Legal pick?
 

Check it out. Have your speakers on to hear the announcer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9rYa...eature=related

Foul. Rutledge will most certainly disagree. :)

Illegal block. The player setting the pick is moving forward out of her vertical at contact.

It is a violent play. Nobody will say a thing if you call a foul on that play.

That wouldn't be the reason I would call the foul. I have seen plenty of violent collisions on legal screens, and I would've been wrong to call a foul just so "no one would say anything".

In this case, the screener did not provide the required time/distance before stepping in the path of the opponent. My guess is it caught the new T by surprise, since it was secondary defender. This would've been a good call by the C.

It was only a foul because the screener did not stand still at the moment of contact (body, not feet). But to suggest that there was a lowered shoulder would be an exaggeration.

I guess you would call a foul not because of what the player did, but because the player was possibly hurt. The result of what happened to the defender should have little or no relevance to the call. This was a smaller player running into a bigger player. She would have likely had the same result no matter if a foul took place or not. There is a reason you “call out” screens to your teammates.

Peace

First, the talking head is an idiot to make the statement that the official did not see the contact.

Second, B2 had acquired (I hope I spelled that word correctly.) her position legally: she gave proper time and distance in relation to the moving A2. Keeping in mind that we are all seeing this play at actual game speed this what I also say. B2's body did not sway from side to side to cause contact with A2. B2 did stick her chest out prior to A2 making contact with her. Keeping mind that a player who is setting a screen can brace themselves against imminent contact, I am going to give the benefit of the doubt to B2 in this play. She did not push out with her hands and arms in an effort to push A2 nor did I think her sticking our her chest was an effort to push A2; it was an effort to brace herself against immenint contact by A2. Therefore, I have this as a legal screen by B2 and there is no foul by A2 because B2 was not displaced. This is pretty much a text book legal screen against a moving opponent.

MTD, Sr.

Severity of contact is <b>NEVER</b> a factor in determining whether a block is legal or not.

See NFHS rule 4-40-7.

When you are "bracing" yourself, you don't lean toward the oncoming player, which in my opinion she does (obvious in slow motion). Let's focus on the game management of the play. If you think that a no-call in this situation is good for the game, then by all means I would like to hear what kind of explanation the coach gets. I imagine this crew was in hot water the rest of the night.

Mark,

I completely agree with you. The only reason I think it was a foul was because I saw the replay. Live speed, it was suspect at best and I see why a foul was not called. This is after all another 50/50 play that is really hard to call when live, especially for a single official to handle. And the C would likely not be looking at this play, because all the other players have released to the FC.

Peace

The text book says <b>"The screener must stay within his/her vertical plane with a stance approximately shoulder width apart."</b> That's rule 4-40-2(d) in the NFHS textbook, Mark. Sticking your chest <b>INTO</b> an opponent is <b>NOT</b> bracing for contact; it's being out of your vertical plane.

Look, I haven't seen the play yet (stupid firewalls), but are you saying you'd call a foul just for game management purposes, even if the rules did not call for one?

Let's change this play and assume for a second that B2 had position, had stood there since the end of the 2004 Olympics, and A2 crashed into B2, falling to the floor but did not so much as make B2 flinch. What's your call?

Normally I would agree with this blanket statement. :)
However, they might be correct - there is a chance the T was straight-lined. If you look at each replay, there is a relatively straight line from the official to the ball handler, to the defender, then the screener.

I disagree; I thought she was still moving into the path of the defender at the moment of contact. I also have to agree with the Jurassic One in that the screener poking out her chest is no different than hip-checking a cutter on the way by - both moves are illegal due to the rule he cited.

Jeff - on your point about the C releasing downcourt - I did look at the play again, and you're right that all the other players had passed half court, and the C was following them. It would be a good call for the C to make if there were a few more players in the backcourt, but you're right that the C might not be available to hang back that long to get that call.

The fact that we had to look at the play in slow motion (from two angles BTW) should tell you and everyone something.

And as I said, you are more worried about the result of the play, not whether it was legal or not. I would feel better if you just said it was illegal. Game management really has nothing to do with this play. At the very least it does not on a clip we see of one play.

Peace

The violence or lack thereof notwithstanding...

The screener makes a forward motion with her torso that is clearly not just bracing herself for contact.

Illegal screen.

As mentioned before, there is zero percent chance of getting in trouble by blowing your whistle here. Not because of "game management", but because it's the right call, and everybody can see it.

Had she just stood there it would have been a good screen, albeit a tough one (for that defender, anyway). The extra motion was unnecessary and illegal.

Agree the T may have been straight-lined, but I'm thinking his height, along with the rather large height difference between the screener and defender, should have presented the necessary look at the illegal torso action. But full speed, who knows.

"Make all your errors errors of omission" - John Clougherty