Myths of Basketball

[texaspaul]

As a high school basketball coach, I tried to teach the boys the correct terms of ball. One of the things I stressed., Find the words double dribble in the rule book?

It's called an Illegal dribble.

Hacking is something a cat does.

[BillyMac]

6) During a fumble the player is not in control of the ball, and therefore, cannot be called for a traveling violation. A fumble is the accidental loss of player control when the ball is unintentionally dropped or slips from a player’s grasp. After a player has ended a dribble and fumbled the ball, that player may recover the ball without violating. Any steps taken during the recovery of a fumble are not traveling, regardless of how far the ball goes and the amount of advantage that is gained. It is always legal to recover a fumble, even at the end of a dribble, however that player cannot begin a new dribble, which would be a illegal dribble violation. A player who fumbles the ball when receiving a pass may legally start a dribble.

Thanks to the following Official Forum Basketball web site members for their contributions in developing this list: bossref, Hartsy, Jurassic Referee, Camron Rust, Mark Padgett, Nevadaref, Mark Dexter, Dan ref, mdray, Jimgolf, elecref, Assignmentmaker, IREFU2, David M, JeffW, Back In The Saddle, rainmaker, and texaspaul.

[just another ref]

As far as I am concerned, one of the biggest myths is present not because of misunderstood rules, but mainly is fueled by human nature. People have a strong tendency to see what they want to see. When an official sees something else, the natural reaction is disbelief, often followed by anger. Their conclusion is the myth:

THE REFS ARE CHEATING AGAINST US!

When we consider the fact that the vast majority of people watching a game have, at best, a passing acquaintance with the vast majority of the rules, it is fair to say that the problem is increased exponentially. It is not uncommon after a close game to hear followers of both teams to be heard to say, "It was 5 against 7 (or 8) for our guys." But many of these are the same people who, following a whistle, are heard to shout, "No, he didn't," then turn to the person next to them and ask "What was the call?"