2010-11 NFHS Rule Changes

[sseltser]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

I'm very late to this party. Sorry. I followed the link from a more recent thread. I just want to comment on one post:

I disagree with this. The ball can be at a player's disposal long before the official starts the count. When the ball clears the net after a goal, and a player from the throw-in team catches it, the ball is obviously at his disposal. He's holding it, so it's obviously available to him to begin the throw-in process. This is true even though the official usually doesn't start the throw-in count until the player is out of bounds.

I think you are confusing the "dictionary" definition of "at disposal of" and the "rules" definition.

By rule, a ball which falls through the basket into B1's hands is not at the disposal of B1 until either:
- B1 walks out of bounds and faces the court, thereby actually being able to make a throw-in pass.
- or team B delays enough that the official deems that the team should be in position to make the throw-in and starts the count then.

Just because the ball is or isn't in B1's hands, on the floor next to B1, or "available" are extraneous pieces of information, that do not in and of themselves matter when determining whether the ball is at the disposal of a player. That is, they play a part in the whole picture, but we need to know more about this situation, including where the player is standing and for how long.