Block/Player Control/No Call

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by just another ref

4-7-2a: A player who is moving with the ball is required to stop or change direction to avoid contact if a defensive player has obtained a legal guarding position in his path.

Excellent reference. Two things to say about it.

1) While it's very clear regarding the requirement of the offensive player, it does not address the distinction that Jurassic is trying to make. He's saying it's illegal to move laterally into the landing spot of an airborne player but legal to move backwards into the landing spot of an airborne player. I disagree with him on that, and your reference does not address any such distinction.

2) Clearly, the offensive player is required to stop or change direction if the defensive player has obtained a legal position in his path. So now we need to ask whether that defensive player has a legal guarding position on the airborne player under discussion.

Well, how does one get a legal guarding position on an airborne player? According to 4-23-4b, which I've quoted twice and referenced about 10 times in this thread, the defensive player has to get to the spot BEFORE the opponent becomes airborne.

So if the offensive player becomes airborne and then the defensive player continues to move, the defensive player does NOT have a legal guarding position on the airborne player. Therefore, 4-7-2a doesn't apply.