Grabbing a player

[Man In Blue]

We are 20 seconds into the game and we are shooting a 2 shot free throw. I am the new trail. On the second shot B1 grabs A1's shirt so that he can not get around the box out. Ball goes in.

I called a holding foul. B coach doesn't like it. He feels that because the ball went in it's a dead ball. I told the coach that the ball was live and in the air when the foul happened.

So now a couple of things. I know the ball was live. Would it have mattered if the ball was through the rim when the infraction happened?

Would it have been better to issue a warning because it happened so early in the game? It seemed to be a habit of B1's as later in the game (while shooting free throws) he reached for the shirt of an opposing player and caught himself.

[Adam]

Good call; especially early on.

Yes, if the ball had gone through before the foul, you'd probably ignore this.

No, a foul works well here. Not only that, but a jersey grab could easily be considered an intentional foul, and probably should. Frankly, a common foul here is a warning.

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by Man In Blue

We are 20 seconds into the game and we are shooting a 2 shot free throw. I am the new trail. On the second shot B1 grabs A1's shirt so that he can not get around the box out. Ball goes in.

I called a holding foul. B coach doesn't like it. He feels that because the ball went in it's a dead ball. I told the coach that the ball was live and in the air when the foul happened.

So now a couple of things. I know the ball was live. Would it have mattered if the ball was through the rim when the infraction happened?

Would it have been better to issue a warning because it happened so early in the game? It seemed to be a habit of B1's as later in the game (while shooting free throws) he reached for the shirt of an opposing player and caught himself.

When the ball goes through it is dead until it is at the disposal of the other team. Contact at this point should be ignored unless judged to be intentional or flagrant, and while grabbing the shirt is an act which is usually intentionally done, in this case it would not usually be called an intentional foul. As far as a warning, if you don't call the foul, it's always ok to say something like, "Hands off, guys," but I can't see stopping the game at this point to give one. I don't see early or late in the game as being a factor.