Good catch, Mark. I failed to mentioned it was rectangular, and have edited my post accordingly.

I don't think there was anything implied by the story. The writer may not have known the rule, and wrote it as an improbable shot. He may have seen it differently than the officals. Or, the officials may have not been convinced it went over at all.

This rule is interpreted differently by different people. Some say the entire ball has to pass over the backboard, others say any piece of the ball qualifies.

NCAA specifies "The ball shall be out of bounds when any part of the ball passes over the backboard from any direction." As you imply, the NFHS does not specify.

I have only seen this happen a handful of times, but my observation is that quite often it can be very difficult to tell for certain whether the ball actually passes over the backboard. It just depends on the angles involved, both the angle of the ball and the angle it is observed from by the official.

Parkway West HS is a school in the St. Louis area that still has fan shaped backboards in their Gyms. Their court is also longer than the average court and they hire only 2 officials for their non-league games. I guess the AD is Old School.

Misty Watercolor Memories Of The Way We Were ...
 

Our old local high school, now an elementary school, was the first high school in Connecticut to have glass backboards. They were actually three quarters glass (the top three quarters) and one quarter wood, where the rims were attached. They're still there. Old timers tell me that when these glass backboards were first installed visiting fans would enter the gym and just stare and take photos of the "new fangled backboards".

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice ...
 

Once is alright. Twice and it gets a little scary. Just don't say it three times in a row. Please.

I try to choose my words carefully.
I do not believe he is the original 'Old School'.

Fan Shaped Backboards
 

There are at least two HS summer leagues in our area that schedule games outdoors on courts with fan shaped backboards. Inclement weather causes games to be moved indoors.

I don't think there are any gyms in our area used for MS/HS contests that still have fan shaped.

What does IAABO say? They issued an informational rules e-mail today mentioning that exact play but didn't say whether the violation was all-ball or part-ball. And yes, I've already asked Whats-His-Name his thoughts on it as an IABBO interpreter.:D

Imo the rule says its a violation if the ball passes over a rectangular backboard. It doesn't say a part-ball or 51% of a ball. Iow it has to be the whole ball.

In our local kids rec league, we play some 3rd, 4th and 5th grade games at elementary schools that still have old fan backboards. Since there's no "official" school teams below HS level in our school district, there's no reason to upgrade. From 6th grade thru HS, they play at two middle schools which have rectangulars. We make sure the newbie refs (who do the lower grade games) know the difference in the rule, although it almost never comes up.

Snoop A Loop, we're goin streakin..............ooops OT my bad!:p

http://www.askfitnesscoach.com/wp-co...k-the-Tank.jpg

Back on topic, it's always been my understanding that any part of the ball is the ball. Any part that goes over the backboard makes it out of bounds.

A player, for example, is out of bounds when on or outside a boundary line. Are you saying then that the WHOLE player must be on or outside the boundary line to be out of bounds? Of course not. S/he only needs to be touching one toe or one finger or any PART of the body on the line to be out of bounds. Likewise, if any part of the ball is over the backboard, the ball is out of bounds.

[QUOTE=Scrapper1;701501Back on topic, it's always been my understanding that any part of the ball is the ball. Any part that goes over the backboard makes it out of bounds.

A player, for example, is out of bounds when on or outside a boundary line. Are you saying then that the WHOLE player must be on or outside the boundary line to be out of bounds? Of course not. S/he only needs to be touching one toe or one finger or any PART of the body on the line to be out of bounds. Likewise, if any part of the ball is over the backboard, the ball is out of bounds.[/QUOTE]The rules say that a ball is in bounds if it touches the side of a rectangular backboard. The rules also say that a ball is out-of-bounds if it passes over the top of a rectangular backboard. Sooooo...what do you call, Skippy, on a shot from the deep corner when one half of the ball passes over the plane of the side of the board and the other half of the ball passes over the plane of the top of the board? Half a violation?

Riddle me that, BatThingy!

In the 90s the much of the state of Iowa did not have rectangular backboards. Not sure about now, but used to all be fan.

What's the problem here? You've told me the ball is inbounds if it touches the side of the backboard and then provided an example where the ball is NOT touching the side of the backboard. The ball has passed over the backboard. Violation.

I think it's probably impossible for the ball to touch the side of the backboard AND go over the backboard, so your dilemma isn't really a concern for me.