Save/Dribble - Legal Play?
 

Am I correct that the following is legal?

A1 dribbling in backcourt - loses control of the dribble - ball going OOB and A1 bats it back onto the court(note: A1 goes OOB after batting the ball) - A1 comes back inbounds and gets to the ball where he continues dribbling it without having picked it up.

Legal?

When did the dribble end?

I believe if you are going to save a ball heading oob, if your momentum takes you out of bounds and you get back in bounds before contacting the ball, it should be legal since it was an interrupted dribble and you were just trying to save it from going oob!

I assume that's rhetorical which would seem to indicate that it is a legal play.

It didn't. It was only interrupted. :)

From the NCAA case book:

A.R. 111. A1, while airborne, catches the ball in an attempt to prevent a live ball from going out of bounds. A1 throws the ball to the floor as his/her momentum causes him/her to land out of bounds. A1 returns to the playing court where he/she:
(1) Recovers the ball; or
(2) Continues to dribble.
The official calls a traveling violation. Is the official correct?
RULING: No.
(1) and (2) The official was incorrect in calling a traveling violation because when A1 caught the ball while airborne, he/she had no established pivot foot. When he/she threw the ball to the floor, returned to the floor after being legally out of bounds and was the first to touch the ball, it became a dribble.
(1) When A1 recovered the ball, the dribble ended.
(2) A1 is permitted to continue his/her dribble.

(Rule 4-68, 4-21.2 and 4-21.4.a)

Good info.

The one difference I see in the above vs the OP is the ball wasn't actually caught in the OP - it was batted.

In your situation, if A1 caught it while airborne AFTER having already been dribbling the ball (and lets assume the defense didn't knock it away) the dribble has ended, correct?

Yes, in that case he would have to pass or shoot...or call time-out (NFHS).

You knew somebody was going to get it, may as well be me :D

A philosophical point. If you can't find a reason in the rules for it to be illegal, it's legal.

I never got caught up in that debate...the only time I literally get requests for times-out is actually during dead ball periods. IE: after reporting a foul the coach will ask "can I get a time-out please?"

During live balls "time-out" is usually called out by a player or coach.