Travel or not??
 

Player A receives an outlet pass, pivots, and attempts to throw a long pass down the court, in the pass attempt the ball slips out during the pass attempt. Player A retreives the ball after moving three steps. Travel or not??

Depends on if you judged the player to have fumbled the ball or passed the ball.

If a fumble (accidental loss of control when he unintentionally drops it) then it's legal. You can always recover your own fumble. If a pass (movement of ball when a player throws, bats or rolls ball) then it's a travel.

Even if A1 never dribbled? Catch with two hands, the ball goes somewhere but A1 doesn't touch it, three steps, catch with two hands. If you call it a pass, that's illegal? Hmmmmm....

I agree with you and as we both know, you are correct. With dribble still available, it depends on whether the ball bounced.

I quit knowing I was correct a long, long time ago. Especially when it's Dan or Woddy or Tiny or BITS that's doing the correcting (so you guys are back on the list now, OKAY?? Sheez...). That's why I worded it Jeopardy-style.

Travel or not?? Follow Up
 

To continue the discussion on the initial Travel or not?? situation, would it be a travel if the player would have dribbled the ball, picked up the dribble, then during the passing attempt loses, slips out, or fumbles the pass?

Not sure what your sitch is.

If A1 doesn't cleanly catch the pass it's a fumble. He can recover. In this case there is no pass.

If A1 holds the ball & then passes it he has traveled if his pivot foot is lifted & returns to the floor and the ball doesn't touch the floor before he recovers it. This is the illegal play I had in mind..."caught his own pass".

If the ball hits the floor first it's a dribble and legal unless his pivot foot was lifted before the pass (ie start of dribble).

If he doesn't move his pivot foot then it can't be a travel regardless of whether he passes the ball to himself or fumbles & recovers it.

As you described, A1 caught the ball, pivoted, and threw the ball down court.
If the ball hits the floor before A1 touches it, it's legal. If A1 does not allow the ball to touch the floor first, it is illegal.

However, would it be a travel or an illegal dribble? It seems the rules would indicate a thrown ball that is retrieved, that didn't hit the floor, would be (a) an illegal dribble, if the player's pivot foot was on the floor, and (b) a travel, if the player's pivot foot was off the floor.

So, what am I? Chopped liver?

In the original sitch, it sounds like he already made the decision - " the ball slips out during the pass attempt". That sounds like a fumble, so the ball can be recovered without penalty.

Unless you're Tom Brady, then the "tuck rule" applies, meaning it was a pass attempt, meaning you can't recover the ball. :p

Isn't it really a judgement call, as everybody else seems to imply?

Pass attempt----> travel

Fumble recovery----> legal

Unless A1 has not yet dribbled, as Juulie pointed out in post #3 above. If A1 had not yet dribbled, then that pass is just the start of his/her dribble (as long as it touches the floor).

It was taken that A1 had already dribbled as a given, as several other posters implied.

So.....shut up.

I think the real question is really whether it is a pass or a fumble. What can happen next is not an issue once that question is answered.

So, a player starts the motions that looks like a pass but clearly changes his mind and attempts to hold onto the ball before releasing it. If it still slips out, I think that is a fumble since the player didn't intend to release the ball....it slipped from his grasp.

Agreed. Any succeeding call depends on that determination.