Possesion Arrow Error

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Camron, that's the statement that I've been commenting on. By rule, the player only shot a dead ball if the official had decided to call the technical foul before the ball left the shooter's hands.

I agree that the official can decide to call an unsporting foul on this play. That is always a judgment call. But the ball is still live after the throw-in until the official decides to call that technical foul. And additionally, if the ball is in the air on a 3-point try when the official decides to call the unsporting "T", then the technical foul call does not make the ball dead by rule.

We can't retroactively declare the ball dead. We have to follow the rules. That was my point.

Disagree. When the referee decides to call the foul or actually blows the whistle is irrelevant. The time of the act that the referee determines is a foul, even if it takes a second or two for the referee to decide, is the time the ball becomes dead. That is a pretty basic fundamental of the rules and I'm surprised you're even suggesting otherwise. The infraction itself makes the ball dead at the time of the infraction. The referee is only confirming the fact.

Otherwise, having a patient whistle could open up some very undesirable situations....

A1 travels and then immediately collides with B1 for what would be an obvious block or charge. The referee then decides that the travel came first. If the ball remains live until the whistle is blown, are you calling the travel and the foul?

A2 fouls B1 just before A1 releases a shot. The referee decides it was a foul and blows the whistle just after A1 released the shot. It was clear that A2 fouled before the release. Does the shot count since the referee didn't decide/blow until after the release?

A1, not yet in the shooting motion, is fouled by B1 and then runs into B3 for either an obvious block or a charge (doesn't really matter which for the purposes of this discussion) all before you can make a judgement and blow the whistle for the first contact. Are you saying that the rules support the ball remaining live after the first contact/foul such that the second contact is also subject to a common foul. Or is the ball dead on the first contact?