hand's part of the ball

[Jurassic Referee]

MISCONCEPTION: The hand is not part of the ball. I've never, ever seen a ball with a hand attached to it.

There is a exception to the rules that sez it's not a foul if you contact an opponent's hand while it is on the ball, as long as that contact is deemed incidental to an attempt to play the ball. Iow, it's a judgement call. If an official feels that a defender deliberately whacked an opponent's hand while it was on the ball, then it is a foul. As most officials aren't mindreaders, the usual call is that the contact was incidental and not deliberate, and therefore no foul was involved.

Just semantics, but I wanted to straighten that one out.