guarding the

[deecee]

a defender can move side to side or even backwards and draw a charge --

now from what you said the dribbler jumped (so i am assuming a jump stop) and after he jumped the defender moved into postion by where the dribbler was going to land -- this is a block as a player who shoots the ball has a right to return to the floor safely -- same holds true for the dribbler -- now i dont call it a block if the act was very exaggerated -- ie. a running layup where the offensive player jumps forward about 6 feet -- not fair to penalize the defense there -- in this case a normal jump stop is a couple feet in most instances so this would be a block -- now if the defender was there before the player jumps then its a charge assuming there was enough contact to warrant one -- in this instance most times its a nocall as the defender will stumble back for a foot or two regain balance quick and resume defending a held ball with a player who cannot pivot.

Dribbler initated contact on an established defender -- charge

Defender initiated contact by moving to position after dribbler jumped -- block

dribbler passes the ball and then hits defender
a) if defender was there before the jump started -- push on the offense
b) if defender was there after the jump started -- block/nocall depending on severity of contact

[Edited by deecee on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 04:21 PM]