Bounce pass to self

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Guys - I took JRs post about bouncing the ball with both hands at the end of a dribble to imply you could dribble with both hands again for your "final" dribble, not that you could start a bounce pass. That was what I was addressing as being wrong.

You're not dribbling again though if you never touch the ball again after 2-hand bouncing it to end your dribble.

I know exactly what you were reading into it, Mark---the exact same thing that Nevada was trying to suggest. According to NFHS rule 4-15-1, one of the ways that you can start a dribble is by bouncing it to the floor with both hands. Unfortunately, to call it the way that you and Nevada are suggesting, you have to assume that ALL 2-handed bounces to the floor are the start of a dribble. Well, that's just not true. You can have a bounce pass, fumble, bounce the ball hard and then run past it, leaving it for a trailer to pick up, etc. If you call immediate violations on those as soon as the dribbler pushes the ball to the floor, you will look like an idiot if it does turn out to be a bounce pass. You will also have no rules backing to make that call. To decide which is which, you have to wait until you see the result of the 2-handed bounce. If the player doing so does not touch the ball again, I don't know how anyone can say with certainty that it is a second illegal dribble. I also can't think of any definitive rule that states that it is a violation either.

To call the play properly, all I'm saying is that you have to wait and see what happens after the ball is 2-handedly bounced.