As I'm sure many parents of my players will attest, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. So please help me understand a "displacement" issue.

Our opponent's player places both hands on the shoulder blades of my player and pushes forward in an attempt to gain better rebounding position. Although my player's feet never moved forward as a result of the push, her head snapped back like a nice rear end hit in a car. At the next stoppage of play I asked the official why this would not constitute a "push from behind." (Thanks to all of you I've learned to never cry "over the back!") The official stated that there was "no displacement." Was he correct in his call?

Please be gentle...

Coach,
If the play happened exactly as you said it did, it should have been a push. There are also other things to consider though, especially concerning advantage/disadvantage. Did your team control the rebound? Was to foul so violent that the officials needed to call a foul? Also, your view of the play may be far different than the officials. From the officials' position, there is a possiblity that the push did not look as bad. If it was a 2 man crew, there's alot going on during a given play and not everything is going to be seen. By the way, I'm sure we're all very glad you didn't scream for "over the back". 200 posts for me now. Do I get something?

[Edited by Junker on Jan 12th, 2005 at 02:39 PM]

OK, there was no displacement, but that does not mean there was no foul. Displacement is the usual measure of a foul in this sitch, but certainly not the only way to determine a foul. Other rules still apply. Whacking a dribbler on the arm causes no displacement (except it displaces the arm) but we all call that a foul.

If it was as severe a push as you describe, I might have called the foul. At the very least, I would have said something about it.

Hartsy

Without seeing the whole play it would be difficult to comment with certaintly. At face value, if there was sufficient contact to cause a violent action (the head snapping back) then I think I would be more likely to call a foul assuming that the player A1 did not back into and cause the contact and B1 simply braced herself from the contact.

I would be judgeing somewhat on the intent if I could determine such. There is so much that happens during a rebounding situation that what may seem to be a foul from a distance is clearly seen differently by the official 3 feet from the play (good or bad). If the rebound was a long rebound and the players involved had no chance to obtain the rebound, maybe the best call is a no call. Again, without seeing the whole play, this is at best a second guess.

Kind enough?

coach --

I'd have called it, I think. The problem is that we all have different ideas of where the line is. I called way too much when I first started reffing, then I called way too little. Finding the had-to-calls, the sbd's (silent but deadly -- my brother used that phrase in aonther context), the advantage/disadvantage, the borderline calls, so on takes a lot of work. Striking the balance between "let em play" and "someone's going to get hurt" is difficult. SOme refs can't be bothered. Some never get good guidance. Displacement is pretty much a gotta get, but there are other fouls that should be called. In your sitch I think you might have said, "Well, even if his feet weren't displaced, his torso was." Then let it go. Ref might get the message.

1) I find it hard to visualize a push sufficient to
"snap the head back" that doesn't result in the feet moving.

2) Even if there was displacement, if the basket was good, or the rebound went to the other side, or the "fouled" team got the rebound, I might not call the "foul."

coachgrd,

What level do you coach?

girls JV

<img src="http://www.illinoishighschoolsports.com/ubb/graemlins/hail.gif"> <img src="http://www.illinoishighschoolsports.com/ubb/graemlins/hail.gif"> Thanks for wanting to learn and understand the rules! <img src="http://www.illinoishighschoolsports.com/ubb/graemlins/thumbsup.gif">

The way you describe it, I'm probably gonna call a foul under the "5 minute later" philosophy...in other words, if I don't call that kind of contact, what will the game look like in 5 minutes...displacement is one thing to look for when determining whether to call a foul, but it's not the only thing to look for...

The other thing that you might look for is whether the rebounder can actually jump for a rebound when the opponent has a hand(s) on their shoulders.

That's on old trick. Put a hand or an elbow on your opponent's shoulder while you're getting position under the board. If your opponents jumps, it ain't be be too high with you leaning on their shoulder. And when you jump, you're using the opponent to help your jump, and at the same time you're stopping that opponent from jumping with you. Judgement call all the way- re: advantage/disadvantage.

It's a foul. In THIS situation, the displacement excuse is a copout.

That kind of a bump puts the player at a disadvantage, especially if the player behind is using that bump to push off or if that bump keeps the inside player from getting position.

I'll admit -- occasionally we try to avoid calling cheap fouls and it backfires. Last night I had a bump from behind on a rebound that cleared -- or so I thought. Instead it EVENTUALLY caused the player with the ball to travel. Wasn't an "obvious to the back row" travel, but it WAS a travel. I called nothing although the RIGHT call would be a foul on the bump that caused this to happen. Just seemed a bit late and I didn't want to penalize the girl for getting fouled, so I left it go.

The coach of the "bumping" player wanted the travel and I had to come clean and tell him about the foul we passed on. He knew that there was a foul, too, but since we didn't call it he fished for the travel.

--Rich