Closely Guarded Count

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

The common opinion is that a player is not "guarding" unless facing an opponent.

That being said, maybe there was no count because the officials did not feel they were in the proper distance (6 feet for men's basketball).

Without seeing the play in question or talking to the officials, it is hard to know why there was no count or if there were other reasons.

Peace

I am inclined to go with your first comment. The defender was certainly within 6 feet. I've seen this even at the top of the circle where the offensive player is just holding the ball, his back to the defender who is right behind him, waiting on various players to make cuts and such. They never exceed the 5 seconds before either passing or starting a dribble, but I rarely see an official demonstrating a count until the offensive player turns to face the defender. So I was just curious if there was some understanding that you had to be facing each other in order to be "closely guarded."