Not trying to drag this on....but.....

9-4 "The free thrower shall not fake a try,..."

Some one mentioned flipping the ball with 2 hands with backspin and the ball comes back to the shooter. This is part of his/her routine. Flipping the ball in the air mimicking a "practice" shot is part of a routine....etc.

That's fine. I can live with that.

Why then, bother to have "fake" in the rule book? In NF, the try and all the restrictions do not end until the ball hits ring or backboard anyways.

A shooter can always just say, "What? Are you a mind reader?* That was just part of my routine to pump the ball towards the ring without letting go. It loosens up my shirt sleeves."

*see all previous post re: try vs. pass:)

A little OT, but can someone explain to me why girls along the lane place one foot on the floor regularly and the other foot up on one toe like that is giving them a head start on getting into the lane? Besides looking dumb, it doesn't do anything. 1745 and counting.

Coach, most officials know the difference between faking a try and going through a set FT routine. Seriously. It ain't that hard.

The rule was changed a few years back (maybe 10 or so) making the players wait for the ball to hit before they entered the lane. Before that, a shooter's fake could easily draw the defense into the lane since they could enter on the release. My guess is they decided not to remove the wording about the fake being a violation for whatever reason.

Where's the smiley face? That wasn't 10 years ago.

When was it? It had to be within a few years of '96-97. Right? Right?

Mick tells me a sign of getting older is that 10 years ago aint as long as it used to be.

;)

Well, Mick is wise beyond my years. ;)

Yes, that too. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/tr...smiley-018.gif

8 years ago, I signed U.P. here; Padgett was already spewing wisdom.
Not that long ago.

Good philosophical question. Always thought this was a dichotomy, myself. On the free-thrower "over-toeing" the line, most officials in our area would let it slide, or maybe just make mention of to the free-thrower afterward. But if a guy lining up on the lane accidently steps in right after the free-thrower has the ball at his disposal, and then steps back...officials were expected to blow the violation. Never understood the difference myself...yet I knew what we were expected to call.

My theory is that it's the same. Before I call this violation on either one, I'm going to tell them to knock it off.