Another try at the most misunderstood rules

[Mark Padgett]

Following yet another kids rec league meeting with our coaches (volunteer dads and moms), I've come up once again with the 10 most misunderstood rules by coaches. I think this list probably is valid for "real" HS coaches also. Here they are in no particular order. Any comments will be appreciated, along with any other rule listings.


during the shooting of technical foul free throws, all non-shooters must stand behind the division line

during the final two minutes of the first and second halves, the ball may be advanced to the division line for a throw-in following a timeout

earrings may be worn by players if they are taped over

an offensive player may not be called for a charging foul if the contact occurred under that player’s basket

there is no 5 second closely guarded count if the player with the ball is dribbling

if a player dives for a loose ball and his momentum causes him to slide and/or roll on the floor, it is a traveling violation

during a jump ball, neither jumper may touch the ball more than once

if a defender reaches over the boundary line on a throw-in and hits the ball before it is released, it is only a technical foul if a prior warning has already been issued

if a player takes a shot and the ball does not hit the rim or backboard, it is a violation if that player is the first player to touch the ball

if a dribbler in the back court advances the ball to dribble in the front court, and then dribbles again in the back court, without both of his feet having touched the front court, it is a violation

Oh yeah - I forgot one.

it's OK to yell at the refs

[vbzebra]

"you can't make THAT call in rec league!"

[Back In The Saddle]

You forgot, "Reaching is a foul. This is automatic and no contact is required."

[zm1283]

A classic heard recently from a "real" high school coach: "He has to be set to take the charge!!"

The backcourt rule is completely misunderstood by everyone who isn't an official. (And by some officials for that matter) The offensive team's coach ALWAYS thinks that just because the defense touches the ball at any point before it goes into the BC, it can't be a BC violation. "Last to touch, first to touch" is foreign to them.

[just another ref]

He gets two steps on a layup.

[zm1283]

They are just convinced that you can't lift your pivot foot and shoot or pass before returning it to the floor. It has to be a a travel!

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

You forgot, "Reaching is a foul. This is automatic and no contact is required."

You're right. I also forgot the infamous "over the back" call.

[Vinski]

One of my favorites is when the crowd is yelling, “Three seconds!” when the ball in the air for a try or during rebounding.

[BillyMac]

The Most Misunderstood Basketball Rules

I started working on this list back in March 2005, for a presentation that I was making to a college level basketball coaching class after I was asked to give a lecture on the most misunderstood basketball rules.

This is a list of basketball rules that are often misunderstood by coaches, players, and parents. I developed this list over the past twenty-eight years, officiating thousands of basketball games, listening to erroneous comments from players, coaches, and mostly from fans, and thinking to myself, "I wish I could stop the game and explain the real rule to them". This list is not meant to train officials, but rather, it is meant to educate players, coaches, and fans.

For example. A player is dribbling the ball in the backcourt and a fan is yelling "three seconds". Or, a player is inbounding the ball and a parent yells "he's stepping on the boundary line". How many times have things like this happened to you? Don't you just want to blow the whistle, stop the game, and say "there can't be a three second violation until the ball is in the frontcourt", or "the player can step on the line, but not over the line".

It is my hope that many of you will find this list useful in some way. Perhaps some of you may use the list, or a portion of the list, with your own local board. At the minimum, I'm sure that this list will spark some lively, professional discussion.

In order to improve this list, I encourage your comments, suggestions, corrections, deletions, additions, etc.

Thanks to the following Official Forum Basketball members, and NFHS basketball forum members, for their contributions in developing this list: bossref, Hartsy, Jurassic Referee, Camron Rust, Mark Padgett, Nevadaref, Mark Dexter, Dan ref, mdray, Jimgolf, elecref, Assignmentmaker, IREFU2, David M, JeffW, Back In The Saddle, rainmaker, texaspaul, BktBallRef, bob jenkins, Djjhabeb, Coach Kilo, and zm1283.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Vinski

One of my favorites is when the crowd is yelling, “Three seconds!” when the ball in the air for a try or during rebounding.

There was a story here years ago about a fan who kept yelling "3 in the key".

She wanted her son's team to be awarded the ball because the other team had 3 players in the key. I. Kid. You. Not.

[Terrapins Fan]

This never gets old. I use it to help teach my Church league officials.

Thank goodness it's here, I lost my copy in my computer....

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by Terrapins Fan

This never gets old. I use it to help teach my Church league officials. ....

Fitting, since BillyMac's post is about as long as one of my average sermons in my previous career.
All you need is to take an offering and serve coffee afterwards and you'd have a typical Lutheran Sunday morning!

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by Freddy

Fitting, since BillyMac's post is about as long as one of my average sermons in my previous career.
All you need is to take an offering and serve coffee afterwards and you'd have a typical Lutheran Sunday morning!

You probably even had the same amount of people asleep.