Points of emphasis

[dave30]

Went to meeting last night. Points of emphasis are hand-checking and/or putting hands on offensive player with or without the ball...specifically no forearms.

How is the defense allowed to guard the big post man when he posts up without touching him at all? I didn't see the forearm as being a problem as long as the defender wasn't pushing, but rules are rules.

Are we supposed to call the foul when a player gets touched while making a move and beats a hand-check? It seems that we may be calling a lot more fouls this year.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by dave30

Went to meeting last night. Points of emphasis are hand-checking and/or putting hands on offensive player with or without the ball...specifically no forearms.

How is the defense allowed to guard the big post man when he posts up without touching him at all? I didn't see the forearm as being a problem as long as the defender wasn't pushing, but rules are rules.

Are we supposed to call the foul when a player gets touched while making a move and beats a hand-check? It seems that we may be calling a lot more fouls this year.

Dave, no hand-checking, forearms, etc. have been almost an annual POE in the FED rule book for at least the last ten years. The NFHS keeps putting it in the rule book because they WANT you to call a lot more fouls for those acts. They DON'T want individual officials deciding to let forearms go because those officials personally don't feel they're a problem. A forearm may not be pushing but it IS holding.

And btw, a single quick defensive "touch" and a "hand-check" are two entirely different things. Only one of them is a foul.

[Judtech]

This may help: Basketball IS a contact sport, not a collision sport. It is up to the officials to decide what type of contact constitutes a foul. The governing bodies give us direction in what constitutes a foul. As a former player it is a WHOLE lot easier to keep up with quicker players if I can keep a hand on them (hand check) and match up with taller stronger players with an arm bar. This is why we have heard terms such as "Hot Stove Touch" being legal and the emphasis onthe word "Displacement" for arm bars. Further, governing bodies have stated that putting two hands on a ball handler is an automatic foul. This is very fun to call when the play is 35 feet from the basket and the ball handler is just standing there and here comes the defender placing a hand/hands on them when no one is moving. Tweet! Foul. While we may not agree that it hinders Speed, Rythm or Balance, it is irrelevant and must be called.
Sometimes we just have to call what "They" want us to call wheter we agree with it or not. Hope that helps

[dave30]

I agree with the points of emphasis. I just hope everyone will call it the way it is supposed to be called, whether it is 1A or 5A. I notice that a lot more contact is allowed in 5A ball compared to 1A. It shouldn't be that way. Maybe this will reinforce that point.