I NEVER understood this one.

You grab the ball from your opponent and on your way out of bounds (in the air) you signal for a time out.

Why is this allowed?

Shouldnt you have to have CONTROL of the ball and clear cut POSSESSION in order to call a time out?

You have to have one foot (or both) in bounds and control the ball in football for you to be considered to have posession.

So how can you be in the air and call a time out in Basketball?

Maybe if you were an official you might understand things like that. Control has nothing to do with having feet on the floor or not. You do not lose control just because you jump.

Peace

Yes. Player control is necessary in the situation you describe in order for a player or head coach to be granted a TO. And, in fact, there is player control in the situation you describe. Once the player is holding the ball, that's control. As long he requests the TO before touching out of bounds, the request can be granted.

How? Simply because basketball is not football. The rule is different in basketball. Player control is established by holding or dribbling a live ball inbounds. If a player is airborne, he is considered to be in the same location from which he jumped. So a player who jumps from the court is inbounds until some part of him touches out of bounds. It's that simple. He is considered inbounds while he's in the air. Inbounds plus player control means we can grant the TO.

Sorry Chuck, this one I am not buying. It may be in the rules, but it is another example of a poor decision on the part of the rules committee.

99% of the time, the player calling the TO is just gaining posession while he is flying out of bounds..which blows a whole in your theory. When he left the court (he DID NOT) have control or the ball (ie posission) So when he is in the air, he is considered to be in the same position he was in before he jumped (ie not yet in control of the ball)

If a guy has clear cut posession of the ball, he should be able to call a TO with two feet on the court. If he has to jump out of the way and off the court to get a grip on the ball...I dont how you see that as posession.

This is where you're completely off-base. Your statement is absolutely false. Being airborne or on the ground has no bearing whatsoever on player control. None. Whatsoever. Period.

If he jumped from inbounds, then he is inbounds until he touches OOB. If he catches the ball while airborne, he has player control while inbounds. The TO can be granted.

Like the jump stop question, do not make this harder than it is. The rule is very clear and very simple. Grant the TO.

Come on, Chuck. Your theory is full of "wholes." :D

The rule can be simple and stupid at the same time.

When I was playing ball (in the 80s), you would NEVER be allowed to do this.

Not sure why you can now. But thats why I came here to ask.

You can't. However, a player may request a time out.

I officiated in the 80s. The rules were the same then. It just wasn't done back then. By rule, we would've granted the timeout the same we do now.

What's the big deal about this? It's one possession and teams only get 5 timeouts per game. If they want to waste one in this fashion, fine with me.

Isn't there a village of starving people somewhere that need feeding? That seems like a lot more important battle than this one...

I agree with you mrk about stupid rules. I watched a football game a month ago, and if I was the official there would have been so many fouls. Holding and pushing all over the place. But that isn't nothing, you should have seen all the intentional and flagrant fouls going on. One more thing, all you have to do cross that goal line for a score, no ring or basket to put the ball through. And kicking too, more kicking violations than you can shake a stick at!

What about all the traveling?!?! They kept advancing the ball and never dribbled. Then when they threw passes, if they hit the ground it should have been a live ball, but they kept stopping the play! Dumb game!

Bingo! Another dumb play that gets glorified by TV announcers saying, "What a smart player", as if a possession was more important than a timeout. You don't see coaches asking for a timeout when a player is jumping out of bounds.

Isn't this starting to get old with this guy asking all these questions and having heartburn about rules. I don't think he refs nor do I think he was much of a player.

Speaking of old, where is JR?

mrkleen:

Not only was it legal in the 80's, it was legal in the 70's, 60's, and at least the 50's. I climbed up into my attic to check.

MTD, Sr.