7 feet from the divsion line (as far as they could stretch) as long as their right foot got no further than 1.5 feet from the divison line. They could then reverse and got back to the other side by the same amounts. They have covered 10-14 feet or more and are still legal.


To judge a spot not at a marked line, you have to just eyeball it. You can pick other marks on the floor as a reference. Often, if the floor has it, I use lettinging to judge it.

There is no limit on jumping or how many time one or both feet are moved.

Re: Still Somewhat Confused
 

You really don't want me to answer that, do you? :p