Another question...
 

Had my first youth game Saturday. Everything went pretty well. However, I had a lot of difficulty determining where to inbound the ball from on certain calls. I'm sure this sounds extremely amateur, but how do you determine the inbound spot on non-shooting fouls, walks, double dribbles etc., especially towards mid court?

It's pretty simple, but the inbounds spot will be the closest to where the violation or foul occurred. If you have your Official's Manual, there should be a graphic in there showing this. Picture a triangle, starting at the top of the FT circle, and going to the corners, with the endline as the bottom of the triangle. Any violation within this area, the ball is put in play along the endline. Now picture a line going from the top of this triangle to the other end of the court to the other FT circle. This should divide the court in half. Any violation (or foul) that occurs, for example, on the left side of this line, and outside the triangle, will be put in play along the left sideline.

Does that make sense?

Spot nearest to the foul or violation. Use the diagram in your manual for determining whether or not the ball is inbounded on the base line.

First of all, your question does not sound amateurish. It would be amateurish if you didn't care where to inbound the ball. It shows attention to detail on your part to want to inbound the ball correctly. So don't sweat it if you don't know all the answers (even the "basic" ones) right away. Nobody ever has.

The general answer is that the ball is (almost) always put in play at the spot closest to where a foul or violation occurred.

If the foul or violation occurs in the midcourt area (between the 3-point arc on either end of the court), then the ball is put in play on the sideline that is closer to where the foul or violation happened. Just make a straight line to the sideline and wherever the closest spot is, that's where the ball goes.

Ok, now I don't know if I can describe this accurately, but picture the lane and the free throw circle. Now draw an imaginary line from each end of the free throw line to the corner where the endline meets the sideline. You should be envisioning a big trapezoid. If the foul or violation occurs in that trapezoid or in the free throw semi-circle, the ball is inbounded on the endline. If the foul or violation occurs outside that trapezoid, then the ball is inbounded on the sideline. (If you have an Officials' Manual, there will be a diagram in there showing this exact picture.)

I hope that helps. If not, I'm sure somebody else will explain it better.

Ok, is it a trapeziod or is it a triangle? (Not meaning to be a smart-a$$ on this, even though sometimes I can't help myself...) I've always pictured the "triangle", starting at the top of the circle.

And what makes him think it's a "big" trapezoid? Big is a relative term, isn't it?

Especially to someone who can lay down and still be completely within the painted "block" along the lane...

It's not a triangle, only because the triangle that you describe will leave out some of the free throw semi-circle.

It's a trapezoid with a semi-circle stuck on the top.

A picture is worth a 1,000 words...

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...05/throwin.jpg

So my "triangle" might leave out a small sliver of circle. Sheesh. When I hold the chart up on a far wall, and squint a lot, it kinda looks like a triangle...

Scrappy, you are right in telling tnsteele95 that asking these questions does show a willingness to learn some of the details. It still bugs me when officials take the ball out to a spot that isn't even close to the correct spot, just to avoid coming across the floor, for example. Most of the time it may not make a difference, but it can make a difference in a close game whether the ball gets taken out along an endline or sideline.

It's a trapezoid, not to be confused with the FEEBLE trapezoid, which is measured only in metric. http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...images/ack.gif

Thx guys. Extremely helpful, especially the diagram. That's pretty much how I did it Saturday, may have missed once or twice. Honestly, I don't have a manual. lol Our league doesn't require officials to be certified, so most newbies like me are usually doing it from scratch based on our basic knowledge of the game. However, I still want to do my best at it. Thx again.

So you think your original description is any more accurate than M's?

I don't. Your trapezoid leaves out the entire FT semi-circle.

Huh? :confused: Here's my "original description":

Yeah, I do think my original description is slightly more accurate than M's.

I agree with Scrappy, it is a little more accurate.