Who is entitled to the ball?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

In another thread about a similiar play I said that we are not officiating soccer. We are officiating basketball and Newton's Laws of Motions concerning an equal and opposite reaction apply in this play. B1 fouled A2 while the ball was in flight. If the official decides that he is not going to penalize B1 for his illegal actions, it tells A2 that he to, can foul without impunity.

We have gone down this slippery slope of being afraid to penalize a foul because some hot shot officials tell us to not call this foul. And look what is has gotten us: every year we are told to crack down on rough play. When an official does not penalize B1 in this play, the official is contributing to rough play not eliminating it. There is no defense for not calling the foul on B1 in the posted play.

Every year I ask myself: Why are officials afraid to do their job? Call the foul the firs time it happens and the players know that they cannot play in such a rough manner. Do not call the foul and you are telling the players that they can play has rough as they want to play.

This is not a matter of calling ticky tack fouls. It is a matter of making sure that the game is played as intended by the rules. The definition of incidental contact tells us that the actions by B1 in the posted play is a foul and it has to be called.

As far as flow of the game, not penalizing rough play does not improve the flow of the game. Its a foul: NFHS, NCAA, and FIBA.