Back Court Questions
 

A number of situations, one of which happened in a recent GV game, are similar to some of the recent back court questions.

Sitch 1: Opening Tip: Tapper A1 taps the tip into the air near the division line. A3, who is standing with both feet in the front court, jumps to get the ball, secures possession in the air, and lands in the back court. Is this legal?

Sitch 2: Opening Tip: Tapper A1 taps the tip downward with great force. The ball contacts the floor in the back court near the division line and bounds high into the air. A3, who is standing with both feet in the front court, jumps to get the ball, secures possession in the air, and lands in the back court. Is this legal?

Sitch 3: Opening Tip: Tapper A1 taps the ball and the ball deflects off of the referee up into the air. A3, who was in the front court, jumps to get the ball, secures possession in the air, and lands in the back court. Is this legal?

Sitch 4: Throw-in: A1 throws the ball into the court via a bounce pass near the division line, A2 while standing with both feet in the front court, jumps into the air, secures possession of the ball, and lands in the backcourt. Is this legal?

None of these are BC Violations....
 

Because no team or player control was established in the front court.

The jump ball ends when the ball hits the floor or the referee. Therefore if the player jumps from frontcourt, secures control while airborne, then lands in the backcourt, 2 & 3 would be violations.

Jump ball ends when A3 catches the ball, location established when he lands on the floor in BC. Legal.

Jump Ball ends when ball contacts the floor with BC status, A3 is the first to touch with FC status, catches the ball giving it FC status, lands in BC giving it BC status. Illegal.

Hitting the referee is same as hitting the floor in the same location, so by rule same as the prior one.

Throw-in ends when legally touched. Ball does not have status until player lands in BC.

throwing in from frontcourt baseline. A2 to A1 who is standing in the backcourt. He jumps up and catches the ball in air and lands in the frontcourt. ?
I don't think this one is a violation- same but A1 is in frontcourt, jumps and lands in backcourt.

If nobody else deflects it first, any player may leap and catch the throw-in pass and land anywhere inbounds that he pleases.

I think we have a winner...
 

Except in the case of the throw-in, and there is no backcourt violation on a throw-in because there is no player or team control during a throw-in.

Right ruling, wrong reason. The reason is that there is a specific exclusion in the rules for the throw-in play.

Seems like somebody should have posted a backcourt violation quiz earlier this season. . . :D

Wrong. TC and PC were established in the FC.

These would all be violations except for the exceptions in the rule (for plays 1 and 4).

Note to Billy Mac,
As I mentioned in my post in the other forum, I am thinking that there are a lot of things that go on around the division line (what was the purpose of that thing again? :D), that officials and coaches misunderstand. This causes them to mis-apply the rules.

Had one just last night in a frosh game. A has the ball in their FC. B tips the ball. A1 grabs the ball and straddles the division line.

I replayed this in my head and whistled the violation. The A coach said, "he tipped it," which, while true, wasn't at all the issue.

I said: "That's right, coach. But your player touched the ball, and THEN stepped in the BC. That's a violation."

He had a 20 point lead and didn't say anything more. He was also asking about whether his players get "2 steps."

Let's be clear. . .http://forum.officiating.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
 

Sitch 1. No violation, due to specific exception set forth in Rule 9-9-3.

Sitch 2. Jump ball ends when ball strikes the floor, so 9-9-3 exception no longer applies. When A3 jumps from the frontcourt and secures the ball in the air, we now have Team A in control of a ball which is located in the frontcourt. When A3 lands in the backcourt, we have a violation.

Sitch 3. Ball striking the official is the same as touching the court at the official's location. Jump ball ends when the ball strikes the floor. A3 jumps from the frontcourt and secures the ball in the air, giving Team A control of a ball located in its frontcourt. When A3 lands in the backcourt, he violates.

Sitch 4. No violation, due to specific exception set forth in Rule 9-9-3.

Location of the ball and team/player control are pretty basic rules concepts.

Yes, the location of the ball and team/player control are pretty basic rules concepts. The components that make these situations more complex is that as an official, you also need to know precisely when a jump ball ends (touches anything on or associated with the court and the two baskets), vs. when a throw-in ends (touched by a player on the court or goes out of bounds or is touched while a player is out of bounds). In addition, the official must know the exceptions to the back court provisions (defensive player, first player to touch on a throw-in or jump ball).

Hence the reason more than one official got at least one of the situations wrong.

No team control - no BC...
 

I totally agree with what you just wrote, but I think it would be useful to well consider 4-12-1, which describes player control, which has not been established in any of the situations before the player goes into the BC, and 4-12-2 (describing when a team is in control).

The tapping of the ball and the end of the jump ball don't establish PC or TC. There's was no PC, so there's no TC, so you can't have BC.

ga314ref,
The tapping of the ball and the end of the jump don't establish player control or team control. HOWEVER, once the player (A2) JUMPS from the front court and CATCHES the ball in the air, he has player control. What status does he have when he catches the ball in the air? He has front court status since that was the last place on the court in which he was in contact with floor. Hence, he catches the ball in the air with FRONT COURT status. He then proceeds to land in the BACK COURT. With the exceptions listed in 9.9.3 (defensive player...no prior team control by B, therefore that does not apply here, directly off of a jump ball....does not apply in sitch 2 since the jump ball ends when the ball touches the floor, or directly off of a throw-in as in sitch 4), players are not permitted to be the first player to touch the ball in the back court after team control was established in the front court.

Has it REALLY touched the floor?
 

Not sure that I concur with you on #3.
4-28-3 lists when the jump ball ends. Striking an official is not there.
It is true that 4-4-4 tells us that a ball contacting an official is treated the same as the ball contacting the floor at that location, but this statement is made within the context of ball location. So it may well be that this is only true for determining the location of the ball and may not be true for determining if a jump ball has ended.

To explain a bit further, the same rule 4-4-4 also says that the ball hitting a player is treated the same as the ball striking the floor at that location, but would you consider the ball to have hit the floor and thus the jump ball to have ended, if A1 taps the ball and then it strikes jumper B1 in the head while he is in contact with the floor? I doubt it because the ball has not touched a non-jumper.

So to test our understanding of play #3, I'll add play #5:
Jumpers A1 and B1 leap into the air and tap the tossed ball simultaneously. After the players have returned to the floor, the ball drops and strikes B1 in the head. The ball bounces high into the air and A2 jumps from his frontcourt, catches the ball in while airborne, and lands in his backcourt. Is this a violation?

You cannot have BC without there having been TC...
 

You're right.

PC = TC. Once you have PC, you immediately have TC. The exceptions in the rules are only for players who gain control during the throwin, jump ball, or while on defense.

The NFHS has made it clear that once these events are over, the exception no longer applies.