Inbounds hand off rules

[bball_lurker]

First off, this is a great place to learn the rules. Right now I'm just a bball dad, but have done a (very) little reffing, and also coached.

I've had the opposite problem, of the ball being handed off too slow. Around 6-7th grade, teams started pressing, and we would want to get the ball in quickly before the opposition could really set up a press. And consistently the ref would hold the ball in his hand, and wait until the other team was set up. Very frustrating, but nothing you can do. I wanted to tell my players to grab the ball and inbound it, but figured that wouldn't go over too well.

[Adam]

Welcome, Dad. You're right, that probably wouldn't go over well, although I understand your frustration.

I'll be honest, I rarely look at the players on the court (other than to count them) when administering a throwin. I look at my partners, and when they're ready I turn to the thrower and hand or bounce the ball. I'm certainly not waiting for the defense to set up.

[bball_lurker]

Sure, I know it wasn't intentional. At that age, I'm sure they were just making sure everyone was ready to play. Which makes sense on the one hand.

To the OP, 5 seconds is a long time, and generally it will be counted very slow for shorties. Get them a simple inbound play like Box, and you'll never get a 5 count.

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by bball_lurker

Sure, I know it wasn't intentional. At that age, I'm sure they were just making sure everyone was ready to play. Which makes sense on the one hand.

To the OP, 5 seconds is a long time, and generally it will be counted very slow for shorties. Get them a simple inbound play like Box, and you'll never get a 5 count.

Well, the real challenge is getting the players INTO the box. I think the problem that Kevin was having was that his players were not close to being in the box, but the inbounder (who is excited to be inbounding!!!) was getting to the designated spot very quickly. It sounded as though the result was the first couple seconds were used to get the players to their spots (in the box or otherwise), the next couple were wasted as the inbounder slapped the ball (I have never liked this one as a coach), leaving only a second or so for that simple box play to develop.

The coach now knows -- due to the incessant pounding to the horse no longer alive -- that officials are not to wait "an appreciable amount of time" prior to putting the ball at the disposition of the inbounder. He has also been given a few suggestions for lessening the chances of a turnover (as JRut pointed out, TOs at this age level are an expected outcome in many cases).