Face Checking????

[TADW_Elessar]

FIBA 38.3.1 says:
"A technical foul is a player non-contact foul of a behavioural nature including [...] baiting an opponent or obstructing his vision by waving his hands near his eyes."

But except some extreme cases (hands within an inch from the opponent's face, with the defender only trying to get on his nerves...), the play you described is considered legal (or it is no-called). And, even in those extreme cases, a warning is the best thing.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by TADW_Elessar

FIBA 38.3.1 says:
"A technical foul is a player non-contact foul of a behavioural nature including "

Why is "behavioral" misspelled in your rulebook?

[canuckrefguy]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Why is "behavioral" misspelled in your rulebook?

Cuz we speak English not American.

So here's a question for the group ... this tactic is becoming, I would venture, more and more common, yet we don't see a lot of calls.

Is this something we should be calling more?

[ChuckElias]

Personally, I have not seen it being used very often at all. I don't see a big need for it to be a POE or anything.

[BktBallRef]

I've seen it once, two seasons ago. Visitors had a 6'2" center. Home posted their center behind her and had a guard stand in front of her and hold her hands over her face. I had to see it a couple of times down the floor to realize that she'd been coached to do it. We had a timeout, at which time I warned the coach to knock it off or we'd have a T on the next occurrence.

[Adam]

I've seen it once, in a ms girls ymca game. I stopped the game and warned everyone about it. It was more of a teaching atmosphere, so I tried to avoid the T. Didn't see it the rest of the game. Hadn't seen it before or since. It just doesn't happen that much; for one, it's bad defensive form and really leaves the defender in a vulnerable position.

A lot of people don't know this rule, either. I told a guy in a pick-up game about it once, and he really didn't want to believe me.

[crazy voyager]

I can't cite the rule exactly but I know in fiba one of the Technical paragraphs is something like :
using hand or wawing to distracs opponents from play
or something like that, so anyway that's a T in fiba, but 1. I've never seen it
2. If I will, it's a warning and then a T, unsportsmanlike conduct

[TADW_Elessar]

Originally Posted by canuckrefguy

Cuz we speak English not American.

So here's a question for the group ... this tactic is becoming, I would venture, more and more common, yet we don't see a lot of calls.
Is this something we should be calling more?

I'm sure we should at least give some more warnings, as I've recently seen some coaches actually teaching their players to put a hand on the shooter's face.

I also think a player, if warned, would never do it twice, as it's not something you do "automatically".

Just like tapping the ball after scoring a basket to delay the throw-in or faking a charge foul