Unsportsmanlike?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by Rev.Ref63

Team A is playing a box-n-one defense on team B. Player A is closely guarding player B even when team A is on offense. He is guarding him very closely, facing him and staring right in his face. Player B had no room to even take a step forward. On one free throw, player B went to the opposite end and player A continued to shadow him and get in his face. Needless to say, player B was quite frustrated and was quite ineffective. Is this unsportsmanlike?

BTW, I was a spectator at this game.

First: When Team B is in control of the ball, the guarding rules apply to players on Team A.

Second: No matter which team is in control of the ball or if neither team has control of the ball, then the screening rules apply to both Team A and Team B.

Therefore, as long as A1 was not committing any of the technical fouls that apply to taunting and unsportsmanlike conduct, then what A1 was doing against B1 was legal as long as the officials applied the guarding and screening rules correctly.

I am sure that B1 was getting frustrated if Team A's defense was doing its job against him.

MTD, Sr.

[Mark Padgett]

Unless he was "in his face" following a play in which he scored on the other player, or something similar, there's no taunting just for standing close and staring. Plus, you indicated there was never any contact, just proximity. This is a no-call all the way.