Foul after the last buzzer

[Adam]

Originally Posted by christianH

Hi guys,

last Wednesday was watching a game I have seen a situation when the offensive player whose team was 1 point down went for a jump shot in the last second while the defensive player was desperate to get as close as he could get to put the shooter off his shot.

Well in my interpretation before the shooter landed back on the floor there was contact and the defensive player is responsible for the contact as he was out of his cilinder.

Despite the fact that the shooter released the ball before the buzzer the contact occurred after the buzzer sounded end of the game.

Should the ref have called the free throws? Should the ref ignore the foul as the contact occured after the game has finished?


thanks guys

C

Mere contact does not mean there is a foul. The definition of a foul says it is contact "which hinders an opponent from performing normal defensive and offensive movements." Part of the definition of incidental contact states, "contact which does not hinder the opponent from participating in normal defensive or offensive movements should be considered incidental."

More oftent than not, the contact made in this situation (after the shot is released) is considered incidental because it had no bearing on the shot.

The other thing we look for is protecting the shooter from being undercut by a defender before he lands. If the defensive contact endangers the shooter's landing, then it could likely be a foul. As bob pointed out, the horn is irrelevant as long as the ball is either live or the shooter is airborne.

Does this answer your question?