Violation or not?

[utrook31]

I'm hoping you guys can help shed some light on this discussion I've been having with a friend of mine. I'll try to be as descriptive as possible.

Player A1 is dribbling down court on a fastbreak, defender B1 following beside him. In the course of moving down court, A1 misses the dribble(swipes at and misses the ball), grabs the ball off the next bounce and passes it to A2. Assuming more than 3 steps were taken and the ball had bounced above his hip, has a violation occurred and if so which?

Thanks in advance.

[ChuckElias]

Rook, the height of the ball is irrelevant. There is no violation anywhere in the NCAA or HS rulebooks that says how high the ball can bounce on a dribble. So forget about bouncing above the waist.

Second, if A1 "swipes and misses" the ball, then the dribble has not ended. And it's not possible to travel during a dribble -- no matter how lousy the dribble. So forget about the 3 steps. (In fact, just forget about the number of steps altogether. Concentrate on finding the pivot foot instead.)

So it sounds to me like A1 had a crappy dribble, but picked it up and then passed. I got nothing, from your description.

Welcome to the forum!

[utrook31]

Chuck, thanks for the response, I was A1 and my friend was B1. The court was carpeted, the ball bounces oddly on carpet, what can I say. Obviously I agree with you. There is also rule about running without dribbling as well, would that be a valid call? My contention is that control was lost and you are allowed to run after it. (much like dribbling off one's foot)

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by utrook31
My contention is that control was lost and you are allowed to run after it. (much like dribbling off one's foot)

Player control was momentarily lost. Team control was never lost. You have to know those definitions.

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by utrook31
There is also rule about running without dribbling as well, would that be a valid call?

I'm not really sure what you're referring to. But if you're holding the ball, then you obviously cannot run without dribbling. If you're not holding the ball, then you can't travel (with one exception). So if the ball has gotten away from you during your dribble, then you are allowed to run after it and recover it.

Does that help? I'm not sure. . .

[utrook31]

You're right, I read it wrong. When that argument was presented to me I was envisioning a player tossing the ball ahead of them and running after it and then resumeing the dribble.

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by utrook31
You're right, I read it wrong. When that argument was presented to me I was envisioning a player tossing the ball ahead of them and running after it and then resumeing the dribble.

This is legal if the player had not yet dribbled before throwing the ball.

[SmokeEater]

Legal yes, but bet your bottom dollar you'll hear complaints about making a pass to oneself.