Seth Davis Mailbag Rule Q & A

[SamIAm]

I really do more than just SI, but,

In our pickup games, we use the NCAA rules as our general guidelines and we repeatedly have one item that comes up that needs clarification. If you are in bounds and you are heading out, and you throw the ball at another player, but that player already is out of bounds or has one foot out, who gets possession? A group of us think it is the player who threw it off the guy, but the majority think because the guy is already established as out of bounds, it would be just like throwing it off the post or a spectator and it goes over to the other team.
-- Shawn, San Diego

Although the person who was hit with the ball may have the mobility and basketball IQ of a steel post, he is still technically considered a human being playing in a basketball game, and therefore the person who threw the ball retains possession. By rule a player is not considered out of bounds until he or the ball is physically out of bounds, so as long as the thrower's planted foot was inbounds when he went airborne, it sounds to me like he has made a pretty heads-up play.

(His answer is accurate even if he doesn't use dots or dashes).

Read more: Why Pittsburgh could finally reach Final Four, more reader mail - Seth Davis - SI.com