Incidental Contact

[JRutledge]

Sam,

The rules are pretty much the same in other codes of basketball as it relates to incidental contact. This is why so much of what we do is based on a lot of judgment. Not all contact is a foul and not all contact should be called as a foul. This is what separates from the successful official to the not very successful official.

Peace

[refTN]

One of the SEC official's observers I know is always saying that we don't need game interrupters. An example of this would be a kid going over the back of another kid and having sufficient enough contact to call a foul, but the player in front still gets the rebound and the contact doesn't cause him to fall or walk. That is just interrupting the game when you could keep the flow going.

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by refTN

One of the SEC official's observers I know is always saying that we don't need game interrupters. An example of this would be a kid going over the back of another kid and having sufficient enough contact to call a foul, but the player in front still gets the rebound and the contact doesn't cause him to fall or walk. That is just interrupting the game when you could keep the flow going.

That's true about 95% of the time. However, there are some times when you need to make that foul call even if the "right team" gets the rebound. Having a feel for the game is key.

If you have a game that is starting to get a little squirrely and the rebound foul is hard enough to possibly lead to some frustration, you might need a whistle.

No game is exactly the same. Officials need to be able to see the whole picture in the game, not just the single play that is happening at the time.

Z

[finnref]

Judgement, judgement. But some criteria and philosophy are needed. I have vacillated over my career about the following call. Player driving to the basket on a clear path and the sole defender reaches and tags him slightly without interferring with him. Whistle, whistle. Saw it several times in March Madness games by big officials. Player scores. Wipe it out. OOb or shoot the fouls. If the big guys call this incidental contact, "non-incidental", am I and you to do otherwise. What say you.

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by finnref

Judgement, judgement. But some criteria and philosophy are needed. I have vacillated over my career about the following call. Player driving to the basket on a clear path and the sole defender reaches and tags him slightly without interferring with him. Whistle, whistle. Saw it several times in March Madness games by big officials. Player scores. Wipe it out. OOb or shoot the fouls. If the big guys call this incidental contact, "non-incidental", am I and you to do otherwise. What say you.

The "big officials" aren't 100% perfect. They have whistles that they wish they could have back too. Ideally, you'd like to delay your whistle on this play. If the contact doesn't affect the driver, let it go. If it ends up being more than incidental, call it. Sometimes, "late is great." It's an art not a science. Like anything else, you'll get better at it with practice.

Z

[refTN]

Originally Posted by zebraman

That's true about 95% of the time. However, there are some times when you need to make that foul call even if the "right team" gets the rebound. Having a feel for the game is key.

If you have a game that is starting to get a little squirrely and the rebound foul is hard enough to possibly lead to some frustration, you might need a whistle.

No game is exactly the same. Officials need to be able to see the whole picture in the game, not just the single play that is happening at the time.

Z

I agree totally

[Texas Aggie]

Player driving to the basket on a clear path and the sole defender reaches and tags him slightly without interferring with him. Whistle, whistle.

Sometimes there are calls that just need to be made even if technically, they don't completely fall under the "gained advantage" thinking.

Don't misunderstand: I lean on the side of a no-call when I can, but sometimes the situation dictates that a call needs to be made. A slap on the arm, even if the slap is not hard and has little or no impact on the driving shooter still needs to be called -- unless its a 40 point game with 10 seconds left! There are ALWAYS exceptions to everything.