Backcourt Question

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Ref in PA

Here is my interpretation - for what it is worth

A. Violation. Team A has control. The ball obtains front court status when it hits the ref who is standing in front court. When A4 touches the ball, the ball has backcourt status again.

B. I am torn what to call here. When the passed ball bounces in front court, did you end the ten second count? If so, you are judging the ball obtained front court status and that there is no player control - meaning a dribble has not started. If the dribble has not started, the three points rule does not apply. Can A1 still legally dribble that ball? Yes, but did his dribble officially begin when he passed the ball? I think no. So the ball status between the time A1 passed the ball and the time he started dribbling a loose ball becomes important. However, if you kept the ten second count on after A1 released the ball and the ball bounced in front court, then you seem to be ruling that the released ball was the start of a dribble. Then all the issues pertaining to the location of the ball and the feet of the dribbler come into play.

The question isn't whether you stopped your count, but whether or not you should stop your count.

[Ref in PA]

Just as we can judge a ball hitting the backboard either a try or a pass and as we can judge an airball a try or not, I think we have to judge the release by A1 a pass or the start of the dribble. It is important to make that judgement in this case because that will determine the status of the ball. Rule 4-4 tells the definition of the location of the ball and 4-4-6 talks of the "three points" rule: "During a dribble from backcourt to frontcourt, the ball is in the frontcourt when the ball and both feet of the dribbler touch the court entirely in the frontcourt."

Based on the original question calling the release of the ball by A1 "a pass" then I think we have to end the 10 second count and the ball changing front and back court status now has meaning. So when A1 begins dribbling, he begins dribbling ball that was previously "a loose ball", not a continuation of "a start of a dribble." So, the more I think about it, I am leaning toward calling it a violation.