greater responsibility for the contact

[jkjenning]

Just mulling over sideline defensive pressure and Rule 4-7-c:
"There must be reasonable space between two defensive players or a defensive player and a boundary line to allow the dribbler to continue in his/her path. If there is less than 3 feet of space, the dribbler has the greater responsibility for the contact.

Trying to establish a "frame of mind" for judging contact near the sideline and it sounds as if so long as the defender is not pushing into the dribbler, but merely 'standing ground', then any contact - other than torso contact by the dribbler - should be judged incidental. This has stuck in my mind because an evaluator at camp, from across the court, criticized me for calling an OOBs on the dribbler rather than a push on the defender [who had the best look?]. I think so long as the defender is simply continuing legal guarding position, then the dribbler needs to find another path.

Does the defender necessarily need to keep moving in the same direction as the dribbler to avoid contact? I don't think so. If the defender is close enough to the sideline [within 3 feet] and the dribbler, while continuing down the sideline, bumps the defender and steps OOBs then how can you call a foul on the defender unless the bump was the result of the defender stepping into the dribbler?