illegal dribble?

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Play, A1 dribbling, loses control. A2 bats the ball back to A1 who grabs it with two hands and then proceeds to dribble. Call?

As I envision this, A2 passed the ball back. Legal.

I disagree with your view that a pass is defined by the outcome rather than the intent. Indeed, I think it's exactly the reverse. I doubt that you can specify the outcome in a way that rules out rebounds and recoveries of loose balls from being passes.

As for your proposed counterexample, where A1 passes the ball to A2, who runs away because he didn't see the pass: that's still a pass, even though it's incomplete (to apply a football concept). We don't have the concept of an incomplete pass in basketball because (a) in the vast majority of cases passes are completed, and (b) when they aren't it's just a loose ball (not a dead ball).

And, merely passing the ball does not satisfy the requirements for starting a new dribble.