: plus the dreaded "reach".

Mark, what about the dreaded 'reach'? Dont tell me THATS not a call either! Man, Ive got a lot to learn!

You are correct. Reaching is not a foul. Contacting an opponent illegally with the hand is a foul. It's called illegal use of hands. Fans, players, and coaches will scream "He's reachin'!!" when a player swats at the ball to make a steal. That's not a foul. It's only a foul if his hand or arm makes illegal contact with the opponent.

Answer this:

The ball is loose on the floor. B1 dives for the ball, gains controls, and slides about ten feet. What's your call?

Safe? ...Out?

So, when the official blows his whistle and calls 'Reaching', that isnt actually a call? The call would be 'on the arm', etc?

Generally "a reach-in foul" is a push, in my book.

Interesting, Dan.
I'm usually thinking "illegal hands".

An official shouldn't say, "Reaching," just as an official shouldn't say "Over the back!" The terms do not exist in the basketball rule book.

It's not necessary to say anything. Simply give the signal that corresponds to the foul.

Call the foul:

Whistle and raise fist to recognize foul.
Bird dog if you want to, I don't.
Tell your partner who the foul is on, who the shooter is, if there is a shooter or where the spot is for the throw-in.

Report to the table:
"Blue, 4-4!"
Give signal. No verbalization is necessary.
Indicate number of shots if necessary.

That's all.

Either works but I prefer push since generally the actual
contact is a hand or arm pushing against the dribblers arm. And, I like "illegal use o' the hands" mostly for shooting
fouls. It's just me, don't ask why, it just is...maybe
too many doobs back when I was younger...err..., young? ;)

Was that on 4, or 44? ;)

You are giving me excuses for why you are not doing your job. An assistant coach is to be seen by and not heard by officials. Now having said that, I have no problem with assistant coaches asking me where the designated spot is for throw-ins and other such information as long as is it is done in a curtious manner.

The fact that he has a great basketball mind and gives his time for free for ten months a year is not a reason for not doing your job. If he cannot control his bench behavior then you have to control it for him. That means that maybe you need to ban him from the bench until he understands what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior for bench personnel. If he is a real advocate for sportsmanship then he has to lead by example, because your players see how he acts on the bench and they see how you accept his bench behavior. An assistant coach who gets a technical foul has real bench behavior problems and the head coach as leadership problems.

I'm a "Blue, 44" kinda guy myself.

Me, too. But I try to keep it simple for the youngsters! ;)

Thank you.

Risk vs Reward
 

Mark,

I have a player who fouls too much. Should I ban her from the team until she gets better with that? Of course not. I'll take 16 ppg and 12 rpg in return for 4 or 5 fouls every game. Should the assistant coach act properly? Of course. But if the coach determined that his usefulness outweighs the damage he does, he has done his job.

It's not a black or white world. Even the black and white rule book leaves room for interpretation (start a Three Seconds in the Lane thread if you don't believe me). We have to make decisions in the gray all the time, and the coach has done this.

Well thanks, I really appreciate that! ;)