This happened in a MS-Boys game last night

I'm Trail. A1 steals the ball and passes to A2 who is about 6ft away from me. I turn around in transition and start heading the other way. A2 is running within a foot of the sideline and I am trying to stay out of the stands and out of his way. He collides with be and as result traveled. I just let them play on and ignored the travel. Coach B doesn't complain since it was obvious what happened. Coach A is upset that I was in his players way. How do you handle this? I talked to my partner at half time and we agreed that if it happened again, the other official would blow the ball then give the ball back to the offense (in this case team A).

why, your position is considered part of the court.

Sometimes at the middle school level, we do things that are "fair" even if they aren't totally by the rules. I don't have a big problem with that, even though by rule it's a travel.

I do have a problem with the A coach though. You just did him a favor and he's mad at you. Sigh.

Z

We all have to be somewhere and from the sound of things, you wanted to be running outside the out-of-bounds line, but there was no room. Did the coach expect you to jump into the stands to get out of the way?

Give Coach A one verbal warning to let it go.

gostars,
Blow it dead.
Ball to A.
(Reporting foul on Black/White team is optional)
mick

I'm a little confused by the spacing on the play:

1) If A2 was closer to the basket than you, and you ran into him -- you should slow down.

2) If you were closer to the basket than A2 -- try to read where A2 is going and move out of the way -- sometimes, that means closer to the center of the court

All that said, sometimes stuff happens.

[/B][/QUOTE]

gostars,
Blow it dead.
Ball to A.
(Reporting foul on Black/White team is optional)
mick

[/B][/QUOTE]
I assume if the Black/White team picks up 5, they're done for the night (in more ways than one)! :D

In issues of fairness, it sounds like the right thing to do is give it back to A. But be careful about doing this, because there are rules provisions regarding our position on the court. What if player A is falling out-of-bounds and throws the ball towards a teammate to save it, but it hits you while you're standing out-of-bounds? By rule, it's out and you give the ball to B. Maybe in an instance where it's totally our clumsiness that causes the violation, that's a good time to show fairness. If you were in "normal" position, and the player was not paying any attention to you, don't use that fairness to bail out a player.

Sometimes the play will turnover and you are in the middle of it. The best bet is to freeze and make yourself smaller...arms inside your body, or step off the floor. Just let it pass you and hustle to see it from behind, until you can safely get in front of it.

If you try to outrun it you'll lose. If you are moving and you or the player guesses wrong you will collide.

gostars,
Blow it dead.
Ball to A.
(Reporting foul on Black/White team is optional)
mick

[/B][/QUOTE]
I assume if the Black/White team picks up 5, they're done for the night (in more ways than one)! :D

In issues of fairness, it sounds like the right thing to do is give it back to A. But be careful about doing this, because there are rules provisions regarding our position on the court. What if player A is falling out-of-bounds and throws the ball towards a teammate to save it, but it hits you while you're standing out-of-bounds? By rule, it's out and you give the ball to B. Maybe in an instance where it's totally our clumsiness that causes the violation, that's a good time to show fairness. If you were in "normal" position, and the player was not paying any attention to you, don't use that fairness to bail out a player. [/B][/QUOTE]

Yeah, M&M Guy,
I agree.

In the sitch it seemed to me that "We" ran into "Them".
mick

Just to clarify
 

I was the T and team B was on offense. Team A stole the ball in the middle of the court as I turned around to cover the fast break the ball was passed to the sideline. A1 collided with me as I was turning around to get back and cover the play.

Coach A didn't say anything, he just held his hands out and game me "the look" (the same look I got when I called a PC foul on one of his players).

Re: Just to clarify
 

Sometimes there's nothing you can do - you are a part of the court, just like, say, the backboard (and I've seen some officials who are no more useful than a backboard...;)). You do your best to stay out of the way, but the players also need to be aware that you are there. In a lower level game, sometimes it's better to fair than right. But in higher level games, stuff happens, and A probably needed to be called for the violation. As far as the coach, sometimes all you can do is say "Sorry" and move on.