Block/Player Control/No Call

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

In the play that I outlined above (understanding that it's different from the play in the original post), the answer is no. The defender is still moving to his/her spot (on the floor) while the shooter is airborne 90% of the time. That's my point. Once the shooter (or any player, really) is airborne, the defender better not still be moving to his/her spot or it's a block.

Let's see if we agree on the circumstances.....

- you have a defender who has established a legal position in the path of a player with the ball.
- the player with the ball now moves directly into the defender without altering his straightforward path and initiates slight contact.
- the defender now tries to avoid further contact by moving/falling straight backwards away from the player with the ball.
- the offensive player now continues and jumps straight FORWARD without altering his original straight path and runs into/onto the defender.
- at NO time after establishing his legal position was the defender NOT in the offensive player's direct path.
- At also at NO time did the defender do anything to LOSE his legal position under any rule that I know of.

If you really insist that's a foul on the defender, we're gonna have to agree to disagree. I can't find anything in the rules that will justify that premise. At NO time, did the defender do anything illegal that I can think of. The defender with a legal position was moving straight back trying to avoid contact and the player with the ball continued straight forward to initiate contact. That isn't a block.