kick 'im while he's down
 

Adult men's "wreck" ball, NFHS rules. (I know, my first mistake is doing these games in the first place!)

B1 is face down on the floor at the feet of A1 after an unsuccessful dive for a loose ball. The play has moved on. A1 chooses to step over B1 to rejoin the play (rather than go around), and his foot inadvertantly contacts the head of B1.

Do you call an off-ball team control foul on A1 if

1) it is early in the game and there are no emotions yet,

2) it is the fourth quarter, A1 has four fouls, and he has given you attitude on every call.

I was in situation (2), and was torn between

- wanting to get rid of a player with attitude who just kicked an opponent in the head, and
- not wanting to disqualify a guy on a ticky tack contact.

I called the foul, and he added a T to his count on the way to the bench. He later called the league administrator, who luckily had attended the game and backed me up. The administrator did not really see the kick, but agreed with me on the T.

If it had been situation (1), I probably would have warned him and let it go.

What would you guys do?

The only way situation 2 matters, in my opinion, is that I'd be less inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. I wouldn't make the call in an effort to dump him. I'd also be inclined, based on the level of contact and whether he got the benefit of the doubt, to call it intentional rather than common (or team control).

Also, pull the trigger sooner on the T if he's giving you attitude on every call. Personally, if he gave me attitude the first call, he gets a quick chat with me; one way actually. If he gives me attitude on the second call, he gets his first T. That's, at most, three calls with attitude and you don't have to worry about him.

And if the league administrator has to be there to back your Ts, I'd think twice about the league.

This was my thought, but I didn't think about going with an intentional.

Agreed. I should have addressed it sooner.

The phone call to the administrator and "backup" happened hours after the game. I didn't need any help at the time.

Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad ...
 

Team control foul. Also. A wise man, on this Forum, once said, "Accidental isn't always incidental".

That's not what I meant, sorry. What I meant was, if the administrator won't have your back later unless he actually saw the play, then it's a problem. I'm not saying that's the case, but that was the impression I got from your post. IOW, if he hadn't been there, then the player's call may have worked somehow. Not sure that's the case, but....
I didn't mean to imply you somehow needed help on the court.

I doubt very much that the contact to the head was accidental, however nonchalant it might have appeared. He knew he was stepping over an opponent and where his feet would hit if he dragged them.

Frankly, I could see a T here for unsporting conduct: walking over someone is intimidation. I would have at least an INT for this.

Yeah, but in this case it really is incidental, isn't it? How is the guy on the floor put at a disadvantage?

Please Correct Me If I'm Wrong ...
 

Be careful here. It's live ball contact. Unsporting? Certainly. But it's still a live ball, and I don't believe that you can call a technical foul for live ball contact. Team control or intentional? No problem. Technical? I'm not so sure.

I believe he was referring to the act of just stepping over an opponent sans contact.

I Guess That You Had To Be There ...
 

The only question in my mind goes back to the orignal post which describes the play as "inadvertant". If I ignore the two references to the contact being a "kick", then this "inadvertant" contact can certainly be ignored as incidental. If the official deemed that there was no intent to harm, or injure, and B simply got up and continued play, then this contact can be ignored.

The two references to this being a "kick" seem to make the case for some type of contact foul being called.

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it" (Justice Potter Stewart, Jacobellis v. Ohio, 1964)

I would say this has to be either intentional or nothing. I cannot think of a basketball play committed against a player lying on the floor without the ball that would result in a common foul .

My main issue with this whole thing is...

Either way, you knew that A1 had four fouls. I never count fouls, for two reasons...
*it's the scorekeeper's job, not mine, and
*it can sway your view from being objective, much like it did here.

Let's look at the two options you present:
*"Wanting to get rid of a player:" Be careful. This is something you shouldn't want, but rather something you simply do when necessary.
*"Not wanting to disqualify a guy on ticky tack contact:" A player never gets disqualified on one foul (unless it's flagrant). It takes FIVE fouls, and whether the last one is hard or marginal is irrelevant. Even still, the fact that you knew he had four fouls played with your head.

I can't speak for the play itself, because I wasn't there. It's up to you whether A1 committed a foul, and you can't get involved with how many fouls one has at the time.

Makes sense.

I don't normally count fouls- I knew this guy had four because he had complained about every call. You are right that I would have been better not to know. In spite of that I did my best to call objectively, but his attitude did affect my decision that this was intimidation (and hence worked to his advantage), rather than purely incidental.

I agree with others here that perhaps it should have been either intentional or nothing.

Exactly. And if there's contact after the whistle, I have the option of ignoring it or calling a second T for dead ball contact. ;)