Injured player w/ possession of the ball
 

I have a scenario that came up during a game I was a clinician for at a camp a few weeks ago. I've run it by a few people, but nobody can really come to a consensus on the correct way to handle this, so I thought I'd offer it up to the masses here.

A1 has the ball in her front court and dribbles along the front court endline. As she gets in the middle of the lane, she is trapped by B1 and B2 against the endline. Flailing of arms occurs (girls basketball remember) and A1 is inadvertently poked in the eye somehow. She instantly doubles over, still possessing the ball, one hand over her eye, and crying out in pain, and standing in the middle of the lane.

As far as I can see there are two realistic options (point out additional options if I miss them):

1) Officials time out for injury, team A gets the ball along the endline for a throw in after replacing the injured player.

2) Wait until A1 has committed a 3 second violation, and replace the injured player once the ball becomes dead.

Of the people I've polled, it's a pretty even split between options 1 and 2. I personally go w/ option 1, but I also get where people are coming from with option 2 in that they don't want to see team B lose the obvious advantage they have gained by playing good defense and having A1 trapped with nowhere to go and a violation quickly approaching.

What does everybody here think? Is there an option 3 I haven't mentioned?

I'm with Option 1 since the "playing of good defense" included a poke to the eye.

I'll live with the grief from the defense's coach.

Getting poked in the eye, if A1 was basically standing upright, usually involves the defenders hands being somewhere that is not protected (not in their vertical plane). You said the arms were flailing. I've got illegal us of hands.

Let's assume that somehow A1 in her flailing inserted herself into B1's vertical plain and impaled herself on B1's finger, thereby initiating the injury. Just for the sake of the scenario, even though I agree that what you mentioned was a very real possibility. Or let's even pretend that you didn't see how A1 got injured, but she obviously is.

I say we go with the NFHS rule for this situation. Unfortunately I don't have a rule book handy.

Blow the whistle replace the injured playered.
-You've got an injured player
- her team has the ball
- you are not disadvantaging the team in possession.
-The injured player is in the middle of the play risking furhter injury to herself and others.


The only way I'm letting the play continue is if the ball comes loose, play is moving away from the injured player and the team on defense is now coming up with the ball to transition immediately.

In that case, I'd go mostly with what Panter suggested. You have an injured player that has not yet violated any rule. Had they not been poked in the eye, they may have been able to vacate the lane to avoid the violation.

The only place I differ from Panther on is the threshold for blowing it dead when the ball is lose and/or being grabbed by the other team. At 80-90' from the opposite teams basket, I'm probably blowing it dead immediately when the other team recovers the ball. They are most likely NOT in transistion or in an attack yet.

I agree with all of you guys who say to kill it immediately. I just thought it interesting that I found a couple of guys who were more in favor of option 2 and wanted to see if anybody else agreed with them.

"When a player is injured as in Art. 2(a), the official may suspend play after the ball is dead or is in control of the injured player’s team or when the opponents complete a play. A play is completed when a team loses control (including throwing for goal) or withholds the ball from play by ceasing to attempt to score or advance the ball to a scoring position. When necessary to protect an injured player, the official may immediately suspend play."

The injured player's team is in control of the ball, and if A1 is doubled over in pain holding her injured eye she has certainly "ceas[ed] to attempt to score of advance the ball to a scoring position". The criteria has clearly been met, I'm stopping play.

Though we have rules that tell us how to handle an injury situation, an injury is not a legitimate part of the game. So to suggest that the official withhold the whistle and wait for the injured player to commit a violation...that does not sit well with me, it's adding insult to injury. If there was a foul by the offensive player or one of the defenders, call it. Otherwise just stop play.

Thanks BITS. That's what I was trying to get at.

No need to pretend most of the time. Often when a player is poked in the eye, all you see is the flinch.

Three Blind Mice ...
 

If you didn't stop the game for the eye poke, then this would happen next. I've seen it happen a million times.


http://thm-a02.yimg.com/nimage/6d6ad1ad6606dfb2

Sounds like a foul on A1. There's your dead ball. :D

That's what I was thinking--come out strong with a player control........................................... .....:eek:



Of course, you may need to start contemplating what your next career move is going to look like.

Easy. It looks like polishing up your resume and packing away your gear for storage. ;)

Stop play, the offense has the ball, they are not moving towards the hoop, and the injured player is arguably in danger of being harmed further if you allow play to continue.
The only time you don't stop play immediately is if the offense is driving to the lane or taking a shot.

+1

If the defending coach doesn't like it, inquire if he would rather that you charge his player with a foul. He'll become quiet.

You'll always find a couple of people who get it wrong. :)

This was presented at my local board's meeting last season. If it's helpful, great. If not, I guess you can just ignore it. :)


DEALING WITH INJURIES DURING PLAY

A. Non-serious injuries

1. Examples: Twisted ankle, cramp, etc.
2. STAY WITH PLAYER!
3. If injured player’s team has the ball, or if injury occurs during a dead ball, blow whistle immediately.
4. If opponent has the ball, let them attack the basket.
5. As soon as they STOP attacking the basket, blow the whistle. Do this when:
-- the dribbler pulls up without an immediate pass or try.
-- the ball is passed AWAY from the basket.
-- a try is released.
6. When play is stopped, check the injured player.
-- If player says s/he is ok, player stays in the game and the game continues immediately.
-- If player need to be attended, start the replacement procedure (see below).

B. Serious injuries

1. Examples: Head hitting floor, knee injury, player on ground under basket.
2. STOP PLAY IMMEDIATELY!! Don’t wait. Player safety is our #1 priority.
3. Allow player to be attended on the court.
4. Once player has been removed from the court and the coach is back at the bench, then begin the replacement procedure.

C. In either case (serious or non-serious injury), if you beckon the coach or trainer – or if the coach or trainer comes on the floor without being beckoned – we MUST use the replacement procedure.

D. Replacement Procedure

1. Inform injured player’s coach that the player must be replaced OR the coach may request time-out and the player may remain in the game as long as s/he is ready to play at the end of the time-out.
2. Very important: the INJURED PLAYER’S TEAM must request the time-out in order for that player to remain in the game.
3. The team may use a 60-second or a 30-second time-out, as long as the player is ready to play at the end of the time-out.
4. If coach chooses to replace the injured player instead of using a time-out, instruct the timer to begin the 20-second replacement period, and sound a warning horn with 15 seconds remaining.
5. Allow the substitute and any other substitutes who properly reported into the game.

E. Resume play at the Point of Interruption.

1. If there was team control when you stopped play, then that team gets a throw-in at a designated spot closest to where the ball was. The shot clock is not reset.
2. If a try had been released when you stopped play, then there was no team control. So:
-- if the try was successful, resume with a throw-in anywhere along the endline for the team that did not score the basket.
-- if the try was not successful, resume with an alternating possession throw-in for the team that has the arrow. Reset the shot clock, even if the offense retains possession.
3. If a basket had been scored immediately prior to the injury, resume with a throw-in anywhere along the endline for the team that did not score the basket.
4. If you stopped play when free throws were going to be attempted, then resume with the free throws.
-- If the injured player was supposed to shoot the free throws, then the injured player’s substitute shoots the free throws.
-- Remember that the injured player’s coach chooses the substitute to attempt the free throws.

F. REMEMBER: you can stop play any time you believe there is a serious injury. Don’t allow a player to hold his knee in agony because you are worried about stopping a fast break. If you judge that it may be serious, stop play immediately.

That's very helpful. Thanks, Scrapper!

Agreed. I think the part that made me think twice about it was that the guys that I disagreed with were veterans that I respected and generally agreed with. But, as you pointed out, you'll always find people who will disagree with you, be it rookie or veterans. Discussing, disagreeing, and looking up the right way to handle something is how we learn from things like this, so it's all good.

B foul or A injury.

K.I.S.S.