FIBA front and backcourt status, and the over and back rule

[eg-italy]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Any FIBA experts care to comment on this one? Maybe offer some rule of thumb, easy ways to recall this rule? I've got a pretty good handle on the rest of FIBA's rules, but this one is the hardest to be an expert on.

It's not very different from the NFHS rule, since the criteria are essentially the same: (1) team control; (2) last to touch in the FC; (3) first to touch in the BC. When those apply to the same team, there is a violation.

During a dribble from the BC to the FC, the ball is not in the FC until both feet and the ball touch the FC.

Now we go to the differences.

(1) A player straddling the division line is both in the FC and in the BC. If they touch a ball coming from the BC, no violation and the ball is in the FC; if they touch a ball coming from the FC, violation. It's a violation if a player straddling the division line holds the ball and lifts the foot in the FC.

(2) The rules about FC and BC apply during a throw-in: when the throw-in is from a spot adjacent to the FC, the ball is in the FC (and there is team control).

(3) If an airborne player (who has jumped from their FC) establishes a new team control, this player's location (relative to FC and BC) will be determined when the player returns to the floor; contrary to what happens in case (1), if the player lands straddling the division line, their location is in the BC. Some comments on this at the end.

Case (3) is similar in spirit to the exception in NFHS rules, but not quite the same: recall, for example, that there is team control during a throw-in.

Regarding the tormenting problem about being the first to touch the ball in the BC after a deflection by the defense, I'm afraid that the rule is clear (also in NFHS, AFAICT): if the ball doesn't bounce in the BC, the player touching it is the last to touch a ball having FC status and the touch gives the ball BC status, hence a violation.

Final comment. The exception for the airborne player establishing a new team control has been introduced this year. I find this formulation easier to apply than the corresponding NFHS or NCAA one. Unfortunately FIBA rule maintainers did not think well to all the consequences, so they had to issue an interpretation regarding the case when the player lands straddling the line, with the effect that the rules are now contradictory (and difficult to apply). This could have been solved in advance by saying that a player touching the BC is in the BC (and not in the FC): giving "double" status to a player straddling the line is a sure source for troubles.

Ciao