Pregame dunking - is it being well enforced?

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

1) That statement is 100% wrong. JR will be along shortly to tell you the same.

2) The coach had every right to be upset that you were using your own personal standard instead of the NFHS rules book definition. The coach may have been a jerk, but he was also correct about the rule.

1) Nevada is technically correct. The ring doesn't enter into the determination of whether the ball was dunked or not.

2) That I disagree with. Lightly pushing the ball down doesn't equate to driving and/or forcing the ball through the basket imo. It's about the same as following through with your hands on a lay-up. From Rich's description, I'd never call sumthin' like that either.

Fwiw the only part of Rich's original post that I disagree with is that small bit about the rim. Everything else is spot-on imo.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

1) Nevada is technically correct. The ring doesn't enter into the determination of whether the ball was dunked or not.

2) That I disagree with. Lightly pushing the ball down doesn't equate to driving and/or forcing the ball through the basket imo. It's about the same as following through with your hands on a lay-up. From Rich's description, I'd never call sumthin' like that either.

Fwiw the only part of Rich's original post that I disagree with is that small bit about the rim. Everything else is spot-on imo.

For what it's worth, I'm too smart to mention the rim to the coach, as I do know the rule. I simply said, "that's not a dunk." At one point, I finally said, "that's not a dunk, turn the page." Then, after the captains meeting (which we do at 12 minutes at Wisconsin), I went to the table and checked/signed the book, which is when he came over and dropped the rule book on top of the book.

How could anyone with a straight face consider it a dunk when the player's hand never came closer than six inches from the basket and he essentially lightly threw it through? If he's controlled enough not to bring his hand down, is he really forcing it through?

I call about 10 games a season where a handful of players on each team is capable of bringing the board down. If one of them clearly dunks, I would call a technical foul without hesitation. But in a situation where it would be up to interpretation of what is and what isn't a dunk (even by the 3 officials on the game)? No freaking way. There is something to be said for being smarter than that.

[BillyMac]

Most players in my little corner of the Constitution State know enough to just "drop" (just release, not push downward) the ball into the basket while having one, or both, hands directly above the center of the rim. It sends a message to the other team that, "Hey. Look at me. I can dunk if I wanted to but I don't want to start the game with a technical foul". Occasionally a player will put a little finger pressure downward on the "drop" which will get him, or her (just kidding), one, and only one warning, "Hey. Be careful. No dunking", as they pass by us in the layup line. Twenty-nine years. No pregame dunking T's in a high school game. Many in AAU, recreation, travel, and men's league games, but high school players, and coaches, around these parts understand the rule and abide by it.

[JRutledge]

I tell players to stay from up there when they are getting close. So I do not have to even have that type of conversation with the coach that thinks they know the rule or what I should or should not rule. They would have to really make an effort for me to call a dunk in the pregame if the rim was not touched.

Peace